Islamic State claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack at the Italian consulate in central Cairo, in an escalation of violence that suggests militants are opening a new front against foreigners in Egypt.

Egypt’s state prosecutor has died of wounds sustained in a bomb attack on his convoy in a Cairo suburb.

Islamic State released a video yesterday purporting to show the beheading of a group of Egyptian Christians kidnapped in Libya, violence likely to deepen Cairo’s concerns over security threats from militants thriving in the neighbouring country’s chaos.

At least 17 people have been killed after an apartment building in Egypt’s capital collapsed.

Egyptian state media has announced a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel to halt the seven-week Gaza war, which has killed over 2,200 people.

Egypt’s deposed Islamist president was brought from the secret location of his four-month detention to face trial today on charges of incitement of violence and murder.

Egyptian authorities have arrested two more prominent Islamist figures a day after detaining the Muslim Brotherhood’s supreme leader and spiritual guide, Mohammed Badie.

Some 38 Muslim Brotherhood supporters died in disputed circumstances at a prison yesterday, as the leader of Egypt’s powerful army warned he would not tolerate violence, urging Islamists to change course.

Islamist protests descended into a bloodbath across Egypt yesterday, with around 60 killed in Cairo alone on a “Day of Rage” called by followers of ousted president Mohamed Morsi to denounce a crackdown by the army-backed government.

Egyptian authorities have authorised police to use deadly force to protect themselves and key state institutions from attacks.

An Egyptian court has turned down deposed president Hosni Mubarak’s request to be released from prison during an investigation into corruption charges, according to the state news agency.

Two football players are among 27 people killed in riots in the Egyptian city of Port Said, the area’s director of hospitals said.

Egypt’s judges yesterday said most of them would not oversee a nationwide referendum on a contentious draft constitution, as tens of thousands of opponents and supporters of the country’s Islamist president staged rival rallies in Cairo, four days ahead of the vote.

Thousands of opponents and supporters of Egypt’s Islamist president have flocked to key locations in the nation’s capital ahead of rival mass rallies, four days before a nationwide referendum on a contentious draft constitution.

The Egyptian army has deployed tanks outside the presidential palace following fierce street battles between supporters and opponents of Mohammed Morsi that left five people dead and more than 600 injured in the worst outbreak of violence between the two sides since the Islamist leader’s election.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has called for a December 15 referendum on a disputed draft constitution.

Egypt’s highest body of judges has called the president’s recent decrees an “unprecedented assault on the independence of the judiciary and its rulings”.

At least 47 children were killed today when their school bus was hit by a train on a level crossing in southern Egypt.

Villagers in Egypt briefly locked the country’s health minister and a provincial governor inside a hospital room today after allegedly contaminated water caused hundreds of residents to fall ill, officials said.

Ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak returned to prison today after weeks in a top-line military hospital, a security official said.

The head of Egypt’s armed forces rejected accusations that the military is throwing its weight behind a candidate in next month’s presidential elections a day after thousands of people demonstrated against the ruling generals.

An Egyptian military court has acquitted an army doctor accused of conducting forced “virginity tests” on female protesters last year, in a case that had sparked a national outcry.

The number of people killed in clashes with Egyptian security forces in the wake of a deadly football riot rose to 11 today, security officials said, as demonstrations continued in Cairo.

The number of people killed in clashes with Egyptian security forces in the wake of a deadly football riot rose to eight today, security officials said, as demonstrations continued in Cairo.

EGYPT’S military rulers apologised for the deaths of demonstrators at the hands of police, while insisting elections will go ahead next week as planned.

Attackers set off explosives today along a gas pipeline in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula that transports fuel to neighbouring Israel and Jordan, state news agency Mena reported.

ELEVEN Hungarian tourists were killed when a speeding tour bus overturned at a Red Sea resort town in south-eastern Egypt, according to police and medical officials.

SYRIAN security forces killed 10 people in Homs yesterday, activists said, and there was no sign yet of troops leaving cities under an Arab League agreement to end bloodshed after seven months of protests against President Bashar al-Assad.

Deadly clashes between Christians, Muslims and security forces have dealt a serious setback to Egypt’s transition to civilian rule, the country’s prime minister said today.

Ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's wife and other relatives fled to Algeria today, its foreign ministry said.

MUAMMAR GADDAFI’S wife and three of his children fled Libya to neighbouring Algeria yesterday, firm evidence that the longtime leader has lost his grip on the country.

Members of ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s family have entered Algeria, reports say.

Hosni Mubarak’s trial on charges he ordered the killing of protesters during Egypt’s uprising will be held at a police academy on Cairo’s outskirts instead of a convention centre in the heart of the capital, the head of Cairo’s appeals court said.

EGYPT’S ousted president Hosni Mubarak will be brought to Cairo for a trial on charges of corruption and ordering the killings of protesters, a minister has claimed.

Egypt’s ousted President Hosni Mubarak will be brought to Cairo for his trial on charges of corruption and ordering the killings of protesters, a minister says.

More than 1,000 people were reported injured as Egyptian security forces clashed for a second day in Cairo with hundreds of youths.

Egypt will open its only crossing with the Gaza Strip this weekend, the Cairo military government announced today, significantly easing a four-year blockade on the Hamas-ruled territory but setting up a potential conflict with Israel.

The wife of ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, was in intensive care today after suffering severe chest pains when she heard the news that she had been arrested over corruption claims.

Egyptian authorities have ordered the detention of Suzanne Mubarak, wife of deposed President Hosni Mubarak, the government-run MENA news service says.

TIMELINE

IF the West continues to support Hosni Mubarak as president of Egypt, the result will be catastrophic for the whole of the Middle East, an expert in Egyptian politics warns.

Eight tourists have been killed and 21 others injured when their bus smashed into a truck in southern Egypt today.

A SHIP sent by a Libyan charity to break Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip changed course in the Mediterranean Sea yesterday and instead appeared headed for an Egyptian port, signaling that it would avoid a showdown with the Israeli navy.

Eleven European tourists and eight Egyptians kidnapped while on a Sahara desert safari trip remain held in Sudan and Germany is negotiating with the kidnappers on their release, the Egyptian tourist minister said today.