Intensive efforts have been exerted in recent days to put an end to the three-month-long showdown between the government of prime minister Kamal El-Ganzouri and the Islamist-dominated parliament.

Egyptian presidential candidates Hamdeen Sabbahi, Abul-Ezz El-Hariri and Hisham Bastawisi plan to hold a meeting on Monday in hopes of reaching agreement on a single presidential contender to represent Egypt's leftist political forces, sources close to the three men's electoral campaigns told Ahram Online. Egypt's first post-Mubarak presidential poll will be held on 23 and 24 May.

Giza Criminal Court has adjourned the profiteering case of businessman Ahmed Ezz, former Industry Minister Ibrahim Mohamedein and five representatives of Dekheila Steel Company to 9 May.

Members of a committee formed by the government’s National Human Rights Council decided on Monday to meet with individuals who have been detained following the violence that took place over the last week outside the Defense Ministry in Abbasseya, Cairo.

Presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi said Sunday that he would not serve as vice president to an Islamist or a member of the former regime because it would be against his political perspective and his view of what Egypt needed.

Only 60 local NGOs have applied to monitor the presidential election scheduled for 23 and 24 May, according to Egypt's flagship newspaper, Al-Ahram.

Several political forces have voiced concern over possible ramifications following Friday's Abbasiya clashes, saying such violence could negatively affect the transitional period that should see a new constitution drafted and a post-uprising president elected.

According to a military source, the North Cairo military prosecution has decided Saturday to keep in custody for 15 days pending investigations 300 of those arrested Friday. The accused were arrested following mass demonstrations against the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) at the Ministry of Defence in Abbasiya.

Mamdouh al-Wali, head of the Journalists Syndicate, called on the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces to immediately release the journalists and media personnel who had been arrested during the clashes that took place on Friday in Abbasseya between military police and protesters.

The head of the military prosecution Adel El-Morsi announced on Saturday that all the women who have been arrested during the Friday demonstrations at the ministry of defence will be released. According to lawyers and military statements, at least 14 women have been amongst those arrested on Friday.

Several political forces have voiced concern over possible ramifications following Friday's Abbasiya clashes, saying such violence could negatively affect the transitional period that should see a new constitution drafted and a post-uprising president elected.

Thousands of protestors are marching in a rally that started from Fatah Mosque in Ramses Square on Thursday evening heading to Abbasseya, where 11 protesters were killed by suspected supporters of Egypt’s military rulers.

Egypt’s ruling military council is to hold a press conference on Thursday to give its views on the recent clashes in Abbasseya that left 11 killed, MENA reported. MENA added that the press conference will also tackle recent political developments. The news agency didn’t give further details.

Presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh has declined to take part in the first ever TV debate between Egyptian presidential candidates because of the violent clashes in Abbasseya that killed at least 11. The debate was scheduled for Thursday between Abouel Fotouh and his rival Amr Moussa.

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, met on Wednesday with United States with Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to discuss ways of boosting cooperation and bilateral relations between Egypt and the United States.

A delegation of MPs from Egypt's upper and lower houses of parliament will head to Saudi Arabia Thursday for talks on the case of Ahmed El-Gizawi, the Egyptian lawyer reportedly sentenced to 20 lashes for "defaming the Saudi king," and the resulting protests that led to the temporary closure of the Saudi embassy in Cairo and the recall of the Kingdom's ambassador last week.

At least eleven people died and dozens were injured when plain clothed men, thought to be local residents, attacked protesters camping outside the Defence Ministry in Abbasiya, Cairo, early Wednesday morning, according to an official Health Ministry source speaking on Egyptian state TV.

In 2009, Nobel Laureate Mohamed ElBaradei returned to Egypt with the aim of organizing the scattered political forces that wanted change under his leadership. Three years and one revolution later, ElBaradei’s newly formed political party, the Constitution Party, adopts the same vision.

Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi has agreed to send a military aircraft to Mali to bring back a stranded delegation of Ahly football players. The team are trapped in Mali following a military coup in the capital Bamako on Monday night.

Ashraf Thabet, parliamentary undersecretary and member of the Salafi Nour Party’s supreme body, has said that aside from the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, which has rejected the cabinet’s briefing, other parliamentary blocs have not called for the dismissal of the government.

Secretary General of the Presidential Elections Commission Hatem Bagato has said that the commission asked organizations from 40 countries to monitor the presidential poll in Egypt, as the Egyptian elections commission has nothing to hide, as he put it.