Pope Francis is likely to meet Fidel Castro during his upcoming trip to Cuba, the Vatican said Tuesday. "A meeting with Fidel Castro is probable, even if it is not yet scheduled for a specific time in the programme", spokesman Federico Lombardi told reporters ahead of the pontiff's eight-day trip to Cuba and the United States, which begins Saturday.

The moderate Islamist Wasat Party has declared it revised its policies since the release of its leader from custody detention last month, yet another sign that it might break with its past support for deposed president Mohamed Morsi.

A court in Upper Egypt's Minya sentenced to death eight individuals and handed 106 others varying prison terms on Tuesday, for accusations of involvement in violence dating back to 2013.

The centrist Islamist Wasat Party said in a statement on Monday that it will not run in the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 18, reiterating its independence from the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

Taliban insurgents stormed a mud fort being used as a prison in Afghanistan on Monday, killing police and releasing more than 400 inmates, and then attacked troops rushing to help, officials said.

North Sinai security forces killed 53 militants on the seventh day of the “martyr’s right” operation in al-Arish, Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid, said the military spokesman Sunday.

A soldier and 11 militants were killed on the eighth day of a joint security operation in al-Arish, Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid of North Sinai, the Egyptian military spokesman said on Monday.

Two suspected militants were killed Sunday following clashes with police forces near the Suez-Cairo highway, according to an Interior Ministry statement detailing the police raid targeting the two men.

The ultra-conservative Salafist Nour Party announced on Friday it is going to run only for two party-based electoral lists in the upcoming parliamentary elections, according to an official statement by the party.

The Salafi-led Nour Party's presidential board will meet on Tuesday to discuss the administrative court ruling which obliges the Political Parties Affairs Committee to study the legal situation of parties with religious backgrounds ahead of the parliamentary elections.

A criminal court in Cairo sentenced six Muslim Brotherhood supporters to 10 years in prison on charges of illegal assembly.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry condemned "the storming by Israeli occupation forces of the yard of al-Aqsa Mosque" after prayers at dawn on Sunday.

The North Cairo Criminal Court, headed by Judge Saeed al-Sayyad, sentenced six defendants to 10 years of hard labor in absentia on Sunday, for protesting outside the Nasr City Police Station without a permit.

The military announced Thursday the killing of 86 "takfiri elements" and the arrest of another 195 in the last three days, as part of operation “Retribution for the martyr” against militant groups in North Sinai.

Softly spoken schoolgirl Mariam Malak has become an unlikely symbol of the fight against corruption in Egypt after scoring the sum total of zero in her final exams.

The Giza Criminal Court on Wednesday upheld a life sentence handed down in April to a convict for arson of Kerdasa’s Virgin Mary Church, Youm7 reported.

A Nour Party source speaking on condition of anonymity said the government ordered the party to run with two, instead of four, lists in the parliamentary elections, adding that the party agreed to do so in order to avoid threats to the security and stability of the country.

Solidarity Minister Ghada Wali ordered Monday the dissolution of 57 non-governmental organizations accused of affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood , Youm7 reported.

The Cairo Criminal Court postponed to Thursday the ongoing trial against former president Mohamed Morsi and 10 other defendants, to listen to the testimony of current Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Lieutenant General Mahmoud Hegazy.

This week the churches of Egypt celebrated Saint Verena's day. Saint Verena is known in the Coptic tradition as the mother of nuns and as the person who taught Europe the basics of general health and hygiene.

A planned protest demanding new elections for the Coptic Orthodox Church's congregation councils has been cancelled, said Wahid Shenouda, organizer of the protest.