Hymns echoing from the new church in this village in Egypt’s southern heartland could be heard well after sundown Wednesday, a reminder of the jubilant mood as Aziyah’s Christian residents vote on a new constitution.

Egypt’s interior ministry announced late Wednesday that a total of 444 Muslim Brotherhood members were arrested during the two-day constitution referendum.

“Preliminary referendum results demonstrate the people’s strong support for the June 30 revolution…and prove that those who claim that the people are with the return of Mohamed Morsi do not have a presence,” Head of the Salafi Nour Party Younes Makhioun told Youm7 on Thursday.

Giza prosecution is investigating 19 pro-Muslim Brotherhood supporters, charged with rioting in front of a polling station in Mansouria during constitution referendum voting.

Despite a high turnout among Salafi Nour Party members in the constitutional referendum, many of the party’s young members did not participate, the party’s deputy head Yasser Borhami said in a telephone interview with Mehwer Channel on Thursday.

A security source revealed that monitored phone calls of Muslim Brotherhood members revealed that the organization has been preparing a press conference to claim that participation in the constitutional referendum was low, not exceeding six percent.

A group of the Muslim Brotherhood supporters set fire to the Roxy traffic station, causing the station to completely burn down. A group of the Muslim Brotherhood supporters set fire to the Roxy traffic station, causing the station to completely burn down.

CAIRO: Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris, whose family controls Orascom corporate empire, said during a phone call to CNN channel on Tuesday that he did not bankroll the opposition against former President Mohamed Morsi, saying that his party the Free Egyptians Party simply supported the Tamarod campaign by offering them logistical supports and collecting signature for them.

Rulers of the Gaza Strip Hamas condemned Wednesday recent statements allegedly made by Egyptian officials regarding a potential military offence on the Strip bordering Egypt and Israel, reported state-owned news agency MENA.

NEW YORK -- At the start of the two-day referendum on the new Egyptian constitution in Cairo today, Bishop Kyrillos William Samaa, the Catholic Coptic ordinary of Assiut, came out in favor of accepting the draft.

SOHAG, Egypt: Security forces in Sohag governorate, Upper Egypt, intensified efforts Tuesday to arrest two Muslim Brotherhood supporters who beat and insulted citizens for supporting the constitution, said a security source.

CAIRO: Several members of Aboud and Tareq Zomor’s family flocked to their affiliated poll stations in their homeland of Cairo’s district of Nahia to vote in the constitutional referendum on Tuesday.

A recent Gallup survey reported that Islamic banking remains unpopular in Egypt, with only 3% of adults using Islamic banking services and only 49% who have heard of Islamic banking in the country.

The Muslim Brotherhood and the Anti-Coup Alliance reiterated their rejection of the constitutional referendum and participation in the poll that they deemed “illegitimate”.

AFP — Egypt’s Christians rang in the new year Wednesday with prayers for peace after months of unrest, but expressed no regrets over backing the military’s overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

The Strong Egypt Party will boycott this week's constitutional referendum because of a failure by authorities to guarantee a fair and democratic process.

A source from the Muslim Brotherhood told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy has prepared “surprises” at referendum committees to disrupt the referendum, and to stage a sit-in in Tahrir Square.

Over a thousand members of the Muslim Brotherhood have been referred by prosecutors to a criminal court for storming two police stations in Minya governorate last August.

The National Alliance to Support Legitimacy (NASL) said on Monday that the current interim government has "lost a new round" after a low turnout in overseas voting for the constitutional referendum.

Ministry of the Interior spokesman General Hany Abdel Latif announced Monday that 29 students were arrested in Sunday’s clashes in Cairo.

CAIRO, Jan 12 (KUNA) -- Upon receiving an invitation to visit Kuwait from His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Pope of Egypt's Coptic Christian Church Tawadros II described the gesture as expressing "love and tolerance." The pope said on Sunday that he received the letter with much delight, adding he was keen to respond affirmatively to the invitation "at the right time", in a visit where he would learn more of Kuwait's urban development.