CANBERRA, Australia — Muslim women in Australia’s most populous state will have to remove veils to have their signatures officially witnessed under the latest laws giving New South Wales officials authority to look under religious face coverings. New South Wales state Attorney General Greg Smith said in a statement on Monday that beginning 30 April, officials such as justices of the peace and lawyers who witness statutory declarations or affidavits without making identity checks will be fined 220 Australian dollars (US$236).

Last week’s lifting of a travel ban on a handful of US nationals accused of carrying out unlicensed NGO activities – and their subsequent departure from the country – triggered sharp reactions from parliamentarians on Sunday. A large number of members of the People’s Assembly – the lower house of Egypt's parliament – used scheduled meetings of parliamentary committees to vent their anger at the lifting of the travel ban and for what they called "the double standards" inherent in US policy.

Cairo Criminal Court adjourned to 1 April the third session of the trial of Ahmed Ezz, the country's top steel magnate, state news agency MENA reported on Saturday. In Saturday’s session prominent lawyer Farid al-Deeb, who represents ousted leader Hosni Mubarak, told the court that he will head Ezz's defense team.

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, on Sunday said that the armed forces consider the interests of the country above all else, and that the army is not a substitute for legitimacy. He also said that the armed forces are impartial to all political parties.

Group of "Egyptians Against Religious Discrimination" has launched signatures campaign to support the MP "Ziad al-Alimi" and adressed all honorable Egyptians: members and organizations of civil society and parties; to support the MP," Ziad al-Alimi" against the forces of darkness by signing a statement by name and job.

A plane carrying 17 foreign NGO workers took off for Cyprus at 7pm (17:00 GMT) Thursday after a travel ban was lifted Wednesday evening, according to Ahram's Arabic language portal. Sam LaHood, son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, is among the handful of Americans onboard the plane, official news agency MENA reported.

Two Chinese workers, kidnapped for ransom in Cairo on Thursday in a sign of growing insecurity a year after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, were released after several hours, an embassy official said. "They are free," embassy spokesperson Lu Jingchun told AFP, without providing details of how the pair's release had been secured. Earlier, another embassy official told AFP the kidnappers were seeking a ransom payment.

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman El-Zawahiri has released a video on the internet in which he says only the imposition of Islamic Sharia law can completely rid Egypt of the Mubarak regime. El-Zawahiri, who became Al-Qaeda chief after Osama Bin Laden was assassinated last year, said Egypt must stop being at the US's beck and call and begin a new chapter by annulling the Camp David agreement with Israel.

“Dismissing the lawsuits agianst Naguib Sawirus by “kasr Al Nil” court, which accused him of defamation of Islamic religion, is asserting a legal rule concerning such cases which is destined for the Attorney General by Egyptian law” said Dr. Naguib Gebrael, the head of the Egyptian Federation for Human Rights. Adding that the court declared the lawsuits were dismissed as they were raised by some lawyers who are not meant to raise such cases.

Three masked men with automatic guns have broken into “El Horia” pharmacy which is run by pharmacist “Ramy Yacoub” and is owned by one of his relatives in Nag Hammadi. The pharmacy is located behind a police station in Nag Hamadi in the governorate of Qena.

Three judges in charge of handling the recent government case against a number of US and Egyptian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) announced Tuesday afternoon that they have recused themselves "for reasons of discomfort," without giving an explanation.

Egyptian national Mohamed Ibrahim Makkawi was arrested at Cairo International Airport on Wednesday afternoon upon his arrival from the UAE on suspicions that he was in fact Seif Al-Adel, a former leader of international terror outfit "Al-Qaeda."

The first round of Egypt’s first post-Mubarak presidential elections will be held on 23 and 24 May, with final results to be announced on 21 June, the Supreme Committee for Presidential Elections announced at a Wednesday press conference.

The majority of Copts in Bani Suef, Ehnasia, Naser, and Al Wasta will surely vote for the good of Al Wafd Party. However, the choice of the list had sharp fights among the Coptic youths. Most of the youths ask for supporting the party of” Constant Revolution” for its liberal ideas. The attitudes of the Wafd Party such as its union with the Brotherhood besides the fact that the Wafd newspaper keeps attacking the Copts lately have angered the youths.

Cairo Centre for the Studies of Human Rights has started a campaign of awareness in the governorates that are supposed to have elections in the second and third phases. The campaign is titled as “You must know” It aims at explaining the electoral system and supporting the political contribution besides explaining the selection criteria within the citizenship contest of the citizenship principles and the lack of religious and ideological discrimination.

The Suez governorate witnesses a conflict among 12 parties for the membership of the People’s Assembly. The main parties there are: The Muslim Brotherhood, The Free Egyptians, and The Salafi. The Brotherhood relies on the marches and opening a number of committees in various areas especially the popular ones besides gathering their supporters. The party of “The Free Egyptians” have great popularity among youth and the Copts support them as well. Though its recent experience, it becomes a symbol of “The Egyptian Mass” which depends on the educated class.

Yesterday The House of Lords discussed in four hours the position of the religious minorities in the East especially Christians. The members of the assembly talked about the position of Christians in Middle East asserting that Democracy would be ill-used and would lead to more violence against the minority.

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.