Egypt

Cairo: Egyptian border guards on Sunday arrested 25 illegal immigrants who were trying to cross into Israel via the Egyptian border in central Sinai, the official MENA news agency reported.

The group of Eritreans, including five women, confessed that some people had promised to help them sneak into Israel in return for money.

Cairo: At least 13 Egyptians were injured on Tuesday when a fire broke out in the building of the Shura Council (upper house of the parliament) in downtown Cairo.

The fire, which broke out in the third floor of the parliament building in the afternoon, has destroyed the third floor and spread to the second floor, according to local TV reports.

Cairo: Egyptian police detained 14 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's most powerful opposition group, in the Nile Delta province of Menufia on Sunday, Brotherhood and security officials said.

Cairo: A minibus rammed into the back of a truck carrying steel bars north of Cairo on Sunday, killing 10 people, including a three-year-old boy, and injuring 11, the state-run Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported.

All the injured were in critical condition and have been moved to hospitals in the Delta town of Benha, where the accident occurred, MENA said.

Cairo: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak held talks with visiting Sultan Qaboos ben Said of Oman Thursday on the latest regional developments and bilateral ties, the official MENA news agency reported.

Geneva: The United States, Europe and other rich countries can help poor nations ramp up their own food production by agreeing to cut farm subsidies at talks this week, Egypt's trade minister said on Monday.

Egypt: At least 40 people were killed and 60 injured on Wednesday when a truck failed to stop at a level crossing and pushed waiting traffic into the path of a speeding train in northern Egypt, police said.

Cairo(Egypt): Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party swept the elections for four vacant parliament seats, state media said on Monday, in polls the opposition said were marred by detentions of its supporters and low turnout.

Cairo (Egypt): The Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Monday summoned a senior Iranian diplomat in Cairo over an Iranian film on the assassination of late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, the official MENA news agency reported.

Cairo (Egypt): A deadly clash between two families in an Egyptian Delta governorate over land disputes killed at least nine and injured six others on Thursday.

Egypt: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday called on African countries to implement a comprehensive agriculture development plan to increase agricultural production through expanding plantation and making efficient use of water resources.

Egypt: Dozens of Egyptian writers have condemned Culture Minister Faruq Hosni, a candidate to head UNESCO, for saying that he would visit Israel.

Egypt: Egypt has expelled 600 Eritrean asylum seekers in a week, and will probably expel 600 more as the UN urges Cairo to stop the deportations.

Egypt: Ten Egyptian paramilitary police conscripts have been charged with beating a colleague to death in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.