Egypt ruling council to form government

Egypt's ruling military said it would appoint a new cabinet within 48 hours, awarding a major victory to Islamist politicians and cooling a political confrontation that threatened to gridlock Egypt's emerging democratic institutions.

A court in Egypt has ordered the Coptic church to allow its faithful to remarry, quashing an appeal by the head of the church, local media reported on Sunday."By law, a Christian can remarry and the constitution guarantees his rights to have a (new) family. The appeal by Pope Shenuda III to prevent Copts from remarrying is rejected," Egypt's High Administrative Court said in its judgement, which can not be appealed.The ruling relates to the case of Hani Wasfi, an Egyptian Copt who complained against the pope's refusal to let him remarry after having been divorced.

Egypt's ruling military council remains committed to holding parliamentary elections in September, despite mounting calls for a delay, a military source told AFP on Monday."The military council insists on what it has already announced regarding (holding) elections at the end of September, in accordance with the result of a referendum" held in March, the source said.The military council was responding to statements by Vice President Yehia al-Gamal, who told a satellite channel on Sunday that the army had agreed to postpone the polls to December.

Egyptian activists behind an uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday rejected talks with the ruling military junta, demanding an end to military trials of civilians prior to any dialogue.The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took power when Mubarak was ousted in February, had invited 1,000 representatives of youth groups who took part in the January 25 revolt to attend a meeting on Wednesday.