Prosecutors in Egypt were questioning popular satirist Bassem Youssef on Sunday over alleged insults to the president and to religion, reigniting calls for freedom of expression in post-revolt Egypt. Youssef, whose weekly programme Albernameg (The Show) has pushed the boundaries of local television with its merciless critique of those in power, continued to challenge the authorities even as he arrived at the prosecutor's office.

The UN atomic agency's board of governors on Wednesday approved giving Japanese director general Yukiya Amano a new four-year term without even resorting to a vote. In 2009, the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-member board had needed six rounds of voting to select Amano for his first term, with developing countries worried he would be too pro-Western. This time however the 65-year-old's second term, which will start in December following approval from all 159 IAEA members in September -- a formality -- passed by consensus, meaning no vote was taken.

US Secretary of State John Kerry was in Cairo on Saturday to push for a way out of Egypt's violence-wracked political impasse, underlining the need for a consensus to overcome a crippling economic crisis. As Kerry arrived from Turkey, protesters torched a police station in the canal city of Port Said which is entering its third week of civil disobedience, reflecting the size of the task facing the secretary of state in Egypt, which has been rocked by months of unrest.

An Egyptian opposition head said he and colleague Mohamed ElBaradei have turned down invitations to meet Secretary of State John Kerry when he visits Cairo because of US pressure. Hamdeen Sabahi, a leader of the National Salvation Front (NSF), said late Thursday that he and ElBaradei objected to Washington's call for the opposition to reconsider its boycott of Egypt's parliamentary election in April. "I received an invitation and turned it down, and Dr ElBaradei received an invitation and he turned it down," Sabahi said in an interview with ONTV television channel.