CAIRO, May 14 (Reuters) – Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG)
, Egypt’s biggest listed property developer, reported a
2.5 percent rise in first-quarter net profit as sales rebounded
from the same period of 2011, when they were disrupted by
political turmoil.

The firm reported on Monday net profit of 173.7 million
Egyptian pounds ($28.8 million) in the first quarter, compared
to last year’s 169.4 million pounds.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s military rulers on Saturday imposed an overnight curfew and deployed soldiers around the Defence Ministry to deter a repeat of Friday’s deadly violence, less than three weeks before a presidential vote.

One soldier died and almost 400 people were wounded in Friday’s clashes, the second time in a week that protests over the army’s handling of Egypt’s troubled transition from army rule to civilian government have turned violent.

CAIRO (Reuters) – The army deployed around Cairo’s Defence Ministry on Saturday to deter protesters after a soldier died and 373 people were wounded in clashes during demonstrations against Egypt’s ruling generals, less than three weeks before a presidential vote.

Cleaners swept up debris after Friday’s violence in the Abbasiya district where streets were calm but strewn with rocks and other projectiles hurled by protesters at troops, who fired teargas and charged the crowd to drive them from the ministry.

CAIRO (Reuters) – At a Cairo vehicle licence bureau, despondency finally gave way to despair. In the heaving crowd, which had been waiting with little to do but watch the insects creep across the walls, scuffles broke out.

The clerk behind the glass sat sipping tea, apparently unperturbed by the tumult. With no waiting list, he smiled across the crowd at the best-dressed man in the room and a woman wearing pricey sunglasses, who acknowledged his glance and pressed forward to be served first.

CAIRO, April 25 (Reuters) – At a Cairo vehicle licence
bureau, despondency finally gave way to despair. In the heaving
crowd, which had been waiting with little to do but watch the
insects creep across the walls, scuffles broke out.

The clerk behind the glass sat sipping tea, apparently
unperturbed by the tumult. With no waiting list, he smiled
across the crowd at the best-dressed man in the room and a woman
wearing pricey sunglasses, who acknowledged his glance and
pressed forward to be served first.

CAIRO (Reuters) – A leading Islamist candidate said on Tuesday he was confident he would win enough votes in Egypt’s first real presidential election to seal victory in the first round, and said anybody associated with Hosni Mubarak was unfit to lead.

In an interview with Reuters, Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh said he expected to win a majority of votes among members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group from which he was expelled over his decision to seek the presidency. The group is fielding its own candidate for the historic vote.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt has rejected a request from eight U.S.-based civil society groups for licenses to operate in the country after a crackdown on their activities sparked the first diplomatic spat with Washington since the ousting of Hosni Mubarak.

In a move that may damage Cairo’s relations with Washington, the Insurance and Social Affairs Ministry rejected the applications because it believed the groups’ activities violated state sovereignty, Egyptian state news agency MENA reported on Monday.

CAIRO/DUBAI, April 22 (Reuters) – Egypt’s bourse made its
biggest daily gain in more than two months on Sunday after mass
weekend protests ended peacefully, and Dubai’s Emaar Properties
helped lift the bourse from six-week lows, while other
Gulf markets were mixed.

Egypt’s main index rose 2.6 percent, its biggest
gain since Feb. 20, also lifted by measures by military rulers
to try to get the writing of a new constitution back on track.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Ten Egyptian presidential candidates, including Hosni Mubarak’s spy chief, a Muslim Brotherhood leader and an Islamist preacher, lost appeals on Tuesday against disqualification from the race, shaking the political landscape weeks before the historic vote.

The disqualifications of top Mubarak aide Omar Suleiman, the Brotherhood’s Khairat al-Shater and Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, a popular preacher of the strict Islamist Salafi school, help the chances of secular liberals as well as other Islamists in the first free vote for a leader of the most populous Arab state.

CAIRO (Reuters) – A move to exclude some of the more divisive contenders from Egypt’s presidential election may help moderate candidates seen as better able to forge the consensus many believe can foster a peaceful transition to democracy.

Two prominent Islamists – one a hardline Salafi sheikh, the other the Muslim Brotherhood’s official nominee – as well as ousted President Hosni Mubarak’s spy chief were battling to stay in the running on Monday as a deadline approached for them to appeal against disqualification by the state election committee.