Cairo: Egypt's top court ruled on Sunday that parliament's Muslim Brotherhood-led upper house was illegal but could stay on until elections, dealing the Islamists a moral blow but letting them keep their grip on lawmaking for now.
The decision resolves an area of legal uncertainty hanging over a political transition repeatedly upset by the courts.
The ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court upheld the upper house's right, as set out in a new constitution, to legislate in the absence of a lower house. That chamber was dissolved in June 2012 following a similar legal challenge. Dates for new elections have yet to be set.
The upper house, elected as a consultative assembly on a 7 per cent turnout, has angered the opposition by broaching areas of controversy since it assumed legislative powers in December....
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06:58 AM, Jun 03, 2013
Cairo: Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's retrial was indefinitely adjourned on Saturday after the presiding judge withdrew from the case and referred it to a lower court, triggering angry protests in the courtroom. Judge Mustafa Hassan Abdullah announced his decision to recuse himself minutes after the retrial opened at a Police Academy on the outskirts of Cairo, citing "embarrassment" over the proceedings, according to state-run news agency MENA. Abdullah said...
05:57 PM, Apr 13, 2013
More than 120 people have been injured in clashes between opposition protesters and Islamists near the headquarters of Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood in the capital. The violence erupted after activists protesting against the Islamists' policies and targeting of journalists, marched to the building guarded by police and Brotherhood members. ...
08:53 AM, Mar 23, 2013
The dance by about 400 young men was a rare moment of light-hearted expression of dissent amidst political turmoil that has left dozens dead and hundreds injured. ...
09:56 PM, Mar 02, 2013
Egyptians voted narrowly in favour of a constitution shaped by Islamists and opposed by liberals in the first round of a two-stage vote, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's party that sought a "yes" vote said on Sunday, citing its unofficial tally. One opposition official also said the vote appeared to have gone in favour of Islamists who backed the constitution, after the opposition had said late on Saturday when...
10:49 AM, Dec 16, 2012
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11:05 AM, Dec 05, 2012
The assembly writing Egypt's constitution said it could wrap up a final draft later on Wednesday, a move the Muslim Brotherhood sees as a way out of a crisis over a decree by President Mohamed Mursi that protesters say gives him dictatorial powers. ...
02:45 AM, Nov 29, 2012
Cairo: Clashes between supporters of Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood and Opposition parties on Friday erupted in Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square for the first time since Islamist President Mohammed Morsi took office, leaving hundreds injured. The clashes erupted after supporters of Morsi tore down a stage belonging to leftist politician and ex-presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi's Popular Current. The supporters of Sabbahi were chanting anti-Morsi slogans. Tensions are also high after the...
08:35 AM, Oct 13, 2012
Cairo: A female Egyptian news presenter appeared on state television wearing a veil for the first time on Sunday after the Islamist-dominated government lifted an effective ban that had been in place for decades under secular-leaning regimes of the past. The ban on female news readers wearing the Islamic veil had long been criticized even by liberals and human rights activists as an infringement on personal freedoms - particularly in...
03:04 PM, Sep 03, 2012
Alexandria: Protesters threw tomatoes and shoes at US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's motorcade on Sunday during her first visit to Egypt since the election of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. A tomato struck an Egyptian official in the face, and shoes and a water bottle landed near the armoured cars carrying Clinton's delegation in the port city of Alexandria after she gave a speech on democratic rights. A senior US...
08:56 AM, Jul 16, 2012
Cairo: Egypt's Islamist president fired the first volley on Sunday in his battle with the nation's powerful generals, calling on the Islamist-dominated parliament to reconvene despite a military-backed court ruling that dissolved it. A week into his presidency, the surprise move by Mohammed Morsi threatened to plunge the country into a new bout of instability and violence, nearly 17 months after the ouster of authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak. "This is...
07:21 AM, Jul 09, 2012
Cairo: Egypt's newly elected President Mohammed Mursi, a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, still figures on a travel ban list which prevents him from leaving the country as a member of the Islamist group. Despite winning Egypt's first presidential polls after the popular uprising which toppled longtime president Hosni Mubarak, 60-year-old Mursi's name was not removed from the lists of people banned from leaving the country. "The name Mohammed...
12:23 PM, Jul 06, 2012
Cairo: Egypt's first Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, was sworn in on Saturday, propelling his Muslim Brotherhood into power after 84 years of struggle, although the military remains determined to call the shots. Immediately after swearing his oath, he said a civil, national, constitutional and modern state was "born today". The bearded US-trained engineer is Egypt's first non-military president since army officers toppled the king in 1952. For the Brotherhood, banned...
08:13 AM, Jul 01, 2012
Cairo: Islamist President-elect Mohamed Mursi began talks on Wednesday with groups nervous about where he will take Egypt after the generals who have ruled since Hosni Mubarak's fall make way for the republic's first civilian leader. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Mursi to bring diverse groups into his government, mentioning Egypt's Coptic Christian minority, secular-minded Egyptians and young people. The US State Department played down reports that Clinton...
08:49 AM, Jun 28, 2012
Washington: The election of an Islamist president in Egypt is turning longstanding US policy in the Mideast inside out. The Obama administration is relieved that the candidate representing three decades of close partnership with the United States lost. The United States is now set to embrace a religious-based former opposition leader who does not share many US goals, perhaps including the 30-year peace with Israel upon which US policy in...
02:12 PM, Jun 26, 2012
Cairo: Islamist Mohamed Mursi, Egypt's first freely elected President whose powers have been curbed by the military, toured his palatial new residence - where ousted leader Hosni Mubarak once lived - and began work on Monday to form a coalition government. Declared winner on Sunday, a week after a nail-biting run-off vote that pitted him against an ex-military officer, the Islamist faces the challenge of meeting sky-high expectations in a...
08:08 PM, Jun 25, 2012
Cairo: The Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi was declared the winner of Egypt's first free presidential election on Sunday, and he proclaimed himself a leader "for all Egyptians," although he faces a struggle for power with the country's still-dominant military rulers. The announcement by election officials touched off a joyous celebration of chanting and dancing in the sweltering heat by tens of thousands of Morsi's supporters jamming Tahrir Square, the birthplace...
05:17 AM, Jun 25, 2012
Cairo: Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi on Sunday won the historic post-Mubarak presidential polls in Egypt, beating his rival and former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik to become the country's first freely elected President. Supreme Presidential Elections Commission head Farouq Sultan announced that Morsi had won the presidential run-off. Morsi, 60, won 51.73 per cent of the vote, beating his rival Shafik, the Higher Presidential Election Commission said. Morsi won 13,230,131 votes...
08:20 PM, Jun 24, 2012
Cairo: Egypt's ruling armed forces were on high alert on Sunday as fears of violence mounted in the final hours before the state election committee is to name the winner of last weekend's presidential election at 1:00 pm GMT. Mohamed Morsy of the long-oppressed Muslim Brotherhood has already claimed to be the successor to the ousted Hosni Mubarak. Millions of his Islamist loyalists may react with fury if the run-off...
06:12 PM, Jun 24, 2012
Cairo: Egypt will release results from disputed presidential elections on Sunday, the country's top elections commission official said - an announcement that will put an end to nerve-wracking uncertainty about who is the official winner, but promises no resolution to the power struggles between Islamists, the military and other factions. A gathering of secular-leaning politicians criticized on Saturday what they said was US meddling on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood,...
01:29 AM, Jun 24, 2012
