Egypt’s second biggest Islamist party said yesterday it feared the army’s return to public life “in a big way” after the military gave politicians 48 hours to resolve the country’s political crisis.

THERE’S something in the air in Derry. The great city of St Columcille is the first UK City of Culture, a cultural extravaganza that began in January and will extend all year.

Egypt’s opposition has called for an investigation into allegations of vote fraud in the referendum on an Islamist-backed constitution.

Egypt’s president has ordered his interior minister to investigate a rash of sex assaults during a just-completed Muslim holiday.

Egypt’s chief forensic doctor has told a state-run newspaper that Hosni Mubarak has never suffered a stroke and that he is not in critical condition, contradicting earlier medical reports that the former president’s health was deteriorating.

Egypt formally asked the International Monetary Fund for a $4.8 billion loan today, seeking a desperately needed rescue package for its faltering economy but raising the possibility of painful restructuring in a country still reeling since its revolution more than 18 months ago.

Egyptian troops and security forces have detained nine Islamic militants in northern Sinai believed to be behind a surprise attack last weekend that killed 16 Egyptian soldiers, a security official said.

Egyptians demonstrated throughout the weekend in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square and other cities, enraged that a court had spared deposed leader Hosni Mubarak his life over the killing of protesters in the uprising that ended his three-decade rule.

The surprise assault on Israel’s embassy in Cairo has pushed Egypt’s ruling military deeper into confrontation with a protest movement openly accusing the country’s caretakers are trying to cling to the legacy of Hosni Mubarak rather than dismantle it.

Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak could face the death penalty if he is convicted of ordering the shooting of protesters during the uprisings which brought him down, the country’s justice minister said today.

EMBATTLED Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, under intense pressure to quit, was slapped with an EU visa ban while ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was also hit by travel restrictions.

Egypt’s former leader Hosni Mubarak and his family were banned from travelling abroad and had all their funds seized today.

Egyptian protesters were jubilant today over their success in ousting President Hosni Mubarak, but many vowed to stay camped in a central Cairo square until they hear “clear assurances” that the military will meet their demands for democracy.

Anti-government protesters were angered today by a warning from Egypt’s vice president Omar Suleiman that unless they joined talks the country could fall to a coup.

State-run newspaper Al-Ahram said tonight an Egyptian reporter shot during clashes earlier this week died today of his wounds, the first reported journalist death in 11 days of turmoil surrounding Egypt’s wave of anti-government protests.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet Egypt’s president and eight Arab foreign ministers in Cairo on Tuesday in an effort to revive stalled Mideast peace talks, Egypt’s state news agency reported today.

Palestinian militants have agreed to a conditional release of the kidnapped Israeli soldier, but Israel has not yet accepted their terms, according to Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt said today that a detained chemist wanted by Britain for questioning over the London bombings had no links to the attacks nor to al-Qaida.

EGYPTIAN police yesterday detained about 200 people from the home villages of the three attackers responsible for a bomb blast and tour bus shooting near Cairo tourist sites the day before, authorities said.

Muslims worldwide are the main perpetrators of terrorism, a humiliating and painful truth that must be acknowledged, a prominent Arab writer said today, as Middle East media and officials registered their horror at the bloody rebel siege of a Russian school.

United States Secretary of State Colin Powell today urged Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia to “seize the opportunity” of a proposed Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as a first step toward statehood next year.

Arab media reacted cautiously to the beheading of an American civilian on a video issued by an associate of Osama bin Laden, with some newspapers conspicuously playing it down or even ignoring it.

A very public fit of presidential coughing and sneezing has energised debate among the Egyptian elite over democratisation and how power is wielded in the most populous Arab country, reform advocates said today.

OSAMA BIN LADEN, the accused mastermind of the World Trade

US Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday pledged to provide “straightforward, sober and compelling” proof this week that Iraq was hiding banned weapons from United Nations inspectors in violation of UN demands.

MUSLIMS across the world began fasting yesterday for the holy month of Ramadan, with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the possibility of a US-led war against Iraq casting a shadow over celebrations.