For better or worse, Egypt has often been the center of the world’s attention this year. We cheered as a new US president promised improved relations with the Muslim world and wept when one of our own was killed in a German courtroom. We hosted FIFA’s U-20 World Cup without a hitch, and then, in a bitter and bloody rivalry, missed our chance to go to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup. Despite aggressive — and controversial — measures, the H1N1 ‘swine flu’ virus found its way across our borders. In a special photo essay, Egypt Today looks back on 2009.

Two trains collided in El-Ayyat killing 18 and wounding at least 50 in October, the latest in a long history of railway accidents. Minister of Transportation Mohamed Mansour resigned shortly after.

The spotlights around the Giza Pyramids went dark on March 28 during the second annual Earth Hour, an international climate change awareness campaign.

Nationwide strikes and protests in April calling for democratic reform saw low turnout and heavy security.

As pundits mused about the 2011 presidential elections, Gamal Mubarak remained noncommittal about a potential candidacy.

After his release from prison in February, Ayman Nour started a campaign in October opposing Gamal Mubarak’s potential candidacy for president.

Real estate tycoon and MP Hisham Talaat Moustafa was sentenced to death in May for contracting the murder of Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim.

In March, an appeals court sentenced Mamdouh Ismail, owner of the ferry that sank in 2006 killing over 1,000 people, in absentia to seven years in prison for involuntary manslaughter. Many had been outraged by his previous acquittal.

After five contentious rounds of voting in September, Farouk Hosni failed in his bid to become UNESCO secretary general.

Egyptian fishermen proved too big a catch for Somali pirates, overpowering their captors in August and returning home to a warm welcome.

In August, President Hosni Mubarak made his first visit to the United States in six years to meet with US President Barack Obama.

Obama picked Cairo University to deliver his June 4 speech to the Muslim world, in an attempt to repair relations damaged during his predecessor’s term.

A French woman died and 21 other people were wounded in a bombing near El-Hussein Mosque in February.

Salma Hayek and other international stars hit the red carpet at the Cairo International Film Festival in November.

The stabbing of Marwa Al-Sherbiny inside a Dresden courtroom in July sparked protests across the Arab world. Her murderer was sentenced to life imprisonment in November.

Turkish actors horsed around in front of the Giza Pyramids during an April production of Troy. The show met with a stony response.

The top three bikers at the Pharoans International Cross Country Rally celebrated their victory in October.

Beyoncé sparked the admiration of concert goers and the ire of religious conservatives with her November concert in Port Ghalib.

4shbab, the first Islamic music video channel, announced the winner of its Islamic version of American Idol in April at the Citadel.

The first case of the H1N1 ‘swine flu’ virus was reported in June, and surgical masks became the latest fashion trend as panic spread.

Trash piled up in around the capital when nature’s garbage disposals and their disgruntled owners stopped showing up to work.

Ministry of Health workers disinfected the local pig population, a measure based on the mistaken belief that the pigs could spread the disease.

By September, officials had postponed the beginning of the public school year to slow the spread of the virus.

Even before the first flu case was reported, the government ordered the slaughter of the country’s 300,000 pigs, threatening the livelihoods of pig farmers and garbage collectors.

Neither Egypt nor Algeria backed down during the full-contact World Cup qualifiers in November.

Egypt beat Algeria 2–0 in Cairo on November 14, forcing a playoff in Sudan, and fans filled the streets to celebrate.

Four days later, Algeria won the playoff match 1–0 in Khartoum. Demonstrations outside the Algerian Embassy turned violent — 35 people were injured including 11 police officers, according to the Ministry of Interior.

Ghana became the first African team to win the U-20 World Cup after beating Brazil 4–3 in a penalty shootout.

Excitement swept the city as Cairo hosted the FIFA U-20 World Cup in September and October. The tournament had the highest attendance in its 22-year history.

Egypt celebrated a fairy-tale victory over 2006 World Cup champion Italy 1–0 in the Confederations Cup in South Africa in June.

Egypt lost by a penalty shot to football powerhouse Brazil (4-3) during the June Confederations Cup. The Pharaohs were ultimately knocked out of the tournament after their loss to the US team.

Brothers Amro and Omar El Geziry (right) take bronze in the men’s relay event at August’s Modern Pentathlon World Championships in London.

Ramadan Darwish (second from right) took third place at the World Judo Championships in the Netherlands.

Mohamed Abdelbaki (left) shows off his silver medal for the weightlifting men’s 69 kilogram clean and jerk event, at June’s Mediterranean Games in Italy.

In November, Amr Shabana won his fourth World Open Squash Championship title.

Donia Abdelrahman took home the bronze medal in the Weightlifting Women’s 53-kilogram snatch event at the Mediterranean Games in Italy in June.