The defence team of Egypt’s ex-oil minister Sameh Fahmy has told a Cairo court that Hosni Mubarak was the sole architect of the deal providing cut-price gas exports to Israel, reports the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper.

Presidential candidate Amr Moussa is consolidating his position as the favorite for more than 40 percent of Egyptians voters in the historical vote slated for 23 May, a new poll shows. Al-Ahram Centerfor Political and Strategic Studies surveyed Egyptians' favorite candidates for the election and published the results Monday.

Fayza Abul Naga, Egyptian minister of international cooperation, confirmed at a Monday press conference that there were no plans for a cabinet reshuffle, despite recent reports to the contrary. "I ask those who propagate rumours to fear God," the minister said.

Saudi Arabian newspapers on Monday shed light on the diplomatic crisis that has erupted between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The Gulf kingdom withdrew its ambassador in Cairo following protests outside the embassy over the arrest of an Egyptian lawyer in Jeddah.

Secular MPs severely criticized People’s Assembly Speaker Saad al-Katatny for his decision Sunday to suspend parliamentary sessions for a week over the Cabinet’s refusal to resign.

Deputy Health Minister Hisham Shiha stated Sunday that clashes near the Defence Ministry late Saturday left 91 injured and no fatalities. The injured were treated at Demerdash, Hussein, Dar El-Shefa and El-Nozha hospitals, Shiha added. Of the injured, 77 had light wounds.

Egyptian presidential hopeful Amr Moussa began a tour of Upper Egyptian cities on Sunday with the aim of promoting his electoral campaign. On Sunday afternoon, Moussa visited the Church of Mar Girgis in the Upper Egyptian city of Sohag, where he told church officials that he was an "independent candidate – not the candidate of any religious, government or military entity."

Hundreds of Saudi and Egyptian bloggers on Sunday expressed solidarity with one another on social-networking platform Twitter, amid an ongoing diplomatic row between their two countries. Only hours after the Saudi ambassador to Cairo departed Egypt on Sunday, Saudi activists created an Arabic-language hashtag on Twitter loosely translated as "an Egyptian influenced my life."

The Egyptian state continues to treat its nationals abroad with the same contempt that the former Mubarak regime did, presidential candidate Khaled Ali said in a statement Sunday. Last year's revolution, he said, "had been intended to restore Egyptian dignity both at home and abroad," he said.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has agreed with political parties in a meeting on Saturday on six main criteria by which the constituent assembly tasked with drafting Egypt's new constitution will be formed. The 6 points agreed upon in the meeting include:

Egypt's Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission (SPEC) has accepted the appeal filed by Ahmed Shafiq on Wednesday against its Tuesday decision to exclude him from running for the country's highest office allowing him back into the presidential race, according to MENA.

Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Fayza Abouelnaga on Wednesday denied that the government informed Israel of its intention to negotiate the gas prices.

The parliamentary majority’s refusal of the cabinet’s February briefing to Parliament has raised concerns of economists and bankers over the possible faltering of government negotiations of an International Monetary Fund loan. The IMF had stressed the need of obtaining government guarantees that the economic reform programs drafted by Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri’s cabinet would be implemented, to secure the US$3.2 billion loan.

After four days of discussions, the mediation committee that was formed to end the impasse over the Constituent Assembly's current makeup agreed that the assembly should be formed from outside Parliament.

The British government is facing embarrassing questions over the continued presence in London of Egypt's ex-finance minister Youssef Boutrous-Ghali despite an outstanding Interpol request for his arrest.

The decision to halt Egyptian natural gas exports to Israel was not simply due to commercial differences, international shareholders in the consortium involved said on Wednesday, dismissing claims they were behind in payments.

Egypt's Armed Forces have placed Dayan’s Rock under tight security, using armored vehicles and earth mounds to protect the rock , in anticipation of a rally Wednesday when activists said they planned to paint it with the colors of the Egyptian flag.

A representative for presidential hopeful Ahmed Shafiq on Wednesday appealed a decision made to exclude the former prime minister from the upcoming race. Judicial sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Presidential Elections Commission head Farouk Sultan would set a date within hours to consider the appeal, saying Shafiq had the right to appeal the political isolation law over its constitutionality.

Egypt's military is pumping LE400 million of its funds into North Sinai development projects to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Israel's return of the territory, the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Drug abuse has increased in Egypt during the past five years, with the highest addiction rate in Cairo, according to a conference held Tuesday by the General Secretariat of Mental Health.

CAIRO—Hundreds of Egyptians protested outside the Saudi Embassy on Tuesday demanding the release of an Egyptian human-rights lawyer detained in Saudi Arabia for allegedly insulting the kingdom's monarch.