The Egyptian government is still seeking the approval of Egypt's political parties over the long-awaited $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is expected to ease the budget deficit in the coming fiscal year 2013/14.

State security prosecution decided Tuesday to detain Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, sons of ousted President Hosni Mubarak for 15 days pending investigations in the case known in the media as the ‘presidential palaces’ case.

A team from the International Monetary Fund concluded a two week visit to Egypt on Monday without signing a deal on a much-anticipated $4.8 billion loan, but the international lender said progress with Egypt was achieved.

A state security officer, Osama El-Keneisy, has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for torturing Sayed Belal to death during investigations into a bomb attack at the Two Saints Church in Alexandria.

Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi testified at Giza Criminal Court at the Police Academy for 30 minutes Tuesday at the trial of dozens of senior intelligence officers accused of ordering the destruction of important documents.

Egypt's unemployment rate for 2012 grew to 12.7 percent, mainly due to the "circumstances that followed the January 25 Revolution," the country's official statistics agency, CAPMAS, said on Tuesday.

A report by a fact-finding committee appointed by President Mohamed Morsy that had implicated the Armed Forces in torture and other human rights abuses against protesters during the 25 January revolution did not, in fact, contain any evidence that the military had committed such acts, claimed Prosecutor General Talaat Abdallah on Monday.

MINYA, Egypt, April 15 (Reuters) - Egypt's Islamist-led government must be dreaming if it expects a bumper wheat harvest over the next six weeks that will save the country billions of dollars in imports, says farmer Farid Boshra Abdel Malek.

A number of youths have begun an initiative called "Heliopolis Heritage Initiative" to prevent the demolition of buildings that have special architectural features in Cairo's Masr al-Gedida and maintain the architectural character of the area.

Renowned feminist figure, Nawal Al-Saadawi, said on Saturday that poverty is not the exclusive problem women confront, their real problems lie in not being aware of their entitlement to rights.

Ousted President Hosni Mubarak will not leave the prison cell even if a court decision releasing him is issued, an official source at the Egyptian prosecution told a local newspaper.

CAIRO, April 15 (Reuters) - A law that will allow Egypt's Islamist-led state to issue Islamic bonds contravenes the sharia in numerous ways, according to a panel of senior Muslim clerics whose objections are likely to hold up ratification of the legislation.

Prosecutors tasked with investigating the killing and injuring of protesters during Egypt's revolution have provided the court retrying former president Hosni Mubarak with 700 pages of new evidence and testimonies, prosecution spokesperson Mahmoud El-Hefnawi said on Saturday.

Dozens of villagers from Qarnat Marai in Luxor closed on Sunday the Valley of the Queens and Deir al-Madina, both of which are the sites of pharaonic tombs, to protest local officials' failure to provide them with land promised in compensation for being evacuated from their homes for archaeological excavations.

The April 6 Youth Movement will protest on Monday outside the New Cairo courthouse where the Fifth District prosecution will decide whether to renew the detention of fellow members.

Popular Current leader Hamdeen Sabbahi has told an International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation that he opposes the fund's loan to Egypt if it harms the poor by eliminating subsidies, raising prices and reducing salaries.

The nation's economic crisis poses a threat to basic nutrition for its population of 84 million people, as the poorest spend more than half their income on food, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Thursday.

In its evening session on Wednesday, the Shura Council passed the two laws on the House of Representatives and the exercise of political rights, but the assembly’s speaker, Ahmed Fahmy, postponed their final approval until Thursday’s session.

A number of former interior ministry officials were banned from travel on Wednesday after being accused of illegally acquiring some LE1.6 billion (roughly $240.5 million) worth of ministry funds, Al-Ahram's Arabic-language news website reported.

The Dokki Misdemeanors Court issued its verdict today acquitting Prime Minister Hesham Qandil from liability and impeachment in light of a lawsuit filed by workers at the Tanta Flax and Oils Company, accusing him of failing to uphold an administrative court ruling issued in September 2011 — ruling that the privatized company should be returned to the public sector.

Qatar will extend $3 billion to Egypt in the coming days, the Qatari prime minister announced on Wednesday in comments reported by state news agency MENA.