NEW YORK -- At the start of the two-day referendum on the new Egyptian constitution in Cairo today, Bishop Kyrillos William Samaa, the Catholic Coptic ordinary of Assiut, came out in favor of accepting the draft.

SOHAG, Egypt: Security forces in Sohag governorate, Upper Egypt, intensified efforts Tuesday to arrest two Muslim Brotherhood supporters who beat and insulted citizens for supporting the constitution, said a security source.

CAIRO: Several members of Aboud and Tareq Zomor’s family flocked to their affiliated poll stations in their homeland of Cairo’s district of Nahia to vote in the constitutional referendum on Tuesday.

A recent Gallup survey reported that Islamic banking remains unpopular in Egypt, with only 3% of adults using Islamic banking services and only 49% who have heard of Islamic banking in the country.

The Muslim Brotherhood and the Anti-Coup Alliance reiterated their rejection of the constitutional referendum and participation in the poll that they deemed “illegitimate”.

AFP — Egypt’s Christians rang in the new year Wednesday with prayers for peace after months of unrest, but expressed no regrets over backing the military’s overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

The Strong Egypt Party will boycott this week's constitutional referendum because of a failure by authorities to guarantee a fair and democratic process.

A source from the Muslim Brotherhood told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy has prepared “surprises” at referendum committees to disrupt the referendum, and to stage a sit-in in Tahrir Square.

Over a thousand members of the Muslim Brotherhood have been referred by prosecutors to a criminal court for storming two police stations in Minya governorate last August.

The National Alliance to Support Legitimacy (NASL) said on Monday that the current interim government has "lost a new round" after a low turnout in overseas voting for the constitutional referendum.

Ministry of the Interior spokesman General Hany Abdel Latif announced Monday that 29 students were arrested in Sunday’s clashes in Cairo.

CAIRO, Jan 12 (KUNA) -- Upon receiving an invitation to visit Kuwait from His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Pope of Egypt's Coptic Christian Church Tawadros II described the gesture as expressing "love and tolerance." The pope said on Sunday that he received the letter with much delight, adding he was keen to respond affirmatively to the invitation "at the right time", in a visit where he would learn more of Kuwait's urban development.

At the celebration of the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohamed on Sunday, Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb said the Al-Azhar institution, which participated in crafting the constitution, was satisfied with the draft that will be put up to referendum.

CAIRO - Hundreds of students supporting Egypt's ousted president battled security forces Sunday at three Cairo universities, two days before a referendum that officials say will be protected by a massive deployment of soldiers and police.

North and South Giza Prosecutions sent on Sunday 53 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to 15 days pending investigations, into the violent events that took place in the areas of Mohandiseen, Imbaba Haram, Talbiya, Omraniya and October on Friday.

Pope Francis named his first batch of cardinals on Sunday, choosing 19 men from Asia, Africa, Latin America and elsewhere, including the developing nations of Haiti and Burkina Faso, in line with his belief that the church must pay more attention to the poor.

CAIRO: A number of students affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) besieged the building of the Supreme Council of Universities, demanding the cancellation of an article related to combating terrorism that the council recently passed.

Egyptian Minister of interior Mohamed Ibrahim admitted that the decision not to transfer ousted president Mohamed Morsi from his detention at Burg Al Arab prison to the court at Police academy in Cairo caused confusion and controversy.

An Egyptian court sentenced 63 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to three years in jail each on Thursday on charges including rioting, thuggery and weapons possession, a judicial source said.

CAIRO: The Salafist Nour Party says it will stick to its plans regardless of the repeated Muslim Brotherhood attacks on their conferences in support of the constitution, according to Shabaan Abdel Alim, member of Nour Party’s presidential council.

CAIRO: Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh’s lawsuit in the Administrative Court against interim President Adly Mansour on the right of citizens to vote outside of their governorates may be turned down, said head of the Independent Current Ahmed Fadaly on Wednesday.