Bomb kills six in Cairo during police raid

A bomb blast killed six people including three policemen Thursday as a team of officers raided an apartment in the Egyptian capital suspected to be a militant hideout, police said.

Egyptian court lists Hamas as terrorist organisation

The Cairo Court for Urgent Matters on Saturday ruled Hamas a terrorist organisation, a month after the group's military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, was also designated a terror group by the same court.
The verdict resulted from two separate private suits filed by Samir Sabry and Ashraf Said, both lawyers, against the de facto rulers of the Gaza Strip.

Egypt: UN rights experts denounce mass death sentences as ‘mockery of justice’

UN, 31 March 2014 – A group of eight United Nations human rights independent experts today urged the Egyptian authorities to quash the 529 death sentences announced in Egypt last week and give the defendants new and fair trials, in line with international human rights law.
“The right to life is a fundamental right, not a toy to be played with. If the death penalty is to be used at all in countries which have not abolished it, international law requires the most stringent respect of a number of fundamental standards,” the experts said in a news statement.

UN human rights office deeply alarmed at mass imposition of death penalty in Egypt

UN, 25 March 2014 – The United Nations human rights office said today it is deeply alarmed by the imposition of the death penalty against 529 people in Egypt on Monday after a “cursory” mass trial in which the majority of defendants were not present in court.
“The astounding number of people sentenced to death in this case is unprecedented in recent history,” Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), told a news conference in Geneva.
“The mass imposition of the death penalty after a trial that was rife with procedural irregularities is in breach of international human rights law.”

Egypt declares state of emergency. Announcement comes amid security crackdown on pro-Morsi protesters which left at least 295 people dead nationwide.

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A state of emergency has been declared across Egypt, according to a presidential statement announced on state television.
The state of emergency will begin at 4pm local time (14:00 GMT) and will last for a month, the statement said on Wednesday afternoon.
The exceptional measures came as "the security and order of the nation face danger due to deliberate sabotage, and attacks on public and private buildings and the loss of life by extremist groups," the presidency said.