Presidential hopeful Ahmed Shafiq said Monday his decision to run for presidency is final and that discussions in the media over his withdrawal are completely untrue. “I made my decision to run for president,” Shafiq said in a statement. “I’m confident in my ability to lead Egypt during this hard time and transfer it to an advanced society. In case I win, I pledge that my term will exemplify wise rule, and I pledge that I will be the president who listens to the people.”

New reports spread on Monday morning that former vice president Omar Suleiman was going to submit his presidential candidacy later on the same day after weeks of rumours and unconfirmed news that he will join the presidential race.

Egyptians must elect the person most capable of achieving the values of the 25 January revolution in the upcoming presidential elections, French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Bernard Valero said on Monday According to state-owned MENA news service, the statement was made during a press conference in which France explained its position on the current developments in Egypt.

Seventy-five people are to stand trial on 17 April in connection with the Port Said football violence last month that left more than 70 people dead, state news agency MENA said Saturday. Nine policemen are among the defendants in the trial, which will be held in Cairo for security reasons, it reported.

Presidential hopeful Khaled Ali has called for the need to reform the management of the public sector, while promising to also support the private sector if he wins the elections. In a campaign rally at Mamar Square in Ismailia, Ali said "Public sector companies achieve [huge] profits, such as the Holding Company for Chemicals, which made LE1.9 billion out of a total profit of LE3.9 billion made by public sector companies."

The Ministry of Interior Saturday morning refused to allow an Ahly FC versus Ethiopian Coffee FC match scheduled for 8 April to be held at Egypt's Military Academy Stadium. The game is part of the second-leg matches in round 32 of the African Champions League.

Presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Abul-Fotouh held a popular campaign rally in the town of Nagaa Hammadi in the governorate of Qena Friday. "If this country is ruled again by the imbeciles and the corrupt, it will be an infringement on the revolution," Abul-Fotouh said during the speech he made at the rally.

The Higher Presidential Elections Commission (HPEC) filed a complaint against presidential contender Hazem Salah Abu Ismail late Friday, accusing him of illegal campaigning. Earlier on the same day, thousands supporting Abu Ismail embarked on massive car parades and marches, using his banners and slogans as he submitted his presidential candidacy papers to HPEC headquarters.

Fire leaps out of the vat of fry oil Hatem uses to make falafel at his small restaurant. Usually, this is an accident and an occupational hazard that occurs when water makes contact with the hot oil. But this time, it’s intentional. Hatem is contributing to the pyrotechnics of the Ahly ultras who have been setting off fireworks, chanting and singing during their four-day-long sit-in across from his small restaurant near the barricades outside Parliament.

An Egyptian court on Thursday sentenced former Housing Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Suleiman, Alaa Mubarak’s father-in-law Magdy Rasekh, and businessmen Yahya al-Komi and Imad al-Hazeq on charges of illegally seizing state land and squandering public funds. The Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Suleiman to eight years in prison, according to the state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA)

On the "Cairo Today" talk show on Wednesday, presented by TV Anchor Amr Adeeb on Orbit channel, presidential contender Abul-Ezz El-Hariri asserted that the People's Assembly should be dismissed, adding that he did not see a Islamic trend in Egypt. El-Hariri, an elected MP and long-time political activist, is running on the Socialist Popular Alliance (SPA) ticket.

France said Thursday it had banned four Muslim preachers from entering France to attend an Islamic conference, saying their "calls for hatred and violence" were a threat to public order. President Nicolas Sarkozy had wanted to ban the high-profile Islamic clerics from attending the conference next month in the wake of a series of killings by Al-Qaeda inspired gunman Mohamed Merah that shocked France.

Prominent liberal politician Ayman Nour said Thursday he will run for president after submitting his initial candidacy papers to the Presidential Elections Commission on Friday. In a press conference, Nour, who is head of the Ghad al-Thawra Party, said the party’s supreme authority decided in a meeting on Thursday to have him represent it in the election.

A coalition of members of the constituent assembly who have recently resigned from the body, together with key political and civil society figures, announced they would be forming an alternative assembly in a press conference Tuesday. In a signed statement, the coalition declared their "utter refusal" of the process by which members were elected. They confirmed they would be drafting their own version of the constitution that would better reflect Egypt's "plurality and diversity."

Major General Mahmoud Nasr, assistant defense minister for finance and member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, said that only 4.2 percent of the state budget is allocated for the army, which is less than half the budget of the Education Ministry, despite the magnitude of the armed forces’ expenses. “This is why the army is investing in other businesses, such as foodstuff and garments, to generate income,” he said in a press briefing Tuesday. “And all our expenditures are supervised by the Central Auditing Agency.”

The April 6 Youth Movement (Democratic Front) has called for the amendment of articles 28 and 60 of the constitutional declaration issued by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) in March 2011. Article 28 deals with the method of electing the president and article 60 deals with the formation of the constituent assembly tasked with drafting Egypt's new constitution.

The heads of parties and political powers represented in the People's Assembly agreed in a meeting with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Egypt’s military leader, to meet again within two days to discuss their ideas of how to resolve the constitution standoff. During the meeting Tuesday, Tantawi said the armed forces had a plan for the road ahead since the beginning of the interim period.

The majority of the Cairo Court of Appeals General Assembly voted that court president Abdel Moez Ibrahim stay in office, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported on Tuesday. Out of a total of 861 judges, 310 attended the assembly, just over the 287 judges to meet a quorum. Al-Ahram newspaper reported that 154 judges voted in favor of Ibrahim and 101 voted against. Ahmed al-Zend, president of the Judges Club, attended the assembly and announced the results.

Hesham El Bastawisi, reformist judge and ex-vice president of the Court of Cassation, announced in a press conference Tuesday, that he will enter the upcoming presidential elections as the candidate of the the left-wing Tagammu party.

The Cultural Constitution Movement has announced Monday it is joining the Constitution for all Egyptians Front, a newly formed coalition of revolutionary and political groups campaigning for a fair and representative constitution. The coalition, which was announced last week, opposes the process of electing members to the constituent assembly, which sees 50 per cent of the figures chosen from the Islamist-dominated parliament and 50 per cent chosen from non-parliamentarians.

Egypt and Turkey signed an agreement on Monday in which Turkey will renovate religious artifacts in Cairo and Alexandria. Al-Azhar, the Antiquities Ministry and the Religious Endowments Ministry signed the agreement for the Egyptian side, while the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TÄ°KA) inked the agreement for the Turkish side.