US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel underscored Washington's military commitment to Egypt on Wednesday and pledged American support as Egyptian forces evolve to address new and shifting security threats, US defence officials said.

The Strong Egypt Party has criticised President Morsi's intention to restrict an impending cabinet reshuffle to particular ministries, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reports.

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Egypt's Illicit Gains Authority ordered on Wednesday that former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak be detained for 15 more days pending further investigations.

Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Mohamed Bahaa Eddin has called for the prohibition of rice cultivation in desert lands, which is already forbidden by law, so as to reduce overdraft of water from aquifers.

Veteran judge Ahmed El-Zend, who is head of unofficial judicial union the Judges Club, called on President Mohamed Morsi to apologise for "insults" directed at Egypt's judiciary by Islamist figures.

The Egyptian presidency confirmed that Prime Minister Hisham Qandil will remain in his post, despite an expected government reshuffle.

General Hany El-Refai of Egypt’s prison directorate denied that Israeli spy Ouda Tarabin has went on a hunger strike as reported earlier today.

Egyptian fund manager Mohamed Ayad watched his clients lose money for months until he himself became a victim of the stock market's slump.

Leftist forces, revolutionary movements and trade unions are planning a million-strong demonstration to mark May Day.

Judges Club chief Ahmed al-Zend has declared an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday by the club’s general assembly that will be attended by members of several other judicial authorities.

Egyptian Finance Minister El-Morsi El-Sayed Hegazy officially submitted the government's 2013/14 budget to the Shura Council (Parliament's upper house) on Tuesday.

A Cairo criminal court has sentenced Egypt's former minister of finance Youssef Boutros Ghali in absentia to 25 years in prison on charges of squandering public funds.

Justice Minister Ahmed Mekki, who submitted his resignation on Sunday, has said he will only continue in his job if he receives official guarantees regarding judicial independence.

A leading member of Egypt’s most prominent opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front, has ruled out the possibility that the front may be represented in the next cabinet reshuffle expected within days.

During routine archaeological research as part of the Ancient Egypt Leatherwork Project (AELP) carried out by Salima Ikram, Professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo (AUC) and Andre Veldmeijer, head of the Egyptology section at the Netherlands Flemish Institute in Cairo, a collection of 300 leather fragments of an Old Kingdom chariot were uncovered at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Dostour Party founder and National Salvation Front leader Mohamed ElBaradei warned that despite previous assurances, the NSF would not necessarily participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections without clear guarantees for their integrity — otherwise, they would be a mere “fake democratic circus,” he said on Monday.

A reshuffle of the Cabinet will be done early next week, Prime Minister Hesham Qandil said in remarks carried on state newspaper Al-Ahram's website on Monday, but he declined to give details on which ministries will be affected.

The spokesperson for the Armed Forces denied reports that the army had agreed to allow the Central Auditing Organization (CAO) and other regulatory bodies to oversee all their commercial activities in a statement posted on his Facebook page Monday evening.

The opposition Kefaya movement has launched a public campaign to collect signatures from citizens to withdraw confidence from President Mohamed Morsy, arguing that he had “turned away from the objectives of the 25 January revolution.”

Egyptian Minister of Justice Ahmed Mekki offered his resignation on Sunday, judicial sources inside the Ministry of Justice informed Ahram Online. The news comes one day after President Mohamed Morsi had stated there would be a government reshuffle