Coptic Orthodox church starts the Fast of Nineveh next Monday. The Fast of Nineveh is a three-day fast starting the second Monday before Clean Monday from Sunday Midnight to Wednesday noon during which participants abstain from all kinds of dairy foods and meat products and which commemorates the three days that the Prophet Jonah spent in the belly of the Great Fish and the subsequent fast and repentance of the Ninevites at the warning message of the prophet Jonah according to the bible.

Under the auspices of Abba Makarios, bishop of Minya, and in cooperation with the Academy of Talents in Minya, the fifth carnival of the talented was held in Minya. 220 churches from 9 dioceses have participated in the carnival with a total of 6850 participants in various competitions.

Abba Markus, Bishop of the Churches of Qubba Gardens, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the ‘Nativity of Christ’ in the new administrative capital. The congregation from the churches of St. Mary in Ameria and St. Demiana in Waily celebrated the holy mass at the new cathedral as well.

Dr. Hosam al-Shazly, secretary general of the Egyptian Council for Change, announced his intention to run for the presidential race in Egypt. Al-Shazly announced his presidential team, which includes a number of members of the Muslim Brotherhood including: Dr. Mohammed Hafez, Hisham Ismail, Ahmed Jarjawi and Mohammed Shalabi.

Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patirarch of ST. Mark See, said during his meeting with Egyptian writers at Al-Ahram public newspaper, that Copts are not a denomination and the Coptic church has churches in 60 countries and its congregation extended in 100 country. He called the writers to avoid the term Coptic denomination and to teach the people about the Coptic history through their writings.

Egyptian Education Ministry announced its change for the Islamic religion curricula in favor of tolerance and peaceful coexistence in Egypt. This comes as part of the initiative to develop the religious discourse.

Abba Antionious Morkos, Bishop of African affairs, visited Namibia from January 18 to January 21 where he celebrated Epiphany feast with the Coptic congregation there. During his visit, Bishop Morkos ordained 6 deacons for the ministry in the church.

During his visit to Al-Ahram public newspaper, Pope Tawadros II said that Copts have been suffering since the fifties from marginalization, a trend that was reversed 7 years ago. Pope explained that the visit of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi to the Cathedral to congratulate the Copts on their feasts and restoring the demolished churches restored such balance. Pope added that extremism can be feced by spreading values of tolerance through media and other institutions.

Subir Lall IMF Mission Chief for Egypt, Middle East, Central Asia, said IMF report on Tuesday showed promising progress of the Egyptian economy. He added that the Egyptian authorities have embarked on ambitious reform program and have taken decisive measures aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and sustainable public finances; while at the same time strengthening social protection to shield the most vulnerable. Lall explained that the monthly rates of inflation are continuing to decrease, pointing out that they are expected to achieve the desired reduction this year with inflation reaching 13% by the end of 2018.

The Cathedral of the Prophet Elijah of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch was opened today by the Tolerance Minister Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, accompanied by a delegation of dignitaries of the country. Pope John X, the Patriarch of Antioch of the Greek Orthodox Church, opened the Cathedral that was built in the Musaffah area of Abu Dhabi. For his part, the Bishop of the UAE, Abba Gregory Khoury, expressed his gratitude to the state and thanked His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, President of the country, who gave the Patriarchate of Antioch this land on which the church was built.

Egypts Minister of Antiquities Khaled al-Anani said that Egypt will change the map of the world Tourism after the opening of the Egyptian Grand Museum at the end of 2018. He pointed out that more than 70% of the museum are completed and that the museum will bring many tourists to Egypt.

Egyptian police are taking extra security measures to secure public and private properties on the occasion of January 25 celebration. Security managers visited several locations in Ismailia, Sohag, El-Beheira, Matrouh, and Minya.

The Minister of Awqaf, Mukhtar Jumaa, called for law enforcement concerning the sectarian incidents in Upper Egypt. He explained that such crimes are resorted to ignorance and called all Egyptians to remain united. This came at the signing ceremony of the book "Kirialison in the Love of the Copts" by Hamdi Rizk, in response to a question by journalist Moufid Fawzi about the reality of the persecution of Christian families in Upper Egypt.

Abba Markos, bishop of Qubba Gardens, celebrated the feasts of the wedding ceremony of Cana of Galilee and the martyrdom of St. Demiana at the church of St. Demina in Waily, Cairo.

Egyptian newspapers published the message sent by the Egyptian parliament to the US Congress to denounce the draft law on Coptic Christians and explained the situation in Egypt after the revolution of January 25 and the revolution of June 30.

As they celebrated the holy feast of Epiphany, Coptic families baptized their children as part of the Coptic ritual.

After 3 houses owned by Copts were demolished in the sectarian attacks in Dawar village, Behira governorate, a customary reconciliation session was held against the law.

A Coptic priest decided to give unusual present at the opening of a new mosque in Zagazig. The present was a Koran.

Abba Tadrus, Bishop of Port Said, visited the displaced Copts of Arish in their temporary residence in Port Said to congratulate them on Christmas and Epiphany feasts.

A relative of Bassim Mehriz, the latest martyr of the Coptic Orthodox Church, published a voice record that he received from the terrorist who killed Bassim.

Copts are preparing to celebrate the Day of the Epiphany next Thursday when they eat cane and taro in addition to the Coptic rituals.