Syrian troops retook the ancient Christian town of Maalula from rebels Monday, a day after President Bashar al-Assad said the three-year old civil war was turning in his favor.

The Muslim Brotherhood said on Monday that reconciliation efforts with the regime continue through intermediaries close to the military leaders.

An informed source from Cairo University has denied news that security troops broke into the university campus to follow Muslim Brotherhood students after dispersing their protest outside the campus.

On Sunday, 13 April, Christians, both Western and Orthodox, celebrated Palm Sunday, which commemorates the triumphal return of Jesus to Jerusalem. It also signals the beginning of the Holy Week, which leads up to Easter, the most significant celebration of the spiritual year for many Christians. This year, the Orthodox and Western calendars coincide and all Christians celebrate Easter at the same time.

Cairo Criminal Court adjourned the trial of the of former president Mohamed Morsi and 14 other defendants accused of killing and inciting murder against protesters at Ithadeya Palace to April 19 to continue hearing testimonies.

Secretary general of the Muslim Brotherhood international organization Ibrahim Mounir has denied that the group is moving from London to Austria.

A Cairo criminal court has ordered the release of Essam Sultan, head of the Islamist Wasat Party, on bail worth LE 3,000 in a case in which he is accused of insulting Egypt's judiciary.

On Sunday afternoon, Giza police evacuated the Virgin Mary Church in Al-Saff district after they found an improvised explosive device.

Monufiya police arrested an alleged terrorist cell belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood made up of eight members, state-run MENA reported on Sunday.

A retired army general says he has filed a court case pushing for Egypt's historic Saint Catherine's Monastery to be demolished and its Greek monks deported on the grounds that they pose a threat to national security.

The Egyptian cabinet has said that it will implement penalties for engaging in terrorism on members of the Muslim Brotherhood or anyone supporting them starting this week, four months after it designated the group a terrorist organisation.

A delegation of African Union leaders, led by former Malian president Alpha Oumar Konare, met late Wednesday with leaders from the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy, the Islamist alliance leading protests demanding the reinstatement of deposed president Mohamed Morsy.

The Cairo Criminal Court adjourned Thursday the trial of 14 Muslim Brotherhood leaders on charges of inciting violence and killing nine people near the Istiqamah Mosque, to April 23.

The Egyptian government has stepped up a campaign to curb Muslim Brotherhood influence over mosques, saying it has licensed more than 17,000 state-approved clerics to give Friday sermons to stop places of worship falling “into the hands of extremists”.

An appeal court has refused to recuse the judges in two cases involving ousted president Mohamed Morsi. Islamist preacher Safwat Hegazy and senior Muslim Brotherhood member Mohamed El-Beltagy had demanded the recusal of the judges in their trials for espionage and escaping from prison.

Former presidential hopeful Bassem Khafagy, chief of Development and Change Party, announced on Wednesday ‘running for first free coming elections’ as he said, not the elections slated for 26 and 27 May.

Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis was listed as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the Department of State Wednesday.

On Wednesday, security forces dispersed hundreds of Azhar University students affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood using teargas canisters after they blocked al-Mokhayyam al-Da’em road in Nasr City district and attempted to break into the Faculty of Commerce.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood issued a lengthy statement Tuesday evening in which it condemned violence and claimed the group had adhered to strictly peaceful means of struggle throughout its history – distancing itself from anyone who acted otherwise.

The UK’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) unveiled last week its new Foreign Office’s Advisory Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief, featuring Tariq Ramadan, grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood Hassan el-Banna.

Security forces fired tear gas at female students protesting at Al-Azhar University Tuesday, reported Youm7.