CAIRO: The first time Essam El-Erian went to jail, he was 27. Last Sunday, he left prison for the eighth time at the age of 57. The medical doctor's crime for each incarceration was belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's most influential and best-organized Islamist opposition movement and long feared by President Hosni Mubarak, Israel and the United States.

CAIRO: Finance Minister Samir Radwan said in a statement that Egypt will allocate LE 1.5 billion of additional spending for the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) to finance the purchase of wheat from abroad.

CAIRO - Egypt's newly appointed Cabinet held its maiden plenary meeting Monday amid pledges to release protesters held since the start of the popular uprising on January 25. Egypt Monday shortened by an hour a curfew imposed in three cities amid anti-regime protests to run from 8:00pm (18:00GMT) to 6:00am, cutting the restrictions by three hours, State television said. The curfew has been in effect since January 28 in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez.

CAIRO - Egypt's regime announced Monday a 15 per cent increase in salaries and pensions in the latest attempt to defuse popular anger amid protests demanding President Hosni Mubarak's ouster. The cabinet decision follows earlier promises to investigate election fraud and official corruption, which have done little to persuade the tens of thousands occupying downtown's Al Tahrir Square to end their two-

CAIRO - Veiled from head to toe, or dressed in trendy outfits, women are out in force in the ongoing opposition rally in Cairo's Tahrir Square, countering stereotypes common in parts of the West. "I've been coming here since Friday 28 of January," said novelist Sahar al-Mougi, waving an Egyptian flag during a crowded rally at Tahrir Square – the focal point of 12 days of protests demanding the departure of embattled President Hosni Mubarak. Although demonstrations have turned into violent clashes between protesters barricaded in the square and partisans of Mubarak, Mougi said fear of violence could not stop

CAIRO: Hundreds of journalists and protestors organized a symbolic funeral Monday in Tahrir Square for Ahmed Mahmoud, a journalist at Al-Ahram Foundation, who died last Friday as a result of a gunshot head injury in his office.

WASHINGTON: Leading Egyptian opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei said he was "not invited" to take part in negotiations Sunday on the future of a post-Mubarak Egypt, and criticized the talks as "opaque." "I should start by saying I have not been part of the negotiations. I have not been invited to take part in the negotiations or dialogue but I have been following what has been going on," he told NBC television's "Meet the Press" program.

CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak's immediate resignation — the key demand of protesters in the streets of Cairo — would trigger snap presidential elections under the Egyptian constitution and could make political reform more difficult, experts say.

WASHINGTON — The United States welcomed as a ‘positive step’ the mass resignation of leaders of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s party Saturday, as it seeks to prod the strongman to the exit. Mubarak huddled with his new government for the first time as the top executive committee of his ruling National Democratic Party, which includes his son Gamal, resigned, state television reported.

CAIRO - Security personnel on Saturday thwarted an attempted by anonymous saboteurs to damage a major car tunnel in the Egyptian capital, officials said.

CAIRO - Egypt's stock exchange will not reopen on Monday, as previously announced, and a decision has yet to be taken on when it will resume business,Egypt's official Middle East News Agency (MENA) said on Saturday. Khaled Serri, head of the exchange, was quoted as saying that the bourse would remain shut on Sunday and Monday, as anti-government protests have continued on a daily basis since January 25.

CAIRO - The Egyptian military Wednesday called for an end to more than a week

CAIRO - Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said Thursday he was ready to go to Tahrir Square, the scene of massive anti-government demonstrations, to talk to protesters, the official MENA news agency said.

World shares struggled to eke out more gains on Wednesday as wariness over escalating violence in Egypt and rising oil prices muted optimism over the latest signs of a sustained global economic recovery.

About 700 people have been arrested throughout Egypt in a crackdown against anti-government protests, security officials say. The arrests came as police clashed with protesters in two cities following Tuesday's unprecedented protests.

CAIRO - A small gathering of Egyptian anti-government activists tried to stage a second day of protests in Cairo Wednesday in defiance of a ban on any gatherings, but police quickly moved and disperse the group.

BRUSSELS - The European Union says that Egyptian authorities should listen to their people, deal with their problems and respect their right to demonstrate. The office of EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton on Wednesday called on "Egyptian authorities to respect and to protect the right of Egyptian citizen to manifest their political aspirations."

Police in Cairo have been using tear gas and water cannon to try to quell rare anti-government protests. Thousands have joined the protests after an internet campaign inspired by the uprising in Tunisia. They marched through Cairo and other areas chanting anti-government slogans, after activists called for a "day of revolt" in a web message.

Juan Cole, a Middle East historian at the University of Michigan, says Tunisia is different from other Arab nations. Tunisia, he said, is the "most secular country in the Arab world." Its traditions have favored women's rights, and its Islamist influence is negligible.

CAIRO: In an exclusive and rare interview in daily state-owned Al-Ahram published on Tuesday, Interior Minister El-Habib El-Adly reiterated details of the investigation into the Alexandria church bombing on New Year’s Eve.

CAIRO - Egypt's Interior Minister Habib el-Adly said on Sunday that the Army of Islam, a militant Palestinian group linked to al-Qaeda, was behind the New Year's church attack in the coastal city of Alexandria that killed 23 Copts. The Gaza-based group has praised the attack but denied involvement.