A powerful explosion hit central Kabul on Sunday, wounding Afghan President Ashraf Ghani s running mate in the upcoming election and killing at least two others, officials said. At least 25 civilians were injured in the blast that occurred on a road near the private Ghalib University and Shahid Square, a four-way intersection, interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said. Rahimi said that immediately after the blast, gunmen had entered the university building and were targeting the main political office of the vice presidential candidate, Amrullah Saleh. Saleh was wounded by shrapnel before being safely evacuated from the office of his Afghan Green Trend Party. The party office is located adjacent to the university. Photographs shared by a government official showed Saleh sitting in a garden with blood stains on his right arm. He was surrounded by security guards. Saleh is an uncompromising opponent of the Taliban and other hardline Islamist groups. Ghani, Saleh and over a dozen other Afghan politicians launched their presidential campaign on Sunday. Ghani said in a tweet: "My brother, true son of the Afghan soil and first VP candidate of my electoral team, Amrullah Saleh has survived a complex attack by enemies of the state. We are relieved and thank the almighty that the attack has failed." Saleh, who commands strong support among Afghanistan s minority ethnic Tajiks, was not immediately available for comment. "The explosion hit a very busy part of the city. Our rescue teams have been rushed to the site," Rahimi said. No militant group has claimed responsibility. Last week, Kabul was hit by three consecutive bomb blasts claimed by Islamic State and the Taliban, killing 11 people and injuring more than 40.

At least seven people were killed and 21 wounded by three blasts that rocked the Afghan capital Thursday ahead of the election season. The bombings came amid a wider surge in violence in Kabul and around Afghanistan, where the war is taking a brutal toll even amid a US-led push for a peace deal with the Taliban. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, which came just three days before the official campaign season for the September 28 presidential election gets underway. Previous polls have been marred by violence and bloodshed from the Taliban and other insurgent groups who refuse to recognise Afghanistan s fragile democracy. According to interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi, the first blast came around 8:10 am (0340 GMT) when a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle hit a bus in eastern Kabul. He said the bus belonged to the ministry of mines and petroleum. Rahimi said two other blasts had occurred, including a car bomb, also in eastern Kabul. Rahimi put the death toll at seven with another 21 wounded. It was not immediately clear if this was from all the blasts or just the first.

Egypt has condemned Israel s "escalation" in Jerusalem after it moved in earlier this week to demolish a cluster of Palestinian homes near a military barrier in the occupied West Bank. Egypt warned against "the dangers of these actions on the efforts to achieve a just and comprehensive peace," the foreign ministry said in a statement late on Wednesday. Security forces moved in to Sur Baher, on the edge of East Jerusalem, to tear down buildings which it said were built illegally too close to the separation barrier. However, residents say they had been given building permits by the Palestinian. The move has triggered a flurry of international criticism. Egypt expressed "rejection of any actions that would change the status quo in Jerusalem in contravention of the relevant resolutions of international legitimacy and other international and humanitarian agreements," the statement added. It stressed on "Egypt s firm stance in supporting the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people," and said it will continue to work to resume peace process negotiations based on a two-state solution.

Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Spokesperson Paul Halim said that Pope Tawadros II has been in contact with sovereign authorities to gain permission for the visitation of two monks sentenced to death over the murder of Bishop Epiphanius at Wadi al-Natroun. Authorities allowed Paula Ishaq, the priest in charge of the prison service, to visit the two defendants in prison, Halim told Al-Masry Al-Youm. The visit request was turned down at first by authorities, but was later allowed upon Tawadros request, church sources said. The Damanhour Criminal Court has sentenced to death the two monks responsible for the murder of Bishop Epiphanius and requested the Grand Mufti s opinion on the sentence in February. Defendants Wael Saad Tawadros, formerly known as Ash eyaa al-Makary, and Raymon Rasmy Mansour, formerly known as Faltaous al-Makary, previously pleaded not guilty in the case. The court heard the prosecution plead after the prosecution showed video records of the first defendant confessing to the crime and reenacting how he committed the murder. The defendant has denied his involvement in killing Bishop Epiphanius in previous sessions, claiming that he was abused and pressured into confessing by investigators. The Interior Ministry s Criminal Investigations Department said that police investigated Tawadros in the monastery without resorting to force or pressure during the investigations. Back in July 2018, Bishop Epiphanius was found dead in front of his monastic cell at the Saint Macarius Monastery at Wadi al-Natroun. Monks at the scene immediately notified al-Natroun police, who discovered that the Bishop had fractures in the back of his skull, leading to suspicion of murder. After the Public Prosecution office in Alexandria concluded investigations in August, Tawadros and Mansour were sent to criminal trial over the murder. Tawadros confessed to the killing, and was deprived of his ecclesiastical rank. He claimed that he hit Epiphanius three times on his head using an iron tube, which was prepared specifically for the crime. He added that his partner in crime, Mansour, was at the time standing watch to make sure the coast was clear. Mansour later unsuccessfully attempted suicide on August 6 to escape punishment and underwent police watch at the Anglo American Hospital in Zamalek while recovering.

Egypt s State Information Service (SIS) released a statement strongly condemning an interview broadcast on the “Mekamleen” Channel between Presenter Mohamed Nasser and the Human Rights Watch official (HRW) Sarah Leah Whitson, the Chairperson of the Middle East and North Africa department at the organization. The Mekamleen channel is known for its backing of the Muslim Brotherhood, officially classified as a terrorist organization by the Egyptian state. The SIS stated that that the 70 minute interview proves that the HRW is biased towards the Muslim Brotherhood despite their repeated insistence of standing for human rights. The statement added that there is a significant amount of collaboration between the HRW and the Muslim Brotherhood. The statement also decried the HRW s reports on Egypt which have been categorically refuted by the SIS s Human Rights department. During the interview which aired from Istanbul in Turkey, Whitson focused on Egypt s human rights alongside several other countries in the region; however, discussions about the Turkish regime s various human rights violations were noticeably absent. In its statement the SIS highlighted various figures on Turkey s own violations, including the number of Turkish citizens expelled from their jobs since Turkey s failed 2016 coup d état attempt which they cited as 170,372 individuals. The SIS noted the role played by the Mekamleen Channel in bolstering terrorism, as the channel is a vital promotion tool for the Muslim Brotherhood used to spread false news about Egypt. The statement further delved into the channel s funding resources, raising serious doubts as the channel has never divulged these sources nor have they suffered any financial challenges, supporting the idea that they are being funded by the Muslim Brotherhood. Highlighting Nasser s biased tendencies towards the Muslim Brotherhood, the statement also noted his extreme opposition towards the Egyptian state. Nasser is wanted by Egyptian security and was penalized for eight years due to his attempts to help overthrow the Egyptian regime in a terrorist attack, the statement reads. Nasser has gone as far as to even encourage murder several times while on air. The SIS statement shed light on several of Nasser s calls to murder such as a January 2015 episode where Nasser repeatedly said, “Kill the police officers, I want to inform all the police officers wives that your husbands are going to be killed.” Furthermore, Nasser has encouraged suicide attacks, saying that those who commit suicide should also bomb crowds of people if they were planning to die anyway. He also once interviewed infamous Muslim Brotherhood figure Salama Abdel Kawi, who told him that whoever would kill an Egyptian state official could only grow closer to god, according to the statement.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has renewed a nationwide state of emergency for three months starting 1AM Thursday 25 July 2019. The renewal of the state of emergency was approved by the parliament on 11 July 2019. According to a decree, published in the official gazette, the decision allows the Egyptian armed forces and police to “take [measures] necessary to confront the dangers and the funding of terrorism and to safeguard security in the country." The state of emergency was first imposed in April 2017 after two church bombings which killed 47 people. It has been continually extended since then

Egypt s Armed Forces foiled a suicide attack targeting a security checkpoint early Thursday in North Sinai governorate. According to an Armed Forces statement, the suicide attacker attempted to target a security checkpoint near a parking lot in Sheikh Zuweid city.

he official spokesperson of Egypt s Foreign Affairs Ministry, Ahmed Hafez, recently said that field victories achieved against the Islamic State (IS) are not considered the end, asserting the necessity to continue combating terrorism in all its shapes. Hafez s words came during Egypt s participation in meetings of The International Alliance s Communication Strategy Working Group that is affiliated with the International alliance against the IS. The meetings took place on July 11 and 12 in Washington. He noted that the only way to eradicate terrorism is to have a unified international approach regarding the confrontations with terrorist organisations. This confrontation should target all levels including the extremist IS rhetoric and ideologies that promote terrorism through media outlets. He added that Egypt s delegation, which is participating in the aforementioned meetings, explained that Egypt s vision to combat terrorism is based on first facing extremist ideologies and the efforts of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to renew the religious rhetoric, in addition to the role adopted by Egypt s Muslim largest beacon of Al-Azhar to end terrorism. Hafez asserted that Egypt will keep its support to The International Alliance s Communication Strategy Working Group to combat terrorism through the experiences it gained in its war against extremism and terrorism, beside the high rank of its religious institutions such as Al-Azhar

Turkey plans to send a fourth ship to waters off Cyprus to search for gas and oil despite European Union moves to curb contacts and funding for Ankara over the issue, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. “The decisions will not affect in the slightest our country s determination to continue hydrocarbon activities in the Eastern Mediterranean,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

At least five people were killed in twin suicide blasts near a Shia mosque in southwest Baghdad on Monday, Iraqi security and medical sources said. Doctors at the capital s Al-Yarmuk hospital gave a casualty toll of five dead and 14 wounded. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up near Abu al-Fadhel al-Abbas mosque in the Al-Turath district, a police officer told AFP, on condition of anonymity.

Egypt s Ambassador to Canada Ahmed Abu Zied has praised the Egyptian Coptic Festival taking place in the Canadian city of Mississauga. The Egyptian Coptic Festival is a cultural event that celebrates Egyptian culture, history and arts in the public square for the purpose of creating awareness about Coptic Canadians, their heritage and role in society. "The second edition of the festival succeeded in gaining further popularity and influence across the outskirts of Toronto, where the Egyptian community is heavily concentrated," the ambassador said in statements to MENA. The first edition of the festival was held in September 2018. The event brings together some 10,000 people from within and outside the Coptic community in Canada for family fun, music, shows, documentaries, kids activities and traditional food. It is considered one of the biggest events for Canadians of Egyptian origin in North America. The event aims to enhance community collaboration through linking past and present achievements and emphasising the diverse and inclusive Mississauga community. The event programme features musical performances, performing arts, food, books, documentaries, kids activities and youth-led performances, allowing the general public to grow their understanding of Egyptian history and its contributions to civilisation. This year s event featured Egyptian pop singer Hisham Abbas and violinist Azmy Magdy Azmy, as well as other music concerts and folk shows. There are nearly 60,000 Canadians of Egyptian origin residing in Canada.

Regime and jihadist-led forces were locked in clashes Thursday on the edge of an opposition bastion in northwest Syria after a jihadist-led advance that killed 71 fighters overnight, a monitor said. Russian and regime aircraft have ramped up their deadly bombardment of the Idlib region -- administered by Syria s former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, and home to some three million people -- since late April, despite a months-old international truce deal.

Turkey on Wednesday vowed to continue drilling activities off Cyprus despite tensions with the European Union, which has called on Ankara to cease its "illegal" activities. The discovery of huge gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean has sparked a dispute between EU member Cyprus and Turkey, which last month sent a second ship, the Yavuz, to search for oil and gas in the region.

Deputy Chairman of parliament s Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee Ahmed Helmi Al-Sherif announced this week that a law was currently being drafted to rid government ministries and state institutions of elements affiliated to the banned Muslim Brotherhood. “I decided to take the step of drafting this law myself and to gather as much support for it among MPs as possible, as recent reports show that government ministries and state institutions still have Brotherhood elements and sympathisers who cause unrest and trouble,” Al-Sherif said, adding that “some of these act as sleeper cells while others declare open hostile positions against the ruling regime.”

A wanted militant wearing an explosive belt blew himself up in the Tunisian capital after being surrounded by police, the government said on Wednesday, but there were no other casualties. The third such incident within a week comes months ahead of an election and at the peak of a tourist season in which Tunisia is hoping for a record number of visitors.

Pope Francis praised on Sunday the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and said he hoped it would lead to peace. "In the last few hours we saw in Korea a good example of the culture of encounter. I salute the protagonists, with a prayer that such a significant gesture will be a further step on the road to peace, not only on that peninsula, but for the good of the entire world," he said at his weekly address in St. Peter s Square.

An errant missile struck Cyprus early on Monday, skimming the densely populated capital Nicosia and crashing on a mountainside in what authorities described as a spillover from strikes between Israel and Syria. The explosion occurred around 1 a.m. (2200 GMT Sunday) in the region of Tashkent, also known as Vouno, some 20 kms (12 miles) northeast of Nicosia, with the impact starting a fire and heard for miles around.

A presidential committee tasked with rectifying the status of unlicensed Christian places of worship, chaired by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, approved on Monday legalizing 127 churches and service buildings that used to be operating without permit. This brings to 1,021 the total number of unlicensed Christian places of worship and service buildings that have been granted legal status so far.