Egypt could close the Suez Canal to ships from countries that help Ethiopia build a controversial dam on the Blue Nile in the event that the dam threatens Egypt's supply of Nile water, Egyptian Popular Current leader Hamdeen Sabbahi said Wednesday.

Egypt's foreign policy advisor to the presidency, Essam Haddad, stated late Wednesday that "If Egypt's strategic foreign policy puts Africa as a priority, then bilateral Egypt-Ethiopia relations come at the core of this issue."

Ahram Online spoke to Nayer Nagui, the principle conductor and artistic director of the Cairo Opera Orchestra, who lead a protest by opera house artists and staff on Tuesday.

Human Rights Watch – New York – The draft Associations Law that Egypt’s president put before the country’s legislature on May 29, 2013, would allow the government and its security agencies to arbitrarily restrict the funding and operation of independent groups if it is adopted in its present form, Human Rights Watch said today.

Nile University students and supporters protested at the site of three buildings contested by the Zewail Science City on Thursday. The protest was organised after the latter announced it would be holding a lecture in one of the buildings.

Egypt's foreign ministry on Wednesday summoned Ethiopian Ambassador Mahmoud Dardir to express its displeasure with Ethiopia's construction of a major dam on the Blue Nile.

The recent sale of the painting “Icons of the Nile” by Egyptian-Armenian artist Chant Avedissian at a Qatar-hosted auction by Sotheby’s offered reminder of a growing interest by Qatar in Egyptian cultural heritage. At over $1.5 million, the sale comes alongside the Qatari purchase of Seragueddine Palace, ostensibly at over $100 million.

Professor Said Tawfik, secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council for Culture (SCC), resigned on Wednesday to protest the recent dismissal of three senior culture ministry officials by newly-appointed culture minister Alaa Abdel-Aziz.

President Mohamed Morsi, speaking before representatives of Egyptians NGOs on Wednesday, announced that he has officially submitted a modified version of a contentious NGO bill to the Shura Council for review.

Organisers of the anti-Morsi ‘Rebel’ campaign announced on Wednesday that the movement has succeeded in gathering 7,540,535 signatures in support of its goals.

A criminal court sentenced the governor of Cairo, Osama Kamal, to one year in prison for not fulfilling a judicial order to compensate a man for the illegal confiscation of his land by the governorate.

Egypt will cut exports of natural gas and tell major industries to slow output this summer to avoid an energy crisis and stave off political unrest, the chairman of the Egyptian General Petroleum Company (EGPC) told Reuters.

There are 29 Egyptians detained in Israel’s Beersheba prison, announces the head of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR) Mohamed El-Bedawi on Monday, quoting an Egyptian prisoner, Saleem Ayyad.

All judges and not just their leaders will be consulted on any proposed amendment to the Judiciary Law if the Shura Council attempts to amend it, Judges’ Club Chairman Ahmed Al-Zind said.

Former presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq has filed an appeal to challenge the results of the 2012 presidential election, which he lost to President Mohamed Morsi.

A Cairo criminal court sentenced Egypt's Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim to two years in prison on Monday on charges of refusing to implement a court ruling.

A Chinese teenager’s parents have apologised after it was revealed he had vandalised ancient Egyptian drawings.

Dozens of Egyptian police officers and security personnel in the Zawya El-Hamra police station in Cairo protest on Monday against the policies of the head of their station.

Egypt's presidency is set to refer the final draft of a proposed NGO law to the Shura Council (the upper house of parliament, currently endowed with legislative powers) for deliberation within a couple of days, having changed a handful of controversial articles included in previous drafts of the bill.

Ethiopia's planned Renaissance Dam will not cut into Egypt's share of Nile water, Ethiopia's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Berhane Gebre-Christos said on Monday.

Ethiopia’s in-construction Renaissance Dam along the Nile River will not affect Egypt’s share of the Nile water, said the Ethiopian Minister of Foreign affairs Berhane Gebre Christos on Monday.