The Egyptian government has stepped up a campaign to curb Muslim Brotherhood influence over mosques, saying it has licensed more than 17,000 state-approved clerics to give Friday sermons to stop places of worship falling “into the hands of extremists”.

An appeal court has refused to recuse the judges in two cases involving ousted president Mohamed Morsi. Islamist preacher Safwat Hegazy and senior Muslim Brotherhood member Mohamed El-Beltagy had demanded the recusal of the judges in their trials for espionage and escaping from prison.

Former presidential hopeful Bassem Khafagy, chief of Development and Change Party, announced on Wednesday ‘running for first free coming elections’ as he said, not the elections slated for 26 and 27 May.

Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis was listed as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the Department of State Wednesday.

On Wednesday, security forces dispersed hundreds of Azhar University students affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood using teargas canisters after they blocked al-Mokhayyam al-Da’em road in Nasr City district and attempted to break into the Faculty of Commerce.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood issued a lengthy statement Tuesday evening in which it condemned violence and claimed the group had adhered to strictly peaceful means of struggle throughout its history – distancing itself from anyone who acted otherwise.

The UK’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) unveiled last week its new Foreign Office’s Advisory Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief, featuring Tariq Ramadan, grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood Hassan el-Banna.

Security forces fired tear gas at female students protesting at Al-Azhar University Tuesday, reported Youm7.

The trial of the former Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie and a number of other MB leaders was postponed to April 19.

The bearded policemen who were suspended from work for growing beards are considering filing a complaint with the International Criminal Court for reinstatement, spokesperson of the “bearded policemen” group Captain Hany al-Shakery told Youm7 Monday.

Azhar University announced that surveillance cameras have identified students who led protests on campus, saying they were dismissed immediately from the university and the dorms, according to new law.

The Cairo Criminal Court adjourned Sunday the trial of Muslim Brotherhood leaders Mohamed Badie, Khairat al-Shater and 15 others leaders on charges of killing protesters outside the Muslim Brotherhood guidance office, and postponed the next hearing to April 17.

The trial of former President Mohamed Morsi and 14 other defendants for inciting murder was recessed until April 12 by the Cairo Criminal Court Sunday. Morsi and the other defendants are accused of inciting murder and torture of protesters outside Ithadeya, the presidential palace, in December 2012.

Student protests broke out Sunday at several universities in Egypt, including Cairo University, Al-Azhar University, and Ain Shams University Sunday, and security forces entered the campus of Ain Shams University to quell protests, reported Youm7.

A spokesman for Egypt's interior ministry claims that the Muslim Brotherhood has been using mercenaries from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan in all recent terrorist attacks in Egypt, according to state-run news agency MENA.

The Cairo Criminal Court decided Sunday to consider on April 8 a request to change the judge prosecuting the case known as the “Rabaa al-Adaweya plan.”

The UK government has pledged to consult leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood while it conducts a review of the group's activities. It also hinted that the review is wider than previously thought.

The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party denied links to activist Ahmed al-Mogheer who has been recently calling for armed resistance against the armed forces and the police.

The National Alliance to Support Legitimacy, a pro-Mohamed Morsi group, blamed the government for an explosion at Cairo University Wednesday.

An Islamist group calling itself Agnad Misr, or Soldiers of Egypt, has claimed responsibility for the blasts that killed a senior police officer at Cairo University on Wednesday.

The Muslim Brotherhood issued a statement Tuesday expressing surprise at the British prime minister's order that the group be investigated on suspicion of planning radical activities in Britain.