Egyptian security forces on Tuesday arrested 23 members of the banned opposition Muslim Brotherhood group as they prepared to meet to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip, according to a security source.

The source said the 23 were arrested in front of Egypt's Doctors Syndicate, where the meeting to discuss the Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip was due to take place.

Earlier on Tuesday, dozens of security elements were seen surrounding the syndicate, located in downtown Cairo.

Power transmission equipment manufacturer KEC International has received an order worth Rs 636 crore from Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company.

It is the largest contract the company has ever got. The order will be funded through the European Investment Bank and the Egyptian National Bank.

In a statement, the company said that the scope of the order includes design, supply and construction of circuit lines in Egypt. The total length of the Egyptian transmission lines will be 196 kilometers and the order is to be finished in 24 months.

Cairo - Hamas was preventing casualties from entering Egypt for treatment, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit on Sunday, a day after Gaza was pounded in Israeli airstrikes that killed have some 270 people.

Egypt had opened its Rafah border and was awaiting for Hamas' to let the casualties into Egypt, Abul Gheit said. Hundreds of Gazans have been wounded in Israel airstrikes and clashes since Saturday.

Abul Gheit's statements came during a press conference with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

There was no independent confirmation that Hamas has blocked the border crossing as no immediate comment from the Islamic movement was available.

Tel Aviv - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was scheduled to visit Cairo Thursday for talks on the escalating violence between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip.

Livni's trip comes as the Israeli inner, or security cabinet, gave the military the green light Wednesday to launch a series of operations against Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and which Israel sees as bearing ultimate responsibility for the rocket fire directed against the Jewish state.

Cairo - For the last two years, the Cairo Investment Forum has been packed with booths, attendees and headline speakers.

What a difference a financial crisis makes.

"Where is the so-called exhibition," one young man asked at the event's opening, clearly unwilling to believe that this year's event was meant to be a continuation of the galas of recent years.

Cairo  - At least five tourists were killed Monday night in a bus accident in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula near the Red Sea resort of Dahab, security sources said.

Initial reports said that at least 11 were killed in the accident, a security source told the Middle East News Agency (MENA).

Nationalities of the casualties are still unidentified.

The Egyptian Sinai Peninsula is popular for its touristic destinations that attract travellers from around the world.