A ban on presidential campaigning entered into force on Monday with two days to go for Egypt's first election since a popular uprising ousted longtime President Hosni Mubarak.

While the country is preoccupied with the presidential election set for Wednesday and Thursday, certain activists, politicians and human rights groups are trying to keep the spotlight on dozens of protesters arrested following the early May clashes in front of the Defense Ministry in Abbasseya.

The Presidential Elections Commission has designated one judge per ballot box to oversee the polling stations for the election scheduled to start Wednesday, commission Secretary General Hatem Bagato said.

Several political groups have called for a day of hunger strike under the banner "We are all prisoners under military rule," to take place at the Journalists' Syndicate Sunday.

The Supreme Council of Armed Forces is planning to issue a complementary constitutional declaration within two days that would give the Parliament the right to remove the current cabinet and form a new one, with the exception for the "sovereign ministries," informed sources have told Al-Masry Al-Youm

A presidetial election poll conducted by the cabinet-affiliated Center for Information and Decision Support showed Ahmed Shafiq in the lead for the second week in a row with 12 percent, followed by Amr Moussa with 11 percent.

The Egypt director of the US governmental aid organization said it has provided US$3 million to the high elections commission to fund the presidential elections scheduled for 23 and 24 May.

Parliament Speaker Saad El-Katatni adjourned Wednesday's session of the People's Assembly (the lower house of Egypt's parliament) by announcing that all assembly activities would be temporarily suspended until 26 May, two days after Egypt's first post-Mubarak presidential polls.

Activists from the April 6 Youth Movement are taking to the ahwas, alleyways and marketplaces of Mansoura and its surrounding villages ahead of the presidential election next week with one, clear message: anyone but feloul.

Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Fayza Abouelnaga said that the government has approved the 2012/13 fiscal year budget and its investment plan, prior to sending it to military council head Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who would in his turn refer it to Parliament, state television reported Wednesday.

Leftist presidential candidate and human rights lawyer Khaled Ali defended his "unconventional" political stances and his background in popular street action in a televised interview with privately-owned Dream TV, Tuesday.

The Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission (SPEC) approved 53 NGO licenses to observe Egypt's first post-Mubarak presidential elections, including awarding one to a US civil society group on Monday.

CAIRO — An Egyptian court has acquitted 14 policemen charged with killing protesters during last year’s popular uprising.

Just 10 days before Egypt’s much anticipated presidential election is set to begin, 10 young men and women are running frantically between speeding cars in front of Maspero, the state radio and TV building, distributing flyers for Khaled Ali, the pro-revolution lawyer-turned-presidential candidate.

The US-based Carter Center, led by former president Jimmy Carter, announced in a press release on 14 May that it will observe Egypt's first historical presidential elections after last year's ousting of strongman Hosni Mubarak.

Assem al-Gohary, head of the Illicit Gains Authority, has said that Justice Minister Adel Abdel Hamid on Tuesday approved the most important guarantee required by Spain in order for it to hand over fugitive businessman Hussein Salem, his daughter Magda and his son Khaled to Egypt, namely that the three serve part of their sentences in Spain in case they are convicted by an Egyptian court.

Egypt's central bank said it sold more one-year U.S.-dollar-denominated treasury bills on Tuesday than it had sought and the average yield dipped.

Leaders within the United Kingdom's Egyptian community heavily criticised the Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission (SPEC) for its decision to announce the results of Egyptian overseas voting before Egyptians in Egypt start to vote.

Luxor Criminal Court adjourned the trial of four defendants accused of forging signatures in favor of presidential candidate Amr Moussa on Tuesday until 9 June.

Independent MP Amr Hamzawy submitted papers to found a political party called Freedom Egypt to the parties’ affairs committee on Tuesday.

An Egyptian rights group released Tuesday the most comprehensive list to date of the more than 800 civilians killed by security forces in last year's uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak last year.