Former Industry and Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid, who fled the country during the 25 January uprising early last year, said Monday he is confident he will be acquitted of corruption charges and plans to return to Egypt soon.

Egypt will not necessarily be stable after the election of a new president, former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi said Sunday in an interview with CBC satellite channel.

Egypt's balance of payments slid deeper into the red in the first nine months of 2011-2012 with a deficit of $11.2 billion compared to a shortfall of $5.5 billion a year earlier, as political turmoil hit investment and tourism, figures showed.

Parties have agreed to allow the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and the Salafi-oriented Nour Party to hold 50 percent of the constitution-writing committee’s seats, Wafd Party chief Al-Sayed al-Badawy has said.

Ousted president Hosni Mubarak requested the transfer of his son Alaa to accompany him in Tora prison hospital after reportedly suffering a deterioration in his health and breathing difficulties following the announcement of his verdict on 2 June.

Egypt national team coach Bob Bradley has expressed his pleasure after beating Guinea 3-2 in the African World Cup qualifiers on Sunday and leading the Group G.

Longtime reform advocate Mohamed ElBaradei has called for the formation of a three-member presidential council to write the new constitution.

The moderate Islamist Wasat Party said on Saturday it will nominate two of its members as representatives in the constituent assembly (CA), including the party's head, Abul-Ela Maady, and deputy party head MP Essam Sultan.

Presidential finalist Ahmed Shafiq held a press conference on Sunday afternoon in which he stepped up attacks on his electoral rival, Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Mursi.

The girl reportedly caught in an obscene act with Salafi MP Ali Wanees in his car is not his niece as he previously claimed, security services determined after an investigation.

Political powers strongly disagree on Islamic representation on the constitution-writing committee, sources who attended a meeting Sunday for political groups at the Wafd Party headquarters said.

A judicial body recommended on Wednesday that the law regulating parliamentary elections be overturned, raising the possibility that the legislature could be dissolved.

Parliamentary political parties are due to meet with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) 2.30pm Thursday, at the end of a 48-hour grace period granted by the ruling military council for the political forces to reach an agreement on the formation of the constituent assembly. This follows a heated meeting at the Wafd Party headquarters that lasted until 4am Thursday morning between delegates of Egypt's parliamentary forces.

The commissioners for the Supreme Constitutional Court have decided that the Presidential Elections Commission's referral of the Political Isolation Law to the court is invalid, an opinion that if adopted would exclude Ahmed Shafiq from the presidential runoff election two days before it is set to begin.

After a meeting with Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) on Tuesday, political party representatives said that the council had given them a two-day period in which to issue a parliamentary decision on the membership criteria for Egypt's constituent assembly – tasked with drafting a new constitution – or else the SCAF would either issue a 'constitutional annex' or revive the 1971 constitution.

According to independent daily Al-Shorouk, Parliament’s legislative affairs committee on Saturday referred new draft guidelines for the formation of a constituent assembly – tasked with drafting a new constitution – to Parliamentary Speaker Saad El-Katatni.

Ousted president Mubarak has been given artificial respiration five times in the last few hours and he remains in a ‘critical’ condition following his incarceration in Tora prison on 2 June, an official source told Ahram Online.

“Revolutionaries need to digest the lessons learned and the mistakes that have occurred in order to achieve the goals of the January 25 revolution,” said Laila Marzouk, Khaled Saeed's mother, while visiting her son's grave on the second anniversary of his death.

Well-known politician Osama El-Ghazali Harb has announced his support for Mubarak's ex-prime minister and presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq.

Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri defended his cabinet's performance to reporters on Wednesday, saying it has been on a “suicide” mission over the last six months, but that its achievements have been remarkable.

On his Twitter, former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi said he does not support Ahmed Shafiq or Mohamed Morsy in the presidential runoff election. He also denied having met with Shafiq.