The European Union will continue to freeze the assets of former President Hosni Mubarak, his family and other former officials although Egypt has thus far been unsuccessful in recovering funds siphoned abroad by the regime. The Illicit Gains Authority (IGA), the judicial committee responsible for recovering the money, on Wednesday received an official notification from the European Union, confirming its freeze on the assets would be renewed another year as of 19 March, state-run MENA news service reported on Wednesday.

Egypt is facing a fuel crisis for the second time in 2012 as petrol supplies dry up and long queues of automobiles snake from the country's petrol stations causing traffic problems in surrounding streets. All types of petrol – 80, 90, 92 and the more expensive 95 – are reportedly in short supply. Some petrol stations have resorted to setting a 20-litre limit on all fuel purchases.

Two Israeli C130 military transport planes arrived in Cairo on Wednesday afternoon to ship the contents of Israel's Cairo embassy back to Israel. Each plane has carried one 20-foot-long container. Two trucks arrived at Cairo International Airport early Wednesday morning carrying furniture and other materials from the embassy in preparation for the flight to Tel Aviv, according to a source at Cairo International Airport.

Potential presidential candidate Khaled Ali joined striking employees outside the Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA) building in downtown Cairo today and announced his support for their demands. Ali stressed the importance of a maximum wage, including allowances and incentives, across all sectors of the economy.

Amr Moussa would create a decentralized Egyptian state and depend on “true democracy” if elected president, campaigners for the candidate wrote on Facebook Monday. The campaigners published several statements by Moussa on his plans for leading the country. During his numerous tours across Egypt, the former Arab League secretary general has repeatedly discussed his vision for building a modern state.

Sources at the Muslim Brotherhood told Al-Masry Al-Youm Monday that the group is holding daily meetings with the leaders of the Freedom and Justice Party to arrive at a final position on the presidential elections. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said those meetings were in response to the younger members of the group supporting the candidacy of Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh, a former leading figure of the group who is not favored by its leaders.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has reduced the required reserve ratio (RRR) on domestic currency deposits, effective immediately, it said in a statement on Tuesday. The CBE said it had reduced the ratio from 14 per cent to 12 per cent, citing the "current liquidity situation" caused by domestic and global developments.

Egyptian presidential hopeful Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh has stressed that Egypt will be on an equal footing with other world countries, saying that relations with those countries will be governed by mutual interests that preserve Egypt’s sovereignty. On the sideline of a meeting with a delegation from the French senate’s budget committee late Monday, Abouel Fotouh said Egypt is not seeking war with any party, but will not allow any infringement on Egyptians’ dignity.

The Attorney General was reported against Sheik Wagdy Ghoneim for a YouTube video showing him insulting the Pope Shenouda after his death and describing it as “Perishing of the head of infidelity” which is considered offensive for the late Pope and his children of the Copts as well as

Parliament Speaker Saad El-Katatni (Freedom and Justice Party) has urged the ad hoc committee tasked with evaluating Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri's first official report to parliament to send its findings to the People's Assembly.

Yusuf El-Qaradawi, President of the World Federation of Muslim Scholars, has said that the late Pope Shenouda III had great respect for sharia (Islamic law) and courageously supported the Palestinian cause, refusing to visit Jerusalem under Israeli occupation.

Grey Villet (1927–2000), a South African-born photographer, was in Cairo in 1963 to capture scenes of Egypt under late President Gamal Abdel Nasser. His photographs offer an interesting window into a decade of change for Egyptian women. In one photo, a female student stands with two of her colleagues at Cairo University. In another, a young woman works at the newly established state TV. The caption reads, “An Egyptian state-owned TV set manufacturing plant, where out of 600 employees nearly half are women.”

A military court on Monday acquitted two men involved in a 14 year old court case on terrorism charges. Key figures of the Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya Islamist movement were being tried for planning terrorist acts and belonging to a banned group. Two of the most important members are Mohamed El-Zawahiri, the brother of Al-Qaeda's Ayman El-Zawahiri, and Mohamed El-Islambolli, whose brother Khalid killed Egypt's former president, Anwar Sadat.

In its full papal uniform, the body of late Pope Shenouda III remains on display at the Saint Mark Cathedral in Abbasseya so that mourners can bid farewell to an exceptionally influential patriarch, under whom the Coptic Church sought to remain the sole political and religious authority for Egypt’s Coptic minority.

Church sources said today that some religious leaders have expressed the preference to delay the election of the next patriarch of the Coptic Church beyond the election of a new president for Egypt. This means that the election of the next Coptic Pope would not take place before July, if the new president is sworn into office on 1 July as scheduled.

Youssef Hanna didn't tell his mother he was going to celebrate Coptic Christmas at the church of Saint Takla in Alexandria. Almost a week after a deadly attack on the Two Saints Church that left 23 dead, Youssef's mother urged her son to pray at home. Although Youssef is not a regular churchgoer, he insisted on going this time. Alexandria's Coptic Christmas this year is a show of defiance. Indeed, worshipper turnout wasn't down in Alexandria. On the contrary, the Two Saints Church saw attendees from other neighbourhoods. All churches in Alexandria were surrounded by security. IDs had to be shown and bags were thoroughly inspected.

A year ago Eman Wassef fell unconscious and lost sight of her husband at New Year's Eve prayers at the Two Saints Church in Alexandria following a deadly attack that left Eman's husband, Samuel Iskandar, and 19 other worshipers dead. Eman, in her mid-40s, and her two daughters, Nardine, 22 at the time, and Sherry, 12, and some 125 others were gravely wounded, physically and otherwise.

Pope Shenouda III was born Nazeer Gayed in August 1923 to a conservative Christian Family. By his teens, he was heavily involved in the Sunday School movement, which encouraged the return of religious education programs in Coptic communities. In 1949, he completed his undergraduate studies in history at Cairo University. Upon graduation, he joined the Coptic Orthodox Seminary, becoming a faculty member after ordination.

While participating in a panel on freedom of expression, Muslim Brother and MP Helmy al-Gazzar said that all citizens should be guaranteed the right to practice their own faiths. “Islam provides freedom of Religion,” he said. “Which means that non-Muslims are not compelled to convert to Islam nor hindered to practice Islam. Such a great freedom is an indicator for the unlimited freedom that God have granted to all mankind.”

The ongoing trial over the bombing of the Two Saints Church in Alexandria on New Year's Eve 2010-2011 was postponed Sunday following the death of Pope Shenouda III. Joseph Mallak, the church's lawyer, officially requested the delay of the hearing, out of respect for the Pope's the period of mourning declared after his death.

CAIRO - The spread of a new strain of foot-and-mouth disease has so far affected about 5,000 animals and caused the death of 255. Not only the prices of meat will be affected, but also those of poultry and fish Experts say consumers will have to put up with a 10 per cent rise or even more. The current rate is between LE60 and LE70 per kilo, depending on the social standard of the area and the meat quality.