Talks of the Interior Ministry contracting private security companies have created a stir, especially after a leading member of the Freedom and Justice Party called for granting them arrest powers.

Egypt signed an agreement with the US government Sunday under the terms of which it will receive a $190 million grant to back its state budget, reported Al-Ahram Arabic-language news site.

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) has announced that the annual inflation rate increased during February by 2.8 percent to 8.7 percent (132.8 points), reaching its highest monthly rate since September 2010. CAPMAS head Major General Abu Bakr al-Guindy said Sunday that foreign exchange rates, especially with the Egyptian pound against the US dollar, caused price hikes across all sectors in February. The biggest hikes were in food prices, which went up by 2.9 percent from January, but medicine prices also spiked and affected the local health care sector, Guindy said. He added that although diesel fuel and butane gas prices went up, they didn’t affect overall inflation rates. The Egyptian economy has been hit hard since the January 2011 uprising overthrew former President Hosni Mubarak. The country is facing a budget deficit of LE180 billion, which it is seeking to fill with loans from other Arab countries and international organizations. The government is in negotiations for a US$4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, which has offered the loan conditioned upon an economic reform program that includes austerity measures.

The Higher Committee of the leftist-liberal Egyptian Social Democratic Party (SDP) held an urgent press conference late on Saturday in which it announced it would boycott the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Egypt's Administrative Court has halted an order it issued 9 February banning YouTube in the country for a month. The court accepted an appearl by the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) on the order.

The Interior Ministry warned Saturday that it would take "strict procedures" to combat ongoing attacks against authorities and institutions, after an attack by Ultras Ahlawy members Saturday left the Egyptian Football Association and the Police Club in Gezira in flames.

All Egyptian football documents were completely burned and the national team's trophies stolen, Egyptian Football Association (EFA) Chief Executive Sarwat Swelam reveals Saturday.

Suez Canal Authority spokesperson Tareq Hassanein said Saturday that the canal is safe for navigation and that traffic continues as normal, after earlier news reports said that protesters in Port Said were blocking ferries from the city's harbor.

Egyptian State Security (Amn Al-Dowla) officers on Thursday declared their refusal to protect President Mohamed Morsi's personal residence in the Nile Delta city of Zagazig, the president's hometown

Wednesday's Administrative Court decision throwing President Mohamed Morsi's call for April parliamentary polls into doubt prompted diverse reactions from Egyptian political figures.

The Egyptian presidency "respects the Administrative Court's ruling to suspend lower house elections and [its decision to] refer the elections law back to the Constitutional Court," according to a statement released on the presidency's official Twitter account on Wednesday.

A video obtained by Al-Masry Al-Youm purports to show another man being dragged by police in plain clothes Tuesday in the Monufiya Governorate.

Clashes between hundreds of demonstrators and security forces intensified in Simon Bolivar Square and near the US Embassy in downtown Cairo Wednesday evening.

Israel on Wednesday began battling a swarm of locusts from Egypt on Wednesday to prevent crop damage in the south of the country.

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Low-income households in Egypt are being hit by soaring food prices, placing a major strain on many poor families in the country, who are struggling to put basic staples on the table.

Calm prevailed on Thursday morning in the Delta city of Mahalla in Gharbiya governorate after a night of violent clashes between protesters and police forces. The clashes continued until dawn at police department offices and on main streets in the city.

Pharmacists and Health Ministry officials warned on Thursday that the drugs used to cure or treat hepatitis, diabetes and infertility, along with infant milk, are missing from pharmacies across Egypt, as the medicine shortage intensifies.

Major General Adel Afify, a member of the committee representing the Salafi Asala Party, criticized female protesters, saying they “know they are among thugs. They should protect themselves before requesting that the Interior Ministry does so. ”

The Cairo Administrative Court is set to decide Wednesday whether the parliamentary elections can go ahead as planned starting in April.

Cairo on Tuesday saw renewed clashes between anti-government protesters, including members of the Ultras Ahlawy (hardcore fans of Cairo football club Ahly), and police.

The National Salvation Front announced Tuesday plans to launch a satellite channel to promote a national boycott of the upcoming elections and promote alternatives to Egypt's political and social unrest.