CAIRO (Updated 8) - The lawyer representing former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak called on Wednesday for the military ruler of Egypt to be summoned as a witness in the trial. Mubarak's lawyer Farid al-Deeb asked to "hear the testimony of Field Marshal (Mohamed Hussein) Tantawi" among a list of more than 1600 people he requested as witnesses, including former and current governors in the region of South Sinai.

CAIRO: Members of the armed forces and central security police raided Tahrir Square on Monday afternoon, bringing down the tents, forcing protesters to end their open sit-in, and allowing the flow of traffic in the square. Protesters said that members of the armed forces accompanied by riot police attacked them with batons. The army fired gun shots in the air to intimidate protesters, according to eyewitnesses.

CAIRO - For the second day in a row, Egypt's benchmark index EGX 30 gained 0.74 per cent to 5,073.07 points on Monday, traders said.

CAIRO - Egyptian squash stars have achieved another success, after capturing the World U-19 Championship for Individuals that ended recently in Belgium. Egypt's Marwan el-Shorbagy defeated his compatriot Mohamed Abul Ghar 3-0 in the final (11-6, 11-6, 11-8). Marwan, from Alexandria, grabbed the world junior title for the first time in his life, something he’d only dreamed of before.

CAIRO: Ousted president Hosni Mubarak's trial hearings will be held at the Police Academy on consecutive days, not abiding by the regular court schedule, until a final verdict is issued, said Chancellor Ahmed Refaat, head of the Cairo Criminal Court and the judge presiding over the case. At a press conference Sunday, Refaat said that the trial of Mubarak, his two sons Gamal and Alaa, ex-interior minister Habib El-Adly and six of his aides on charges of killing protesters during the 18-day uprising that toppled the regime will be held at lecture hall 1 at the Police Academy — formerly called Mubarak Police Academy.

CAIRO: The April 6 Youth Movement said in a press conference Sunday that the movement, alongside 25 political powers, decided to suspend its sit-in in Tahrir Square until the end of Ramadan. "We want to facilitate the traffic flow during Ramadan and put into consideration the special circumstances related to this holy month," Amr Aly, member of the group's political bureau said.

CAIRO - A human rights team, who Saturday visited a prison where former president Hosni Mubarak's two sons are jailed, reported that members of the former regime are not receiving special treatment.

CAIRO - The trial of former president Hosni Mubarak, his interior minister and his two sons, as well as a fugitive businessman, is due to start on Wednesday in Cairo's Police Academy in New Cairo, which was once named after the ousted leader who ruled Egypt for 30 years, the head of Cairo's Court of Appeals has said.

CAIRO - Presidential hopeful, Amr Moussa, demands on his Twitter account Saturday that the ruling military force in Egypt, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), set a timeline for the elections.

CAIRO - New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art has agreed to return to Cairo 19 artefacts dating back to the time of ancient Egypt's teenage king Tutankhamen, the state news agency MENA said on Saturday. Egypt has been pushing for the repatriation of major pharaonic treasures it says were plundered by foreign powers, including the Rosetta Stone now in the British Museum and Queen Nefertiti's bust from Berlin's Neues Museum.

CAIRO: Egypt’s Administrative Court decided Monday to reactivate the Treachery Act,

SUEZ - Police in the Canal Governorate of Suez have arrested a businessman and his son, accused of killing protesters during the popular revolt that toppled the Mubarak regime in February. Businessman Ibrahim Farag, dubbed the ‘Martyrs’ Killer’ by the people, and his son, who had been hiding for months, were caught yesterday. They face charges of killing 18 of the 31 protesters who died in Suez in the January-February revolt.

CAIRO - Fifteen Egyptian groups called on Wednesday for women's rights to be guaranteed in the new constitution, after a popular uprising that toppled the regime paved the way for a new charter. "We are not proposing a new constitution, but we want women's rights to be included," Amina ElBendary, a professor of Arab and Islamic Civilisation at the American University in Cairo, and one of the signatories, told a news conference.

CAIRO – Egypt's ex-president Hosni Mubarak, due to go on trial next week for murder, is refusing food in his hospital detention and has become extremely weak, state media reported on Wednesday. Mubarak, 83, has been detained since April on charges of ordering the killings of anti-regime protesters and corruption. He is under arrest in a Red Sea resort hospital, where he receives treatment for a heart condition.

CAIRO – "A maximum salary for Egyptian workers will be determined within a month,” newly appointed Minister of Finance Hazem el-Beblawi, who is also a deputy prime minister, has said. El-Beblawi, who has recently taken office, added that all State employees in every sector - companies, ministries, bodies and banks - will be subjected to the amended Law 105/1985, the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported on Tuesday.

CAIRO - Egyptian stocks fell on Tuesday on local and Arab selling amid low volumes, traders said. Locals and Arabs made net sell-offs worth LE9.6 million ($1.6 million) and LE9.2 million. Non-Arabs made net purchases worth LE18.8 million, according to the Egyptian Exchange. The country's benchmark index EGX 30 slipped by 0.36 per cent to 5,085.99 points. The broader indexes EGX 70 and EGX 100 were also in the red, falling by 0.28 and 0.22 per cent to 637.53 and 955.92 points respectively.

CAIRO: The New Cairo Court decided on Monday to try former interior minister Habib Al-Adly and six of his assistants, along side ousted president Hosni Mubarak on Aug. 3, for their involvement in killing and injuring peaceful protesters. One of the family members of the martyrs threw a hard object at the dock where El-Adly was being held and cursed him following the court’s verdict. Al-Adly was quickly ushered out of the dock.

CAIRO – Rights groups have accused Egypt’s Government, led by Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, of restricting their role, hindering their activities and excluding them from most of the forums for dialogue created by the institutions running the country.

CAIRO: Political forces and coalitions protesting in Tahrir Square blamed in a press conference Monday the ruling military council for the clashes in Abbasiya that marred a march from Tahrir to the Ministry of Defense on Saturday. "We have been following the smear campaign launched by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) against Tahrir protesters, and the escalating espionage accusations against national forces like 6 of April and Kefaya, a language that caused a rift between the protesters and the people," said the statement released by the protesters.

CAIRO: Five protesters detained by military and civilian police during the Abbasiya clashes Saturday night, were released on Sunday without any charges filed against them. Ahmed Ragheb director of the Hisham Mubarak Law Center said that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and the government were responsible for securing the people and preventing the clashes.

CAIRO — Six months after the uprising that toppled Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak, the former strongman who is in custody in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh remains a thorn in the country's side. The trial of Mubarak and his two sons, which is scheduled for August 3, remains a huge source of tension and the state of his health is shrouded by confusion and contradictory statements. Mubarak's assets may have been frozen but his fortune remains unknown, despite mounting calls for disclosure.