The security authority is prepared to confront attacks from Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, security expert Brigadier Khaled Okasha told Youm7 Thursday.

Head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars Yusuf al-Qaradawi will deliver the Friday sermon this week from Omar Ibn El Khattab mosque in Doha, al-Qaradawi Official Website announced Thursday.

The head of the Egyptian council of churches, a grouping that brings together the Coptic Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, Evangelical and Greek Orthodox denominations, has said that the group will not back a particular candidate in the coming presidential elections.

The Evangelical Church revealed the distribution of publications in a number of orthodox churches that prevent the entry of evangelical pastors from praying, especially in the funerals prayers.

Hassan Nafaa, a professor of political science at Cairo University, blamed the Muslim Brotherhood on Tuesday for rejecting his initiative, “Rescuing the state,” after the group’s latest statement didn’t refer to the initiative.

Five NGOs expressed their regret for not receiving “adequate answers” to key questions raised in a meeting, held on Monday, with the fact-finding committee tasked with investigating incidents of violence since 30 June.

The Episcopal Church in Egypt has joined the growing number of groups who have condemned Christian attacks on Muslims in the Central African Republic (CAR).

The Islamist militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis has told tourists to leave Egypt and threatened to attack anyone who stays in the country after a deadline of February 20.

Asharq al-Awsat London-based newspaper said that many signs indicate that the pro-legitimacy alliance, formed after toppling President Mohamed Morsy in July, is about to collapse as many imprisoned Muslim Brotherhood leaders are urging for a dialogue with the current Egyptian government.

Ahmed Mohamed Morsi, son of the ousted President Mohamed Morsi, said Monday on his Facebook page that the Muslim Brotherhood admitted committing mistakes, adding that many Islamist figures made statements acknowledging this.

The pro-Mohamed Morsi National Alliance to Support Legitimacy issued a statement on Monday announcing that they will rally on Tuesday to commemorate the Abu Zaabal incident.

The security forces arrested 43 Muslim Brotherhood members in Fayoum over charges of storming and burning police stations, police vehicles and the governorate's managing headquarters.

The student movements affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood said it will start news series of protests by beginning of the second semester in universities on 22 February.

Army and police forces arrested 18 people they described as extremists in a security operation in the Sinai Peninsula on Monday, a source from the interior ministry said.

Egypt's military-backed authorities attempted to silence deposed president Mohammed Morsi yesterday by surrounding the dock of the court where he is facing espionage charges with thick, soundproof glass.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups have denounced Sunday's deadly bomb attack in South Sinai on a tourist bus and called for the culprits to be brought to justice.

A bombing that killed three South Koreans and an Egyptian driver on the Sinai Peninsula targeted a bus filled with Korean Christians who had saved for years to visit sites mentioned in the Bible on their church's 60th anniversary, officials said Monday.

The lawyer representing ousted president Mohamed Morsi and 35 other Muslim Brotherhood figures in Sunday's trial for espionage charges has withdrawn his defence team, prompting the court to appoint 10 new lawyers and postpone the trial until 23 February.

Hamas has denounced the trial of deposed President Mohamed Morsy over accusations of spying for it. Hamas spokesman Salah Bardawil told the Turkish Anadolu news agency on Sunday that “Hamas does not intervene within Egyptian local affairs, but it cares about Hamas being considered by the Egyptian government as an enemy.”

The deputy head of the Salafist Call, Yasser El-Borhamy, has said that the group and its political wing, the Nour Party, will judge which candidate to support in the upcoming presidential elections based on a number of factors.

The Cairo Criminal Court postponed the trial to 23 February as Morsy's defense lawyers withdrew to protest keeping the ousted president and fellow defendants in a soundproof glass dock. The court called off the trial until a new defense team is appointed, according to state-run al-Ahram.