A new law ratified by Egypt's president that imposes harsh restrictions on non-governmental organisations could be a "death sentence" for human rights groups in the country, Amnesty International has warned.

Every day at 5:30am, an alarm clock awakens Ahmed Maher from his mattress below a stairwell at his neighbourhood police station in Cairo.

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has returned home following his release from custody, security officials said, after legal proceedings that took years during which the country witnessed major upheaval.

Egypt's top appeals court has issued a final ruling that acquits former president Hosni Mubarak on charges of killing protesters during the 2011 uprising that ended his nearly three-decade reign.

A leading Egyptian activist behind the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak has been released from prison after serving a three-year sentence for violating a ban on unauthorised protests.

Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

Egypt has unearthed further evidence that a secret chamber, believed by some to be the lost burial site of Queen Nefertiti, may lie behind King Tutankhamun’s tomb, Egypt’s antiquities minister said.

Egypt’s president paid tribute to the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak, saying that protesters killed during the 18-day revolt had sought to revive “noble principles” and found a “new Egypt”.

Egyptians turned out in low numbers yesterday to vote in the first phase of an election hailed by president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as a milestone on the road to democracy but shunned by critics who say the new chamber will rubber -stamp his decisions.

An Egyptian criminal court sentenced ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi to 20 years in prison on charges linked to the killing of protesters in 2012, the first verdict to be issued against the country’s first freely elected leader.

An Egyptian court sentenced an icon of the 2011 uprising to five years in prison yesterday, in the latest sign of authorities’ determination to stifle dissent in spite of promises by the president to release “wrongly jailed youths”.

An American man has told a US court that he was asked by Osama bin Laden in 1995 to kill Egypt’s president by ramming his plane with his own in mid-air.

At least 25 people have been killed in a riot outside a major football game in Egypt.

Two sons of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak have been released from prison, nearly four years after they were first arrested along with their father, security officials have said.

Supporters of Egypt’s ousted Islamist president fought street battles with police in Cairo and other cities yesterday, on the fourth anniversary of the country’s 2011 uprising, as clashes left at least 15 people dead and dozens injured.

Supporters of Egypt’s ousted Islamist president have fought street battles with police in Cairo and other cities on the fourth anniversary of the country’s 2011 uprising, as clashes left 13 people dead and dozens injured.

The blue and gold braided beard on the burial mask of famed pharaoh Tutankhamun was hastily glued back on, damaging the relic after it was knocked during cleaning.

Egyptian police have used water cannon and tear gas to disperse several thousand demonstrators in Cairo protesting against a court’s ruling to dismiss a case against former president Hosni Mubarak over the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising against him.

An Egyptian court today dismissed criminal charges against former president Hosni Mubarak in connection with the killing of protesters in the 2011 uprising that ended his nearly three-decade reign.

Around 200 Egyptian journalists have rejected a recent policy declaration by newspaper editors pledging near-blind support to the state and banning criticism of the police, army and judiciary in their publications.

An Egyptian court postponed to November 29 its verdict on whether former president Hosni Mubarak ordered the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ended his three-decade rule.

CLOCK THAT

Egypt’s deposed president Hosni Mubarak denied he ordered protesters killed in the 2011 uprising that deposed him, his first lengthy statement to a court as his retrial draws to an end.

Three homemade bombs have exploded near Egypt’s presidential palace in Cairo, killing two senior police officers and injuring 10 other people.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has made the highest-level American visit to Egypt since President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi took office as Washington presses the former army chief to adopt more moderate policies.

The right of people to choose their own governments is running into trouble. The unrest sweeping many nations shows democracy being overwhelmed by despotism and despair, writes Nicholas Wapshott

Washington cannot sit back and allow Iraq to be overrun by a terrorist group that is capable of and willing to launch attacks on the US, writes Anja Manuel.

Turning the pages in Hillary Clinton’s new book, it is clear that this is a woman not about to rest on her laurels, and it seems she has her sights firmly set on the US presidency, reports Betty Browne.

Egypt’s newly sworn-in president has apologised in person to a woman who was sexually assaulted by a mob during celebrations marking his inauguration.

Egypt’s former army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi was sworn in yesterday as president for a four-year term, assuming the highest office of a deeply polarised nation that has been roiled by deadly unrest and an economic crisis since its 2011 uprising.

An Egyptian court has convicted ousted president Hosni Mubarak of embezzlement and sentenced him to three years in prison.

Egypt’s military leaders have been ridiculed after the chief army engineer unveiled what he described as a “miraculous” set of devices that detect and cure Aids, hepatitis and other viruses.

Egypt’s government resigned, paving the way for army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to declare his candidacy for president of a country gripped by political strife.

Egypt’s toppled president Mohammed Morsi stood inside a glass-encased metal cage today, separated from other defendants for the start of a new trial over charges concerning prison breaks during the country’s 2011 revolution.

Egypt will hold a presidential vote before parliamentary polls, president Adly Mansour said yesterday, in a change to a political roadmap that could pave the way for the swift election of army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The anniversary of Egypt’s 2011 uprising brought a violent display of the country’s divisions, as giant crowds danced at government-backed rallies and security forces crushed demonstrations by rival Islamists and some secular activists.

A suicide car bomber struck Cairo police headquarters, in the first of four blasts in Egypt’s capital that killed six people on the eve of the anniversary of the 2011 uprising.

Bad weather has delayed ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi’s helicopter flight from a prison in the country’s north to Cairo for the resumption of his trial on charges of inciting murder.

Prosecutors have questioned officials in one of Egypt’s largest telecommunications companies over an advertisement which a controversial blogger has accused of delivering a coded message linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.