Western powers are preparing for possible strikes against Syria over the purported use of chemical weapons last week that activists and an aid group say killed more than 300 people.

Egypt's interim president, Adly Mansour, announces an amendment to the law regulating the punishment for insulting the president.

John McCain and Lindsey Graham, members of the Committee on Defense and National Security in the U.S. Senate, arrived in Cairo on Monday for talks on Egypt's ongoing political crisis.

Former US envoy to Syria Robert Ford is being considered as Washington's next ambassador to Cairo, sources familiar with internal discussions said on Sunday as U.S. and European mediators sought a peaceful resolution to Egypt's crisis.

US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns extended his visit for one day to meet Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi and Defence Minister General Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi, in his continued talks to end violence and to start a peaceful and inclusive political process, according to state-owned news agency MENA.

Human Rights groups suggested solutions to deal with the sit-ins set up in support of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, in a meeting with Mohamed Ibrahim, Minister of interior, on Saturday night.

Egypt's military must move "more aggressively" to hold elections and future US aid will hinge upon a return to civilian rule, US Senator Lindsey Graham said on Sunday as he and another senior Republican lawmaker prepared to travel to Cairo.

A group of foreign officials who arrived to Cairo throughout the week have been trying to consolidate the state of "no violence" that has been reached via the diplomatic intervention of European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton late last week. The visitors, Westerns and Arabs, are also working on reaching a "truce" between present authorities and the Muslim Brotherhood that refuses to end two major sit-ins ongoing in Cairo and Giza.

Interim Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi met party heads and leaders of the National Salvation Front on Saturday evening to discuss the ongoing political crisis.

The 6th of October Prosecutor General’s office charged 36 supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi Sunday, after they were arrested during the media production city clashes, according to state-run MENA.

The United States extended the closures of some embassies and consulates in the Middle East - which had been closed Sunday due to an al Qaeda threat - through 10 August due to caution but not the emergence of any new threat, the State Department said.

The Ministry of Interior has promised protesters a safe exit if they leave pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo and Giza “quickly.”

The Tamarod Movement has called on the League of Arab States to support the initiative it is launching under the title “Squares without Weapons,” which will ensure that there are no weapons in the sit-ins in Rabaa al-Adaweya and Nahda squares where supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsy are staging protests.

Reasons for protesting were divided into two: protesting for political and civil rights increased 60 percent from June to 89.50 percent in July, while protesting for economic and social rights marked 10.50 percent of total demonstrations, including denouncing power cuts and water shortages.

The Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR) called on the Ministry of Interior to refrain from violence in a Thursday statement.

Egypt's Cabinet says it will take "all legal measures necessary to confront acts of terrorism and road-blocking" in an apparent warning to supporters of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi who have been camping out in two Cairo sit-ins since the president's ouster.

Ex- Prime Minister Hisham Qandil will be imprisoned for one year, state-run Al-Ahram reported on Wedneday. Qandil, who was tried by a court in Dokki, had been sentenced for failing to execute a court order pertaining to the reinstatement of employees at a linen company, in addition to failing to annul the sale of the aforementioned company to a Saudi businessman.

Egypt’s military-backed government has ordered the police to break up the sit-in protests by supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, saying they pose an “unacceptable threat” to national security.

The National Council for Childhood and Motherhood filed a report on Tuesday to Public Prosecutor Hesham Barakat calling on him to take the necessary procedures to remove children from the Rabea al-Adaweya sit-in.

An African Union (AU) fact-finding delegation currently in Egypt met ousted president Mohamed Morsi on Wednesday.

Vice President for foreign affairs Mohamed ElBaradei held a press conference on Tuesday afternoon with EU foreign policy Catherine Ashton to discuss Ashton's visit to Cairo and her talks with various political actors in Egypt.