CAIRO: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, America's former top spymaster, is meeting with Egyptian leaders to urge them to release a US-born man being held for allegedly being an Israeli spy. Egypt has accused Ilan Grapel, 27, of being a Mossad agent — a claim Israel denies. And his detention since June has escalated criticism of Egypt's military, which took over rule of the country after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in February.

CAIRO - An Egyptian court on Tuesday postponed a hearing over a case involving a land sale to the country's biggest listed developer that has rattled the property sector, sparking uproar among home-owners in the courtroom. Talaat Moustafa Group's (TMG) $3 billion Madinaty project, which makes up the bulk of its land holdings, has been caught in a legal dispute since last year over the purchase of land directly from the state instead of through a public auction.

CAIRO: Presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei called on Field Marshal Hussein Tantawy to cancel the emergency law, implement the treachery act and put an end to military trials for civilians at a meeting with workers in Helwan on Monday. ElBaradei, however, said that if trust in the Egyptian army is lost then Egypt will lose. “But we cannot say we trust you,” referring to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), “because trust comes from credibility which was lost long ago,” he said.

CAIRO - Mixed reactions greeted a plan agreed jointly between a group of political parties and the ruling military council on Saturday for suspending the controversial Emergency Law, stopping military trials for civilians and allowing party candidates to contest seats specified for independents during the forthcoming parliamentary polls, slated for late next month.

CAIRO: Three Egyptian rights organizations met with Egypt’s Intelligence Chief Mourad Mowafi Wednesday to discuss the deterioration in Egypt’s human rights record and how to confront it. The meeting was attended by Head of the Cairo Center for Human Rights Studies Bahy El-Din Hassan, Director of the Egyptian Center for Social and Economic Rights Khalid Ali, founder of the Hisham Mubarak Law Center Ahmed Seif Al-Islam and other human rights advocates.

CAIRO: The Freedom and Justice Party along with Al-Wafd will discuss Tuesday whether the two will contest parliamentary elections on a joint party list, officials announced at a conference late Sunday. The announcement came hours after both told the media that they are no longer planning to run under one list. In a private meeting held Sunday, however, other member parties of the Democratic Alliance convinced representatives of the FJP and Al-Wafd to reconsider their position for the benefit of the Alliance.

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced hope that Egypt's new leadership will respect the civil rights of people of varied political and religious views, in an interview released Saturday. "You want an Egypt where people are free to be liberal, fundamentalists, conservative, progressive, whatever their particular views are, but showing respect for the state, for the institutions of the state, and the rights of the people. And that's what I see you searching for and moving toward," Clinton told Egypt's Al-Hayat television.

CAIRO - US officials met members of the Muslim Brotherhood's political party, a US diplomat said, after Washington announced it would have direct contacts with Egypt's biggest Islamist group whose role has grown since US ally Hosni Mubarak was ousted. Washington announced the plans in June, portraying such contacts as the continuation of an earlier policy. But analysts said it reflected a new approach to the way it dealt with a group which Mubarak banned from politics.

CAIRO/DUBAI - Egypt's bourse rose on Sunday on relief that a weekend protest to demand a swifter move to civilian rule was less violent than some investors feared, while trading was muted on most Gulf markets.

CAIRO: Thousands of protesters rallied in Tahrir Square on Friday dubbed "Reclaiming

CAIRO — Egypt's military ruler has defended his testimony in the trial of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, denying that the army was ordered to shoot protesters during the uprising earlier this year.

CAIRO - Zamalek and Enppi have advanced to the Egypt Cup final after defeating Harras el-Hodoud and Arab Contractors 2-1, 8-7 (on penalties kicks) respectively in their semi-final games on Saturday. Zamalek's coach Hassan Shehata expressed his delight at the result that has sent the White Knights through to the final.

CAIRO - The credibility of Egypt's first elections since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak was thrown into question Thursday after a coalition led by the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood threatened a boycott. A statement late Wednesday by the Democratic Coalition said its members would not stand in November's legislative elections if a controversial article in the new electoral law was not amended.

CAIRO: Over 20 political powers including the April 6 Youth Movement, the Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution, the Revolution Forces Alliance, the National Association for Change and Kefaya are participating in mass protests in Tahrir Square on Friday dubbed the Friday "Reclaiming the Revolution." The Democratic Front, Al-Wasat, Al-Wafd, Al-Ghad and Al-Tagammu are also among the participating parties.

CAIRO - An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced former Information Minister Anas el-Feqqi to seven years in prison for squandering public fun from the state television union, the latest prison sentence to be handed to a member of Hosni Mubarak's former cabinet. The court also sentenced Osama el-Sheikh, the former head of the union, to five years on the same charges, the court ruled.

CAIRO: A walkabout in central Cairo by Egypt's military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawy donning civilian clothes has unleashed a torrent of questions about his political intentions. Tantawy took a stroll in Cairo's Downtown area on Monday night wearing a business suit and with no personal security in tow.

CAIRO: Parliamentary election, the first since a popular revolt ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February, will start on November 28, the official MENA news agency reported on Tuesday. "The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has set November 28 as the start of the first stage of the parliamentary election, which will be held over three rounds," it reported.

CAIRO – The Minister of Tourism Mounir Fakhri Abdel-Nour opened, on Tuesday, global festivities organised in Aswan to mark World Tourism Day, launched in collaboration with the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).

CAIRO: Presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradie met representatives of farmers unions

CAIRO - A fresh attack overnight on a pipeline delivering gas from Egypt to Israel left one person injured, witnesses and Egyptian security sources said Tuesday. At least three gunmen in a van opened fire on a gas installation before an explosion hit the pipeline near the town of al-Arish in the north of the Sinai peninsula, witnesses said.

CAIRO: Political forces slammed Monday amendments made to the parliament law that increase the share of party lists from 50 percent to two-thirds of the seats, while reducing the number of seats in both houses of parliament.