Remarks by Egypt's education minister on whether school-age girls should or should not wear the hijab triggered confusion and initiated rumours that the government would ban the Islamic scarf in schools.

As Egypt prepares for parliamentary elections at the end of this year there are growing concerns that secular political parties might not be able to compete well. Not only do non-Islamist parties complain of election laws that allocate the majority of seats in the coming parliament to independents, but also internal power struggles and ideological differences could seriously compromise their performance in the coming polls.

The leader of Nigeria's Boko Haram denied he had been killed or ousted as chief of the jihadist group in an audio recording released Sunday attributed to him by security experts.

Islamic State group jihadists have beheaded 12 people and hung them on crosses during a battle for the coastal city of Sirte, the national news agency LANA reported Saturday.

The militant group Islamic State said in an audio broadcast on Thursday that its Egyptian affiliate had killed a Croatian hostage, a day after a photograph of a beheaded corpse purported to be that of the Croat was circulated by the group’s supporters.

Houthi rebels discussed Wednesday withdrawal from Sanaa, Yemeni informed sources told the London-based newspaper Asharq al-Awsat Thursday.

The killing of a Croatian citizen at the hands of Egypt’s Islamic State affiliated in North Sinai is “vile and criminal,” Al-Azhar said Wednesday, strongly denouncing the beheading of Tomislav Salopek.

Strict security measures are being enforced nationwide in preparation for 14 August, the second anniversary of the violent dispersal of two pro-Morsi sit-ins, state-owned news agency MENA reported.

The Khanka Misdemeanor Court of Appeals on Thursday sentenced a police officer to five years hard labor over killing 37 prisoners allegedly belong to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, Youm7 reported.

Egypt's prosecution referred Muslim Brotherhood Supreme leader Mohamed Badie on Tuesday to criminal court in a new case over allegedly staging an "armed sit-in" in 2013 in Rabaa El-Adawiya Square in Cairo, Ahram Arabic news website reported.

A military court on Tuesday sentenced 250 Muslim Brotherhood members to life in jail for their involvement in violent actions that took place in the Nile Delta governorate Beheira following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Islamic State's Egyptian affiliate published a photograph it said showed the beheaded body of a Croatian hostage it had threatened to kill last week, the SITE monitoring service said on Wednesday.

Apache helicopters carried out air strikes on "Ansar bayt al-Maqdis militants" in North Sinai on Tuesday, leaving 15 dead and 10 injured, security sources said.

Al-Azhar has condemned Amnesty International’s recent move to push for decriminalization of sex workers, calling it “satanic”, Al-Masry Al-Youm reports.

A Giza criminal court ordered late Monday the release of Wasat Party head Abul-Ela Madi - a staunch supporter of Egypt's ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi - after he spent over two years behind bars.

Leaders of the Jama'a al-Islamiya, both in Egypt or fugitive abroad, agreed to appoint Osama Hafez, vice-president of the group’s Shura Council, as president of the council, informed source said.

Egyptian prosecutors referred Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and other group leaders to trial for holding an "armed encampment" in Cairo's Rabaa Sqaure, a prosecution statement said.

Egypt's minister of social solidarity ordered the dissolution of 10 NGOs and the suspension of the administrations of 29 NGOs for being affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and other members of the outlawed group were referred to a criminal court Tuesday over new crime-related charges, according to a statement from General Prosecution.

Cairo Criminal Court sentenced on Monday ten people to death over charges of forming an Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist cell led by the brother of Al-Qaeda’s chief.

A panel formed by the Justice Ministry to freeze the assets of the Muslim Brotherhood decided on Monday to seize 16 hospitals believed to be ran by the group in five provinces.