WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers have seized upon a domestic spending bill as a chance to tighten controls on how Egypt's Islamist government can use well over $1 billion in military and other aid that Washington sends to Cairo each year.

Against the backdrop of Cairo's lavish Nile City Towers along the banks of the Nile, dozens of residents of the low-income Ramlet Boulaq stood amid their makeshift homes to give a press conference about the injustices that they say they continue to face.

Nobel Laureate and prominent opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei denounced on Monday the murder of the two men who were accused of violent crime by villagers in Gharbiya.

CAIRO, March 18 (Reuters) - Egyptian bakers will face legal action if they carry out a threat to strike, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Bassem Ouda said, raising the stakes in a dispute linked to state bread subsidies.

The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Dr Shawky Allam, met with Katalin Bogyay, head of the UNESCO General Assembly, and Dr Peter Kveck, the Hungarian ambassador, in Egypt.

President Morsi must be held accountable for his failure to manage the country during this period of crisis and he should call early presidential elections, Strong Egypt Party founder Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh has said.

Following a legislative committee meeting Sunday, the Shura Council is inclined to approve a proposal submitted to it by Ihab al-Kharrat, chairperson of the human rights committee, to divide electoral constituencies according to the number of voters, not population.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation arrived in Cairo late on Saturday to resume talks on a $4.8 billion loan to Egypt, reports state-owned news agency MENA.

Hundreds of Egyptian bakery owners on Saturday blocked Cairo's Qasr Al-Aini Street near the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade to protest government plans to reduce flour subsidies.

The petroleum minister met with the electricity minister Sunday to discuss alternatives for operating power plants with the available fuel. Petroleum Minister Osama Kamal had previously threatened to cut off fuel from the Electricity Ministry if it does not pay its LE50 billion in debt to the Petroleum Ministry.

Armed Forces troops managed to seize fabrics similar to those used in the uniforms of Armed Forces and Police.

Liberal opposition figure and founder of the Constitution Party Mohamed ElBaradei expressed his satisfaction with the recently-ratified UN document combating violence against women.

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said that his government is working to put an end to ongoing developmental and economic problems in Upper Egypt.

Egypt’s criminal court acquitted former ministers of tourism and housing Zuhair Garana and Ahmed El-Maghrabi of corruption charges on Saturday

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi will visit Pakistan this week on a one-day state visit, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said Saturday.

The Libyan embassy in Cairo on Saturday suspended work for security reasons, days after Egyptians protested in front of the building over the death of an Egyptian Copt in Libya.

Mervat al-Tallawy, head of the National Council for Women (NCW) and the Egyptian official delegation which took part in the 57th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, said the participating countries reached consensus over the final wording of the international agreement to end violence against women after four disputed articles were removed.

The EU should withhold budget support from Egypt unless it makes significant progress with human rights, democracy and the rule of law, say MEPs in a resolution passed on Thursday. They also call for the death sentences on 21 football supporters involved in the Port Said tragedy to be commuted and for a moratorium on all death penalties in Egypt.

The European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton delivered a speech to the European Parliament and spoke extensively on the current situation in Egypt. According to Thursday’s press release, Ashton said there are still several issues which Egypt must overcome for the country to get on the right track.

Dozens of demonstrators gathered in Manassa area of Nasr City to show their support of the Egyptian military.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of Egypt's Constitution Party and a founding member of the National Salvation Front (NSF), is not hoping for a military takeover.