CAIRO - The world came to a stop for three former ministers and a steel tycoon when they landed at el-Mazraa Prison on the outskirts of Cairo late Thursday.

CAIRO - Egypt's government will raise state pensions by 15 percent from April, Egypt's official Middle East News Agency (MENA) cited the prime minister as saying on Saturday.

CAIRO - A Cairo court on Saturday approvedthe establishment of an Egyptian political party that has beentrying to secure an official licence for 15 years, judicial sources said.

CAIRO - A judicial council entrusted with proposing constitutional changes to allow free and fair elections in Egypt has nearly finished its work, Egypt's official Middle East News Agency quoted its chairman as saying on Saturday.

CAIRO - Banks in Egypt will reopen Sunday, after nearly three weeks of closure, the officials Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported. “Banks will reopen on Sunday,” the report said, citing an official statement from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

CAIRO - The Egyptian army announced on Saturday that it would not punish an officer who was shown on television joining anti-regime demonstrators after surrendering his weapon. "Based on the belief of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) in the noble objectives of the January 25 revolution, the president of the council has decided to suspend the investigation of... Ahmed Shuman," the council said on its Facebook page.

CAIRO - Workers at Egypt's largest factory will continue striking, an independent labour group said on Saturday, in defiance of warnings by the ruling military junta that it will no longer tolerate protests. Around 15,000 workers from the Misr Spinning and Weaving -which employs 24,000 people in the Nile Delta city of Al-Mahalla al-Kubra - "are holding a sit-in for a fourth day in front of the administration building," the Centre for Trade Union and Workers' Services (CTUWS) said in a statement.

CAIRO: A committee formed of a number of counselors, law professors and one lawyer will start meetings Wednesday to amend Egypt’s suspended constitution. The committee, led by vice president of the State Council Tarek El-Beshry, had been assigned by Supreme Council of the Armed Forces on Monday to amend the constitution.

CAIRO - Egypt's former President Hosni Mubarak is taking telephone calls in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, said a source who spoke to him Tuesday. "He's fine," the source said. "He is at his residence in Sharm el-Sheikh with his family. He is receiving telephone calls. I spoke to him at 3 o'clock (1300 GMT) this afternoon."

CAIRO - Egypt's central bank said the country's banks would remain shut for the rest of the week after closing since Monday because of strikes that disrupted business and a public holiday, state television said on Tuesday. Banks had been due to close on Tuesday, which is an official holiday marking the Prophet Mohamed's birthday. The central bank said banks would re-open on Sunday, the first day of the week in Egypt. Egypt has

CAIRO -Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said Tuesday it will form a political party in the wake of the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak's regime, which banned but broadly tolerated the Islamist opposition group. "The Muslim Brotherhood believes in the freedom to form parties and is therefore determined to have its own political party," Mohammed Mursi, a member of the group's political bureau, said in a statement.

CAIRO: Egypt’s opposition groups said they have faith in the army to see the country through this transitional period, however they expect more in terms of answering popular demands. “The Muslim Brotherhood confirms that it and the people respect and trust the army, which throughout the revolution continued to demonstrate [restraint], caring for the good of one and all,” read a statement issued by the Brotherhood on Sunday.

CAIRO: Journalists called Monday for the expulsion of chief editors of state-owned newspapers and magazines, as well as the head of the Journalists’ Syndicate, Makram Mohamed Ahmed, for their stances during the revolution.

CAIRO (Updated) - Egypt's new military rulers on Sunday suspended the constitution and dissolved a parliament dominated by the ruling party of former president Hosni Mubarak, after he was overthrown in a popular revolt.

CAIRO - Hosni Mubarak is still in Egypt in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said on Sunday, amid rumours that the ousted strongman had fled the country. "Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq announced that former president Hosni Mubarak is still in Sharm el-Sheikh," the state news agency reported, after Shafiq gave his first news conference since the former strongman left Cairo.

LONDON - Britain’s fraud investigation agency has launched a hunt to identify the millions of pounds in money and assets secretly stashed in the country by deposed Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak and his family, a media report said Sunday.

Egypt's army is trying to clear Cairo's Tahrir Square of protesters who have camped there for 20 days, vowing not to move until reforms are implemented. But several thousand have made their way to the square - the focal point of the uprising that led to President Hosni Mubarak's departure on Friday.

CAIRO--Egypt's State and pro-government media have abruptly changed their tune. Faithful mouthpieces of Hosni Mubarak's regime until the end, they now celebrate the ouster of the longtime Egyptian president — and pledge to be more attentive to ordinary Egyptians. State TV even promised to be more truthful in its reporting.

TEL AVIV---Hosni Mubarak had harsh words for the United States and what he described as its misguided quest for democracy in the Middle East in a telephone call with an Israeli lawmaker a day before he quit as Egypt's president.

CAIRO (Updated) - Egypt's new military leadership on Saturday vowed to pave the way for democracy and abide by international treaties as the hopeful country celebrated victory on the day after Hosni Mubarak's overthrow.

CAIRO - Pro-democracy activists in Al Tahrir Square vowed on Saturday to stay there until the Higher Military Council now running Egypt accepts their agenda for reform.