Spokesman for the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Egypt said that talks with Sudan and Ethiopia over the operation of the Renaissance Dam, a $4 billion hydropower dam that Ethiopia is constructing on the Nile, have reached a deadlock, and it called for international mediation. Ethiopia last month rejected a proposal by Egypt to operate the dam. Addis Ababa did not say how much water it wants to release, but Egypt wants the dam to release a minimum of 40 billion cubic meters of water annually, which violates Article 5 of the text of the Declaration of Principles Agreement signed on 23 March 2015, as well as contrary to international norms for cooperation in the construction and management of dams on shared rivers.

Pope Tawadros II, said in the first annual memorial service of Archbishop Bishoy of Damietta, Kafr El Sheikh and the former secretary of the Holy Synod, that he was a hero in explaining the Christian faith. This came during his weekly sermon delivered this week at the Great Cathedral of St. Mark.

Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, chaired today the meeting of the Main Committee for legalization of churches and approved the legalization of 62 new churches. This raised the total number of legalized churches in Egypt to 1171 churches and service buildings.

Dr Khalid Enani, Egypts Minister of Antiquities, on behalf of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, opened today St. Constantine and Santa Helena Church of the Greek community in Cairo after completing of restoration works. The celebration was attended by Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria and Africa representative of the Greek Church, representative of the Cypriote church and a number of senior officials.

Pope Tawadros II held a meeting with university professors in the Papal residence at St. Mark Cathedral. The meeting was attended by HG Bishop Martiros of the Churches of the East Railway Sector in Cairo. The family of St. Bentenos is specialized for university professors and seeks to provide them with services and consult them in their specializations as well as to help superior Christian youth in finding the opportunity of scientific research.

Bishops Serabion of Los Angeles, and Bishop Luke of Southern France and the French Sector Switzerland, celebrated yesterday the feast of the martyrdom of St. Maurice in his monastery in Switzerland. The monastery is located in a village carrying the name of St. Maurice and belongs to the Catholic Church. St. Maurice is an Egyptian leader who was the commander of the Tayyibi Battalion that traveled to Switzerland to put down a revolt there. He refused to obey the request of the Emperor to vaporize the gods and therefore were killed for their Christian faith.

Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, approved today the legalization of 62 new churches and service buildings which raised the total number of legalized churches in Egypt according to the new law to 1171. A spokesman for the Council of Ministers said that the meeting also reviewed the requirements for legalization according to the civil protection because of the critical importance of meeting these requirements in order to protect lives and preserve the properties.

Maadi Diocese organized a celebration yesterday at the end of the Keraza festival of senior citizens. The celebration was attended by HG Bishop Daniel of Maadi and secretary of the Holy Synod. 350 people representing 15 churches of Maadi participated in the festival competitions.

The Coptic people of Tima bid farewell to Father Yassa Abdul Massieh who served a priest of St. Anba Shenouda El-Sawy Church for 32 years. The late father who died at the age of 61 was mourned by Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria.

Pope Francis called to pray for rulers and officials around the world in order to be led by God for the good of the country. Pope Francis said that we should learn to pray for those who is in power according to the bible (1 Timothy 2: 2). He added that we should do that even for those who don t support our ideas

Bishop Joseph of Southern the United States is currently in a pastoral care visit to Sweden. He was received by Bishop Abakir of the Scandinavian countries and gave sermons in several churches.

Pope Tawadros II received today Khalid Jalal, Egypt s new Ambassador to Germany. The visit came for the purpose of acquaintance on the occasion of taking office.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II received a group of servants from the new valley governorate at the Pontifical Logos Center in Saint Bishoy Monastery in Wadi Natrun. The group was accompanied by HG Bishop Arsanyos of the New Valley.

The Islamophobia Observatory of the Egyptian House of Fatwa commented on the confessions of Tarek Ramadan, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood s international organization and the grandson of Hassan al-Banna who founded the terrorist group, saying that two women of the four who accused him of rape accepted committing adultery with him and were not forced to do so. The observatory said that the members of the terrorist group pretend to be bios and following the rules of Islam, but they are far from this. Statement of the observatory said that they insult Islam and Islamic communities in the West by such practices.

A group of tourists from Germany visited the tourist attractions in Minya including Pharonic sites and Christian monasteries. Qassim Hussein, governor of Minya, said that the governorate has many tourist potentials and archaeological areas, and enjoy security and stability.

Youth of the Coptic Churches in the Diaspora visited the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ and the Al-Fateh Al-Alim Mosque in the new administrative capital. This came after they concluded the ‘Serve and be Joyful’ conference during which they served a number of villages, elderly and orphans. 150 young men and women, most of whom participated last year in the First World Week of Coptic Orthodox Church Youth from all over the world, participated in the conference.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II met at the papal headquarters in St. Mark Cathedral in Abbassia with HG Bishop Markos, Metropolitan of Shubra al-Khaimah and chairman of the Committee supervising the celebrations of the Monastery of St. George in Mitt Damses, and Bishop Dawook of Mansoura and Bishop Salib of Mitt Ghamr and members of the Committee. They discussed the ministry at the celebrations and its development spiritually, ecclesiastically and architecturally.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II held a meeting yesterday at the Pontifical headquarters of the Coptic Cathedral in Abbassiya with professors of Coptic Studies Institute. During the meeting, Pope explained the importance of the institute in serving the Chruch and preparing specialized teachers in various fields.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II concluded the service week ‘Serve and be joyful’ for youth from Coptic churches in the diaspora held in Egypt for the first time. For seven days, the participants served a number of villages, elderly and orphans as well as street children and Sudanese refugees. A number of lectures were delivered by Pope Tawadros and members of the Holy Synod as well as prayers and praises in various languages. 150 young men and women participated in the service, most of whom participated last year in the First World Week of Coptic Orthodox Church Youth from all over the world.

More than 10 thousands participants of different ages attended ‘In His Image’ festival in Tima diocese. Bishop Ishaq of Tima led the celebrations organized by the Bible House. The festival started last Thursday and lasted for three consecutive days.

Two Ethiopians and Eritreans in Egypt celebrated the feast of St. Takla Haymanot in his church in Zagazig. Thousands of the Coptic people participated in the celebrations and praises led by HG Bishop Timothyus of Zagazig.