CAIRO:A fire broke out Tuesday around 4 pm in at least seven floors of the communication buildings in the west wing of the Ministry of Interior complex in Downtown Cairo.

CAIRO - Egypt's ruling military council will announce a constitutional decree within the next two days that will chart the path towards elections and civilian rule, a security source said on Tuesday. The decree will set a timeframe for parliamentary elections, expected in September of this year, and the presidential polls that will follow them, the source said.

CAIRO - An Egyptian committee set up to investigate violence during demonstrations that toppled Hosni Mubarak has laid charges against the former president and interior minister for intentional murder of protesters, a state newspaper said, Reuters reported yesterday.

CAIRO - Leading judge Hisham al-Bastawisy announced his candidacy for the Egyptian presidency on Monday, joining prominent figures including Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa in the race for the post.

CAIRO: Egypt’s stock exchange will reopen for trading on March 23, headed by Mohamed Abdel Salam, who will continue on as chairman of Misr for Central Clearing, Depository and Registry (MCDR). Abdel Salam replaces former bourse chairman Khaled Serry Siam, whose resignation from this post was initially rejected by authorities for days, a source who spoke on condition of anonymity told Daily News Egypt.

DUBAI - Anti-corruption groups have asked authorities in the United Arab Emirates to take action over possible transfer of assets here by fallen Arab rulers and their loyalists, seeking a haven after uprisings.

CAIRO (Update 3) - A majority of Egyptians who cast votes in a referendum have backed constitutional changes that will allow Egypt's military rulers to move swiftly to elections, a judicial official announced Sunday night. A parliamentary vote may now take place as early as September.

CAIRO: The majority of Egyptians voted “yes” to the constitutional amendments, paving the way for parliamentary and presidential elections, the first of which are to be held in six months. Analyst Nabil Abdel Fattah, a researcher at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies speculates that the Muslim Brotherhood and the remnants of the National Democratic Party will dominate parliamentary elections as a result of this “yes” vote.

CAIRO - Egypt is trying to amend natural gas export deals with a number of countries, particularly Israel, and plans to rejig subsidies on petroleum products.

CAIRO - The United States said Sunday that a vote in Egypt that drew millions to the polls was an "important step" towards achieving the goals of the protesters who ended decades of authoritarian rule.

CAIRO: Presidential hopeful and former head of the IAEA Mohamed ElBaradei was attacked Saturday by what he called "organized thugs" when he arrived at a polling station in Moqqatam with his family to vote on amendments to the constitution.

LUXOR - Police in the Upper Egyptian Governorate of Luxor arrested Sunday two antiquity robbers, who made off with two priceless small statues in a pre-dawn raid on a storehouse Saturday, leaving three watchmen wounded, security sources said.

CAIRO - The Egyptian stock exchange will announce in days, and probably in the coming week, a date for reopening, the state

CAIRO: Seventy-five members of the leftist Tagammu Party announced Friday that they will form the Socialist Democratic Party.

CAIRO - Egyptians went to the polls on Saturday to decide on a package of constitutional amendments which aim to pave the way for the parliamentary and presidential polls during the transitional period. The changes were completed in 10 days by a committee appointed by the country's supreme military council. An estimated 45 million eligible voters are urged to participate.

CAIRO - The United States and Egypt hinted on Tuesday that their old alliance will endure as the Egyptian people embark on a democratic transition after overthrowing an authoritarian leader. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the highest US official to visit Cairo since president Hosni Mubarak was toppled last month, pledged that the United States would stand by Egyptians as they pursue vast change.

CAIRO - The Egyptian army will decree arrangements for the transition from ousted president Hosni Mubarak's rule if voters reject proposed constitutional changes in a weekend referendum, its chief overseer warned.

CAIRO: Minister of Interior Mansour El-Essawy disbanded the long-feared state security police on Tuesday barely 10 days after taking office on a pledge to restore public confidence, state media said. "Minister of Interior Mansour El-Essawy decided today to cancel all administrative branches and offices of State Security in all the republic's provinces," the official MENA news agency reported.

CAIRO - When Ahmed checked his e-mails after a hard day’s work, he was surprised to find that his inbox was full. All the messages sounded very cautious, like one sent by one of his friends which started with the phrase ‘Take care’, while another from his sister was entitled ‘Be careful’ and a third, from his uncle, urged him to buy a weapon.

CAIRO: A military source warned against holding any protests or sit-ins during the referendum on the constitutional amendments. The source told state-TV that the law criminalizing thuggery will be imposed on anyone who attempts to obstruct the voting process on the referendum day set for March 19.

CAIRO - The disappearance of the police on January 28 from the streets across the country remains a big mystery. However, efforts to unravel the growing puzzle are overshadowed by appeals from citizens to redeploy the police as soon as possible.