CAIRO: Thirty-six rights groups condemned on Wednesday the government's "smear campaign," in which they are accused of "high treason" for receiving foreign funding and serving foreign agendas. "We denounce the continuation of the organized smear campaigns designed to impugn these groups patriotism," the groups said in a joint statement during a press conference Wednesday morning.

CAIRO - Qasr el-Aini, the largest State-run hospital in Egypt, which offers free medical services to thousands each month, is facing a security crisis that has compelled its administration to intermittently close its doors.

CAIRO - Egypt is not preparing to withdraw its ambassador to Israel, an Egyptian diplomat said late on Tuesday, playing down an earlier threat to bring home the envoy in protest at the killing of five Egyptian security personnel near the Israeli border.

CAIRO – Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr flew on Tuesday to Qatar on a two-day visit, the official Middle East News Agency reported. Amr is scheduled to take part in the meeting of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee to put the final touches ahead of going to the United Nations to call for complete membership of Palestine. The committee will call on the UN to recognise Palestine as an independent state and it will discuss the exerted efforts to halt Israeli assaults on Palestinians in Gaza Strip.

CAIRO: The president of Cairo University, Hossam Kamel, and presidents of Helwan, Fayoum and Al-Wadi Al-Gadeed universities resigned Tuesday before the end of their term ahead of the first ever elections to choose new leaderships.

CAIRO: The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) called on Tuesday for sacking the Prosecutor General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, describing it as an "urgent necessity" to restore confidence in the prosecution. "The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) as the current ruler of the country can sack the Prosecutor General and appoint another one," Gamal Eid, head of ANHRI, said at a press conference.

CAIRO – Amnesty International (AI) has appealed to Egypt’s political parties to give priority to shantytowns, in order to achieve social justice and dignity, two of the recent revolution's demands, the official Middle East News Agency reports.

CAIRO - Driven by local selling, Egyptian stocks slipped on Tuesday amid low volumes, traders said. Volume hit LE226 million ($38 million), according to Bourse data. Arab and non-Arabs made net purchses worth LE1.8 million and LE4.1 million respectively. Locals made net sell-offs worth LE5.9 million.

CAIRO - Egypt's cabinet was due on Monday to discuss growing lawlessness along the border with Israel as pressure grew for a tough response to the killing of five Egyptian security personnel that has inflamed tension between the two neighbours.

CAIRO: For the first time in decades, the executive office for the Student Union for Egyptian Universities was elected, with the participation of public and private universities from across the country. The executive office includes seven members, five from public universities and two from private universities.

CAIRO: A monitoring force stationed in the Sinai in keeping with the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel said Israel violated it when its troops entered Egyptian territory and fired on security personnel, state news agency MENA reported on Saturday.

CAIRO: Around 300 people protested in front of the Israeli embassy in Cairo after Friday

CAIRO (Updated) - Egypt and Israel sought on Sunday to defuse a diplomatic crisis over the killing of five Egyptian security personnel during an Israeli operation against cross-border raiders, but crowds of Egyptians protested at the Israeli embassy in Cairo overnight.

CAIRO: A lone protester became a hero to an exultant crowd of Egyptians and many more online by hauling down the Star of David flag atop Israel's embassy in Cairo after the border killing of Egyptian policemen. More than 1,000 protesters gathered outside the Israeli embassy early Sunday and let off celebratory fireworks when the man clambered to the top floor of a high-rise housing the mission, replacing the flag with an Egyptian one.

CAIRO: Most of Egypt's prominent political powers including Islamic groups agreed on Wednesday on a charter of constitutional principles proposed by Al-Azhar as slong as it is advisory not binding. "This consensus over the charter allows it to be a guide while drafting the constitution," Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmed Al-Tayeb said at the meeting.

CAIRO - Presidential hopeful Ayman Nour submitted documents to the Parties Affairs Committee seeking approval for a new party.

CAIRO - An Egyptian lawyer started legal proceedings to challenge a decision by the judge trying former president Hosni Mubarak and his two sons to ban the live broadcast of the trial, insisting that the decision is illegal and unconstitutional.

CAIRO – The Egyptian army on Tuesday arrested four gunmen in the Sinai peninsula as they prepared to detonate

CAIRO: Services on Egypt’s three telecom operators were disrupted in parts of Alexandria on Tuesday afternoon, and some users in Cairo experienced slower internet connections due to “downtime” in a submarine cable.

CAIRO – The nation’s medical experts have warmly welcomed the application of the new Organ Transplant Law, expressing hopes that it will treat an organ trade wound that has festered in Egypt for years. When it comes to the practical level, however, the same experts start to realise the enormity of the challenges facing the application of this law in the making.

CAIRO - Liberal political groups and a traditional Islamist party on Monday launched a coalition, "The Egyptian Bloc", to challenge powerful Islamists in a November parliamentary election.