our chief foreign correspondent richard engle is back in cairo tonight. richard, good evening. >> good evening, brian. what a day it's been. for the last 5,000 years, egypt was ruled by pharaohs and sultans, kings and military commanders. now that's starting to change. egyptians by the millions turned out to make history. >> to feel the freedom and to feel that we are human for the first time. >> mostly, it was peaceful as voters lined up in cairo to choose from among five leading candidates. a socialist, two islamists with ties to the long banned muslim brotherhood, and two with ties to former president mubarak. it wasn't always certain this day would come. last year in tahrir square, millions demanded democracy. today, the protesters are gone. instead, tahrir is full of flags and campaign posters, as egyptians are practicing the rights they fought and died in this square to achieve. but the election will be decided in villages like this, outside cairo. many egyptians live in the countryside, mostly in poverty. this is the heartland. like all of egypt, it

richard engle, nbc news, cairo. >>> now to a story that's the stuff of hollywood thilers. a very real scandal involving secret stolen documents and allegations of corruption rocking the gatt van, leading to the arrest of one of the pope's most trusted aides, his butler. >> reporter: he was always up front b in the pope mobile, but it's what he did behind the scenes that has him locked up. in his home, police found hundreds of confidential documents which he's accused of passing to the media. a book out last week details cronies at the vatican. they call the book criminal. >> everyone who's known this young man, paolo gabriele, including me, is stunned by this. this is a pious, quiet, young man who's worked in the holy city for 15 years. >> reporter: and today a vatican spokesman said there's certainly surprise and pain and great affection for his beloved family. surprise, too, for many vatican watches who are asking if he's being used as a scapegoat. perhaps there's a clue in the documents that have been released. not only do they show alleged financial corruption in the v

the israeli defense minter made that point repeatedly to our richard engle. richard now has this report from tel aviv and the exclusive interview. >> good evening, lester. here in israel, the threat of iran's nuclear program is still as immediate as ever. the possibility of an israeli strike is still on the table. i sat down with the man in charge of israel's military who called current negotiations with iran, quote, a ritual in self delusion. israel is breaking its silence on iran's nuclear talks held with world powers in baghdad this month. >> i'm not sure that they're serious about it. >> the defense minter said iran is just buying time, that it's still working toward a nuclear weapon, and israel won't stand for it. >> we're committed to do whatever it takes to prevent iran from turning into a military power. a nuclear weapon. >> u.s. military officials have said they oppose an attack on iran, too provocative and unpredictable, but he said an israeli strike is still on the table. >> at what stage does israel deci decide, when does israel decide they can't l

the latest from our chief foreign correspondent, richard engle. >> homs, syria, under attack today by government troops. overnight, syrian forces pounded homa, reportedly killing more than 40 people. the new violence came just hours after the u.n. security counsel condemned syria for friday's massacre in hula. horrific, even by the standards of a year of fighting. more than 100 people killed, most of them women and children. new video shows the attack as it started. syrian forces appear to shell hula. people run in panic as more artillery rains down. then witnesses say, pro government thugs went on a house-to-house killing spree, binding the hands of victims, stabbing them, and shooting them point blank. today, with syrian tanks now in hula, u.n. peace broker kofi annan arrived in damascus. >> i am personally shocked and horrified by the tragic incident in hula two days ago. >> but annan is losing credibility. syrian activists say his cease-fire is a sham, just a cover for the assad regime's relentless crack down. the deadlock goes all the way to moscow where british and russian forei

our chief foreign correspondent richard engle has our report. >> the first bomb drew in the crowds. then a second killed them. this doesn't look like a pro democracy uprising, but like baghdad on a bad day. two suicide bombers in vehicles targeted an intelligence compound in damascus with a ton of explosives. the crater, ten feet deep. many images too graphic to show. the attack bolsters the government's claim that it's fighting terrorists, not pro democracy campaigners. just after the bombing, supporters of president bashar al assad took to the streets to back him. in this chaotic mix, u.n. monitors, unarmed, appealing for calm. >> this is going to create more suffering for women, children, the syrian people. it is not going to solve any problems. >> by phone, an activist in hiding denied that the so-called legitimate opposition was responsible. >> the free syrian army made an announcement and declared clearly it's not behind these explosions. >> who did it? experts believe it was the work of islamic militants. they have been pouring into syria to fight the government, but today's

lester. >> richard engle in tel aviv tonight. also tonight, former libeerian president charles taylor has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for what the international court described violent crimes in history. murder, rape, and torture thousands of people in that nation's civil war. >>> myanmar opposition leader aung song chuchi getting a welcome today. she was afraid the government would not allow her to come back. this, her first trip abroad in almost 25 years, will test whether the government of myanmar is really serious about reform. >> and nelson mandela made a rare public appearance today to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the african national congress. a party that helped bring an end to apartheid. mandela turns 94 this july. >>> still ahead as "nightly news" continues, what millions of college students don't know about their debt cards may be costing them a bundle wrorb. >> and later, rediscovering what may be the most famous family feud of all time. really? 25 grams of protein. what do we have? all four of us,

. >>> our chief foreign correspondent richard engle is warning us from cairo tonight, things could get dicy in egypt in a hurry. there are two major candidates there headed for a runoff election. neither of them is what so many egyptians said they wanted when they took to the streets in protest last year. one is from the muslim brotherhood. he says he wants to impose islamic law and change relations with the u.s. he's openly hostile to israel. he will face a candidate with close ties to the old mubarak regime. a self-described strong man who is promising to crush dissent. >>> a new scandal is rocking the vatican tonight. it's making headlines around the world in the process. it involves secret documents, allegations of corruption, a bombshell new book, and today, the arrest of one of pope benedict's most trusted aides, his own butler. our details from nbc's jim maceda. >> pope benedict's personal butler, paolo gabriele, always seated up front in the popemobile, but today, he was arrested after police found hundreds of confidential documents in his house. the butler in charge of serving