The Coptic Orthodox church has started the Nativity fasting today. The Nativity Fast is a period of abstinence and penance practiced by the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches, in preparation for the Nativity of Jesus.

The Fatwa observatory and Egyptian Mufti have denounced targeting Christians in Syria by Tahrir al-Sham organization, the arm of al-Qaeda in Syria, against the Christian citizens and seizing their properties. Christians in Syria have received a message from Tahrir al-Sham organization asking them to deliver their properties to the Office of real estate and spoils.

Couple of days after a young Christian man was killed while trying to defend a Muslim girl in Aswan, a number of Muslim girls visited the church of St. Mary in Malawy and cleaned it before the holy mass. Many people praised their positive attitude and the love among Muslims and Christians in Egypt.

12 terrorists were killed while exchanging fire with police in Arish. Police have arranged security crackdown based on information about the existence of terrorists. Police have seized 7 automatic weapons and an explosive belt and two explosive devices.

Italian police arrested a young Egyptian man, on charges of planning to carry out terrorist attacks inside the country. The 22-year-old Egyptian citizen, Essam al-Sayed al-Sayyid, has been arrested by Italian police and was accused of leading a terrorist group and joining the terrorist organization of ISIS. The young man confessed he carried out a previous attack last July, in which 4 people were killed.

A number of boys have stoned houses of the Copts in Manin village, Minya, before police intervened and forced them to flee. The boys have also attacked the church, which was shut down last April by Police.

Catholic Church participated in the annual Conference of the Council of Churches of Egypt, with priests of different denominations. The conference that was held in Wadil Natroun concentrated on the skills of visiting the absent people and its importance. 60 priests from various churches, including the Orthodox, Catholic, Evangelical, Episcopal, and the Greek Orthodox Church.

Governor of Minya and its senior officials held a customary reconciliation session between two families who had a revenge history among its sons. Taking revenge in Upper Egypt is a habit that shed a lot of innocent blood and caused instability. Two people were killed last October over financial dispute between the two families.

Suez Canal Authority Chairman and Head of the Suez Canal Economic Zone, Mohab Mamish, said that three contracts were signed with the investors of the northern region of Suez Canal Economic Authority, which will provide job opportunities for the sons of Port Said and establish new investments in the new East Port Said industrial zone. The projects offer investments by billions of dollars and provides more than 2000 jobs.

Murderer of the Coptic doctor Tharwat Georgy in Dirout declared his belonging to ISIS before he was sentenced to death penalty by Egyptian court. The terrorist said he sees Copts are infidels and their money, souls and belongings are lawful to seize and their blood is permissible to shed.

The Coptic Orthodox Church is holding an international conference on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Sunday schools inside the Egyptian churches. The Conference includes 10 scientific sessions held within the Orthodox Cultural Center in the Great Cathedral of St. Markia in Abbasia, that discuss the history, present and future of the Sunday schools in the Copts Church. The International Conference will be patronized by His Holiness Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria and the Patriarch of St. Mark See.

Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, recieved on Monday the families of martyrs and victims of the incident of St. Samuel the Confessor in Minya at the papal headquarters of the Cathedral of St. Mark in Abbassia Pope Tawadros paid tribute to the families of the martyrs assuring the support of the Church for them and promised to take care of the victims currently receiving treatment at hospitals.

Dr. Amr Hamroush, Secretary of the Religious Committee in the Egyptian House of Representatives, denied that the religion field in the Egyptian national ID has any negative effects since all Egyptians are equal before the Egyptian constitution and law. He added that there is no difference between a Muslim and a Christian citizen under the principle of equal citizenship. MP Silvia Nabil, a member of the plan and budget committee, said that she supports the removal of the religion field on the national ID card.

Sheikh Makher Shahin, Imam and preacher of Omar Makram Mosque, called to removed religion field from the Egyptian national ID assuring that this will lead to equality among all citizens. Many activists called to removed religion field from the Egyptian national ID after the recent terrorist attack on Copts at St. Samuel monastery in Minya province.

Rashida Tuleib, the first Muslim women in the US Congress said that being a Muslim Arab and a mother makes her stronger. She added that challenged faced her as Muslim woman from Palestinian origins made her active and assured she doesn t fear expressing her true identity.

Bishop Athanasious of France called on the Egyptian government to promote the path of the holy family on an international scale, especially in France. Coptic Bishop of France said that the eight sites of the path have not yet been developed as a suitable tourist attraction, which prevents a large number of tourists from visiting this important Christian attraction.

A Salafi citizen published a number of offers on Facebook to encourage women to wear niqab. The offers included free food samples and special sale for women wearing niqab and promised to distribute a number for free samples of niqab to encourage women to put it on. This comes after Ghada Agamy, member of house of representatives presented a law draft that prohibit wearing niqab in public places considering it a threat for national security.

Abba Suriel, Coptic Bishop of Melbourne, published his resignation today on his Facebook page assuring it is final and has been studied for years. He said that he has suffered insults, death threats, gossip and back stabbings and that he kept the priesthood and bishopric pure and unblemished.

Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, received the first French tourist group to visit the path of the Holy Family. After the visit, the delegation headed to visit the holy places in Egypt.

Egypt s Minister of Tourism Rania Mashat, announced her plan to improve Egypt s reputation in tourism field. She said that her plan concentrates on the sustainable development in the sector in order to create jobs and eliminate poverty.

Egyptian government issued a decision to compensate families of St. Samuel monastery martyrs an amount of 100 thousand EGP. Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Wali, ordered the payment of a monthly pension of 1500 pounds per month for them.