Death toll from toxic liquor consumption rises to 18

The death toll from the consumption of toxic bootlegged liquor in the southern port city of Karachi rose to 18, as at least nine more people lost their battle for life on Monday, hospital officials said.

At least half a dozen people were still admitted to the hospital in precarious condition, raising fears that the casualties may rise further.

“It is a sorry situation and seven more people passed away one by one during the course of the day,” a senior doctor at the Jinnah Hospital, the city’s biggest state hospital, said.

Egypt freezes assets of top Islamists

Johannesburg: Egypt's prosecutor has ordered the freezing of assets belonging to 14 top Islamists, as part of an investigation into deadly violence.

Judicial sources said that the order by public prosecutor Hisham Barakat affects nine Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including the group's general guide Mohamed Badie.

According to News24, the order will also affect five Islamists from other groups, including ex-militant faction Gamaa Islamiya.

Egypt interim leader offers Brotherhood roles

The Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamist Nour Party will be offered ministerial positions in the transitional government, officials have said, hours after the appointment of a new prime minister.

Hazem el-Beblawi, a liberal economist and former finance minister, was named the new prime minister, the presidential spokesman, Ahmed al-Muslimani, said.

Liberal opposition chief and Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei was named vice president for foreign relations, Muslimani said on Tuesday.

At least 45 activists shot dead in Cairo: Muslim Brotherhood

CAIRO: Egyptian security forces shot dead 45 activists early Monday during a protest in Cairo calling for ousted president Mohamed Morsi to be reinstated, his Muslim Brotherhood said.

“45 people were killed and a hundred others injured, many of them in serious condition,” the group's spokesman Ahmed Aref told AFP.