Amnesty urges Egypt to investigate Sinai killings by police

Egypt must launch an independent and thorough investigation into the recent killing of 10 men by security forces in the Sinai Peninsula, Amnesty International said on Monday.

The government announced earlier this month that the 10 had been killed in a shootout in the northern Sinai city of al-Arish. But in a Monday statement, the London-based advocacy group repeated what the families of the slain men already claim — that at least six of them had already been in police custody for weeks before their deaths.

Aviation officials: EgyptAir plane carrying 66 has crashed

An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew on board crashed in the Mediterranean Sea early Thursday morning off the Greek island of Crete, Egyptian and Greek officials said.

Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said it was too early to say whether a technical problem or a terror attack caused the plane to crash. "We cannot rule anything out," he told reporters at Cairo airport.

Egypt to restore King Tut mask after botched epoxy job

The restoration of King Tutankhamun's world-famous golden mask will begin Saturday, over a year after the beard was accidentally broken off and hastily glued back with epoxy, Egypt's state-run news agency said Friday.

Egypt unveils Suez Canal extension with pomp-filled ceremony

In a defining moment of his young presidency, Egypt's Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi presided Thursday over the unveiling of a major extension of the Suez Canal that he hailed as a historic feat needed to revive the country's ailing economy after years of unrest.

Upbeat and clearly relishing the pomp-filled occasion, el-Sissi nevertheless conceded that the $8.5 billion project will not bring a quick economic windfall to a country roiled by violence and unrest since 2011. Its completion, he said, was but the first of a 1,000-step journey Egyptians must take toward economic recovery.