Diplomatic drive intensifies as Gaza death toll reaches to 350

GAZA: Fresh Israeli bombardments killed five people in Gaza Sunday, hiking the death toll from the assault to over 350.Israel pressed its air, sea and ground offensive against the besieged coastal territory.Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal was to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Qatar to discuss an Egyptian-proposed truce on Sunday, and the movement said it had received an invitation to Cairo for ceasefire talks.

Egypt proposes ceasefire in -IsraeliPalestinian conflict

Egypt has proposed a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza that would start on Tuesday, ending a week of cross-border warfare, and be followed by talks to prevent further hostilities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu planned to convene his decision-making security cabinet on Tuesday to discuss the proposed truce, an Israeli official said.

The official appeared to put a positive spin on the Egyptian initiative, saying Hamas had been weakened military by Israeli air and sea bombardments.

Two police officers killed in Egypt bomb

Two Egyptian police officers have been killed and several others wounded in a small explosion near the presidential palace in Cairo's Heliopolis district, the Interior Ministry has said.

Security forces were defusing one makeshift bomb found at a street intersection near the presidential palace on Monday when a second device exploded, the ministry said in a statement.

Egypt confirms 183 death sentences, including Brotherhood chief

MINYA: An Egyptian court on Saturday confirmed death sentences for 183 Islamists, including Muslim Brotherhood chief Mohamed Badie, a prosecutor said, after a speedy mass trial that sparked an international outcry.The court in the central city of Minya had initially sentenced 683 people to death, but on Saturday it commuted death sentences of four to life in prison, including two women, and acquitted 496 other defendants.

Egypt Muslim Brotherhood chief given new death sentence

An Egyptian court on Thursday sentenced to death Muslim Brotherhood General Guide Mohammad Badie and 13 others over violence that killed 10 people in Cairo in summer 2013.

The court referred its decision to the country's Grand Mufti, who must give an opinion on death sentences before they can be confirmed.

Army boss Sisi sworn in as Egypt president

CAIRO: Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was sworn in as president on Sunday following a landslide election almost a year after he deposed Egypt's first freely elected leader and crushed his Islamist supporters.The retired field marshal took the oath of office at the heavily guarded Constitutional Court and then left to attend a reception with foreign dignitaries.

King Abdullah calls El-Sissi to pledge economic support

King Abdullah calls El-Sissi to pledge economic supportKing Abdullah calls El-Sissi to pledge economic supportCustodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah telephoned newly elected Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi on Friday to pledge the Kingdom's support for the country's economic development.

One person dead in Cairo clashes between Morsi supporters, opponents

CAIRO: One person was killed during clashes in Cairo overnight between supporters and opponents of deposed president Mohamed Morsi, Egyptian security officials said Thursday.

Four people were also arrested during the violence that broke out on the sidelines of a pro-Morsi gathering, the officials said.

Since the Egyptian army ousted and detained Morsi on July 3 last year, the security forces have waged a crackdown on protests by his supporters.

Egypt judiciary extends Mursi detention

Cairo : Egypt’s judiciary said on Monday it was extending ousted president Mohammed Mursi’s detention for a further 15 days pending an investigation into his collaboration with Hamas.

Mursi, overthrown by the military on July 3, was placed in detention on July 26 over his links with the Palestinian Islamist militant group, which rules neighbouring Gaza.

Ousted Egypt president detained over Hamas contact

CAIRO: An investigating judge has ordered the detention of Egypt's ousted president over alleged contacts with Hamas to help in his escape from prison in 2011, the official state news agency reported Friday in the first official word on his status since a military coup on July 3.

The MENA news agency said Mohammed Morsi has been detained for 15 days for investigation into the charges. His detention can be extended as the inquiry continues.

The news agency indicated that Morsi has already been interrogated.

Egyptian army threatens to shoot violent protesters

CAIRO: Egypt's army threatened on Thursday to shoot those who use violence in a stark warning before what both sides expect will be a bloody street showdown between Islamists and opponents of deposed President Mohamed Mursi.

An army official said the military had set Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood an ultimatum, giving it until Saturday to sign up to a plan for political reconciliation which it has so far spurned.

Egypt blast kills one, wounds 28

CAIRO: A blast Wednesday at a police station in a Nile Delta city killed one person and wounded 28, a medic said, in the latest incidence of violence sweeping Egypt since president Mohamed Morsi's ouster.

Mohamed Sultan, deputy head of the emergency services, told AFP an explosive device went off very early in the morning outside a police station in the city of Mansura, in Dahqaliya province.

Cairo clashes kill four

CAIRO, Qahirah: Clashes between supporters and opponents of Mohamed Morsi killed four people on Monday as the ousted Egyptian president's family vowed to sue the army over his ouster.

At least 28 people were also injured in the violence between the rival groups of demonstrators in Cairo and the nearby town of Qalyub, emergency services said.

Morsi loyalists clash with security forces as US envoy visits

CAIRO: Hundreds of Islamists loyal to deposed president Mohamed Morsi clashed Monday with security forces as they rallied for his return, after a US envoy urged Egypt's army-backed leaders to end violence.

The demonstrators cut off the October 6 bridge across the Nile in the heart of Cairo, before the security forces fired tear gas to drive them back, an AFP correspondent reported.

The pro-Morsi protesters, who had turned out in their thousands after the Ramadan iftar meal to demand his return, responded by hurling rocks at the security forces, who again dispersed them by firing tear gas.

Egypt freezes assets of top Islamists

Johannesburg: Egypt's prosecutor has ordered the freezing of assets belonging to 14 top Islamists, as part of an investigation into deadly violence.

Judicial sources said that the order by public prosecutor Hisham Barakat affects nine Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including the group's general guide Mohamed Badie.

According to News24, the order will also affect five Islamists from other groups, including ex-militant faction Gamaa Islamiya.

Egypt announces criminal investigation of Morsi

CAIRO: Egypt announced a criminal investigation on Saturday against deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, with prosecutors saying they were examining complaints of spying, inciting violence and ruining the economy.

Egypt's first freely elected leader has been held at an undisclosed location since the army removed him from power on July 3, but has not yet been charged with any crime. In recent days, Washington has called for him to be freed and for the authorities to stop arresting leaders of his Muslim Brotherhood.

Putin warns Egypt it's approaching a civil war

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday warned that the standoff in Egypt between supporters and foes of deposed president Mohamed Morsi threatened to degenerate into a civil war. "Syria is already in the grips of a civil war, unfortunately enough, and Egypt is moving in that direction," Russian news agencies quoted Putin as saying while on a visit to Kazakhstan.

At least 45 activists shot dead in Cairo: Muslim Brotherhood

CAIRO: Egyptian security forces shot dead 45 activists early Monday during a protest in Cairo calling for ousted president Mohamed Morsi to be reinstated, his Muslim Brotherhood said.

“45 people were killed and a hundred others injured, many of them in serious condition,” the group's spokesman Ahmed Aref told AFP.

Chief justice Adly Mansour sworn in as interim president

CAIRO: The chief justice of Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court was sworn in on Thursday as the nation's interim president, taking over hours after the military ousted the Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

Adly Mansour took the oath of office at the Nile-side Constitutional Court in a ceremony broadcast live on state television. According to military decree, Mansour will serve as Egypt's interim leader until a new president is elected. A date for that vote has yet to be set.

Millions explode with joy on streets as Egyptian army seizes power

Celebrations were taking place across Egypt this evening after the military chief said President Mohammed Morsi had been forced out.

The head of Egypt's armed forces issued a declaration suspending the constitution and appointing the head of the constitutional court as interim head of state.

In a televised broadcast, flanked by military leaders, religious authorities and political figures, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi effectively declared the removal of elected Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.