Pope Francis is hoping to persuade a country enmeshed in a regional war that he has condemned to give Catholics more freedom when he becomes the first pontiff to set foot on the Arabian Peninsula. Francis will spend less than 48 hours in the United Arab Emirates, which is fighting alongside Saudi Arabia in the Yemen war, and is due to make only two public addresses during the trip that starts on Sunday night.

Head of the Roman Catholic Church Pope Francis said on Thursday that his visit to the United Arab of Emirates (UAE) on February 3 would build a new chapter of the relationship between religions and confirm on the idea of humanitarian brotherhood. In a video message released by the Emirates News Agency, the pope stressed that the UAE is a “model for co-existence, human fraternity, and meeting of faiths and civilizations.”

Egypt s Public Prosecution ordered on Wednesday 25 defendants to be held of 15 days pending investigations into terrorism-linked charges. The defendants are accused of plotting violence acts in January and February and joining an outlawed group with the aim of preventing State institutions from fulfilling their duties.

Egyptians strength comes from their national unity, Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II told French President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to St Mark s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo s Abbasiya district. In a televised press conference at the Cathedral, Pope Tawadros II told Macron that stability and peace will only be achieved through dialogue, pointing out that there is a continuous dialogue to preserve national unity through a number of Islamic and Coptic institutions in the country.

The Islamic State-claimed bombing of a Catholic cathedral that killed 20 in the Philippines’ restive south put fresh pressure Monday on peace efforts aimed at ending decades of separatist violence. Two explosions tore through the cathedral, shattering pews and windows, on the Muslim-majority island of Jolo, killing worshippers at Sunday mass and security forces in one the nation’s worst bombings in years. Experts voiced concern on Monday over the impact the attack would have on a decades-long push for peace that culminated last week in voters approving expanded Muslim self-rule in the south.

Damanhour Criminal Court has adjourned the trial of suspects Wael Saad Tawadros, formerly known as Ash eyaa al-Makary and Raymon Rasmy Mansour, formerly known as Faltaous al-Makary, in the murder of Bishop Epiphanius to January 31. The court has decided to hear the defense of Wael and Raymon within the next trial. The court heard the prosecution plead after the prosecution showed video records of Wael confessing to the crime and reenacting how he committed the murder.

Imagine if Christians anywhere destroyed 1,125 mosques. The outcry would be immediate, sustained, impassioned — and justified. There would governmental studies and lavish media examination of Christian “Islamophobia.” But no one will take any particular notice of this. “Boko Haram: EYN asks Nigerian govt to rebuild 1,125 churches razed by insurgents,” Daily Post, January 23, 2019: A Christian denomination based mostly in the Northeast, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, otherwise known in Hausa language as Ekklesiyar Yan uwa A Nigeria (EYN), has appealed to the federal government to rebuild its church branches razed by Boko Haram insurgents.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday it is time for an international investigation to be launched into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. In an interview with Turkish broadcaster A Haber, Cavusoglu said President Tayyip Erdogan ordered preparations to be made to carry the case to an international level, and said a United Nations special rapporteur will be coming to Turkey.

Saudi-led coalition air strikes in Yemen have killed almost 80 Houthi rebel fighters over 48 hours in the western province of Hodeida, military and medical sources said Tuesday. The strikes on Hodeida, site of a vital port and target of a renewed coalition offensive, also left seven civilians dead, they said.

Egyptian troops and security forces have killed 59 terrorists in recent operations, the army said in a statement on Tuesday. In various raids in Sinai and the Suez Canal cities, army forces killed 44 terrorists who were found in possession of rifles and explosive devices, the statement said. Police forces killed another 15 “extremely dangerous takfiris” in a separate "pre-emptive" operation, it added, without saying where the operation took place.

Northern Ireland police on Monday questioned four men over a car bomb linked to a dissident republican group that has heightened concerns about the risks of Brexit disrupting a hard-won peace in the British province. The bomb detonated at 8:10 pm (2010 GMT) on Saturday outside the courthouse in the border city of Derry. Police have said they believe a paramilitary group calling itself the "New IRA" was behind the blast. "We haven t seen a device of this nature function for quite a while. It s a high-risk tactic," Mark Hamilton from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) told BBC radio.

Gunmen killed at least eight Chadian UN peacekeepers in an attack Sunday on one of their bases in northern Mali, multiple sources reported. The UN spokesman in Mali condemned what he described as a "cowardly" attack and called for a "robust" response. "According to a new toll, still provisional, at least eight peacekeepers have been killed," a source close to the MINUSMA force said.

Egypt s police said on Wednesday that they killed five terrorists during a raid in North Sinai, a statement by the interior ministry read. The ministry said that the terrorists were killed in a shootout as forces attempted to raid their hideout, which is located in a remote area in El-Arish.

Kenya s president said early on Wednesday that security forces had killed all four militants who stormed an upscale hotel complex in Nairobi the previous day, in an attack that killed at least 14 people. Uhuru Kenyatta said 14 civilians were confirmed dead and over 700 others had been safely evacuated. The attack on the dusitD2 hotel began shortly after 3 p.m. on Tuesday with an explosion in the parking lot and then a suicide bomb blast in the foyer, police said.

Egypt s Al-Azhar University overturned a decision to permanently expel a female student after she was filmed during a public embrace with a male friend, hours after the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed El-Tayeb urged the university to reconsider their decision. The university s disciplinary committee said in its emergency meeting that it has decided the scrap the punishment , deciding to prevent the student from sitting for her exams this term in keenness over her educational future .

The Egyptian authorities deported the German citizen of Egyptian origin Issa Mohamed Abdelghani al-Sabbagh, who was arrested a few days ago when he arrived in the country from Germany via Luxor airport in possession of maps of North Sinai and a compass. According to the authorities, the investigation showed that Sabbagh adopted the terrorist ideology of ISIS, electronically connected to some of its elements, and came to Egypt to join the ranks of the terrorist organization in Sinai.

A female student at Al-Azhar university who was expelled last week after a video of her hugging her fiancé on campus went viral can appeal the decision to expel her in front of a university committee, an Al-Azhar official told Ahram Online. "The expelled student now has the right to appeal the universitys decision before a high disciplinary board," university spokesperson Ahmad Zarei told Ahram Online on Sunday.

A Giza criminal court has acquitted leader of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie and seven others in a retrial over 2013 violence, the first time the group s leader and associates have been acquitted in a series of trials. The case dates back to clashes that took place near the Istikama Mosque on the outskirts of Cairo in July 2013 following the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi, which left nine people dead and 20 injured.

Egypt will unify the adhan (the Islamic call for prayer) at all the country s mosques starting from February, the Minister of Endowments, Mokhtar Gomaa, announced on Sunday. In a meeting with the ministry s officials at the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Gomaa stated that the unified Adhan will come into effect after solving some technical problems. The Adhan will be broadcasted live via satellite from a specific mosque chosen by the ministry to all mosques.

Egypt s Minister of Interior Mahmoud Tawfik paid a visit on Monday to the Coptic Cathedral in Cairo to offer Christmas tidings to Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II. Minister Tawfik extended the tidings of the entire police force to the pope and all Christian citizens on the occasion of Coptic Christmas – which falls on 7 January.

The Coptic Orthodox Church s official spokesperson says that Egypt s new Nativity of the Christ Church, the largest in the Middle East, will officially open on 6 January, where Coptic Christmas mass will be held. The mass will be attended by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Coptic Orthodox Church Pope Tawadros II. The Church said in a video posted online that the public can attend the mass after registering with the Church.