CAIRO - Most Egyptians want a new constitution before the parliamentary and presidential elections due later this year, a recent poll by four rights organisations has revealed. A total of 83.6 per cent of those polled said that they want a new constitution drawn up first, while 14.1 per cent rejected the idea.

CAIRO: The separation between religion and politics was one of the chief concerns political activists and analysts expressed about the recently accredited Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), which is yet to put together a comprehensible program and set of goals easily accessible to the public and distinguish it from the Muslim Brotherhood group.

According to official sources, 23,000 prisoners reportedly escaped from prisons and detention centers countrywide. While 16,000 were either re-arrested or returned voluntarily, some 7,000 are still fugitives. Helal said that autopsies were performed on all of them upon orders from the Prosecutor General to identify how they died, but did not mention the cause of death in each case.

CAIRO: The US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen held talks with his Egyptian counterpart Tuesday and Wednesday, and reaffirmed his country’s continued support for both the Egyptian Armed Forces and government.

CAIRO - Egyptian authorities on Wednesday denied reports that thugs had attacked tourists in a luxury resort in Luxor in Upper Egypt. "The fact is that around 20 persons gathered inside a garden of Sheraton Hotel (in Luxor), to a part of which they claimed a right," said an official security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

CAIRO: Member of the April 6 Youth Movement Salma Al-Sawy met Prime Minister Essam Sharaf on Wednesday and handed him a complaint against security forces for detaining and beating her, following a protest commemorating the death of Khaled Saeid on Monday evening.

The Government will dissolve local councils within two weeks, Cabinet spokesman Ahmed el-Samman said in remarks that contradict what had been said by minister of local development and the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

CAIRO: Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to end the military trials of civilians and lift the emergency law to help Egypt’s transition towards democracy, in a statement issued on Tuesday.

CAIRO: Egypt settled one of a string of disputes over state land sales under deposed president Hosni Mubarak, revising the terms of a farmland deal with Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the Egyptian government said on Tuesday.

CAIRO/ALEXANDRIA: Hundreds protested in Alexandria Monday to commemorate the death of Khaled Saeid

The Committee of Parties' Affairs on Monday gave a final and official nod to the Freedom and Justice Party, which was created by the Muslim Brotherhood, to become the first party declared after the fall of Hosni Mubarak regime.

CAIRO: Egypt's military has decided to end a nightly curfew that was initially imposed at the height of the popular uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak in February, state media reported on Monday.

CAIRO: For a country where over-the-top venality characterized politics for decades, Egypt's

CAIRO: An Egyptian court convicted former finance minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali in absentia on Saturday and sentenced him to 30 years in prison for profiteering and abusing state and private assets, a court source said.

CAIRO - Spearheaded by local and Arab buying, Egyptian stocks rebounded on Sunday, ending a three-day losing streak, traders said. Fears of a new tax targeting capital gains were soothed after a statement by the country's Minister of Finance Samir Radwan on Saturday that the Government aims only "to tax dividends", and that gains from trading in stocks "will not be taxed". "The Government mulls to tax dividends of corporations, joint-stock, and

CAIRO: In what was named by some Facebook groups as the “Friday of Work,” Tahrir Square witnessed a diminutive presence compared to previous weeks, marked by disjointed demands. The square, which last week saw tens of thousands on what was dubbed the “Second Friday of Anger,” was relatively empty as traffic flowed throughout the day with hundreds of scattered protesters without a coherent set of demands.

CAIRO - Finance Minister Samir Radwan said on Sunday Egypt was on the verge of concluding a $3 billion standby financing arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but was still working out some of the terms.

CAIRO - Former president Hosni Mubarak could stay in Sharm el-Sheikh where he is receiving medical treatment and the court that is going to try him could move to him there under certain conditions, according to Minister of Justice Mohamed Abdel-Aziz el-Guindi.

CAIRO - Egypt on Wednesday lifted the minimum monthly wage to LE700 ($117.8) in the country where regime-changing protests were partly fuelled by economic woes earlier in the year.

CAIRO: Ousted president Hosni Mubarak will stand trial on Aug. 3 along with his two sons Alaa and Gamal and businessman Hussein Salem, the Cairo Cassation Court said on Tuesday. The four were referred to the North Cairo Criminal Court, but the location of the trial is yet to be announced. Reports suggested that the trial might be in Sharm El-Sheikh; Mubarak has been remanded in custody at the Sharm El-Sheikh Hospital.

CAIRO - A high-ranking Egyptian military official denied comments carried by CNN saying the military had conducted forced "virginity tests" on female protesters in March, state al-Ahram newspaper reported on Wednesday.