Police have arrested members of a "terrorist cell" in Cairo that has links to Sinai-based militants Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, the interior ministry announced on Thursday.

At a time when the Egyptian government officially acknowledged that obstacles re-emerged in the negotiations with Ethiopia over the Renaissance Dam — which is threatening the Egyptian share of the Nile's waters — Egypt is seeking to take advantage of the rapprochement between the Egyptian and Ethiopian Coptic churches. This was shown during the last visit of the Ethiopian patriarch to Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria at Christmas. Egypt is trying to benefit from these ties to improve bilateral ties, drawing on historical relations that have linked both churches since the 14th century until their separation in 1959.

Dozens of supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi set tires on fire and blocked roads on Thursday as they clashed with security forces in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

Security forces dispersed a small protest in downtown Cairo on Thursday afternoon. According to eye witnesses, tens of protesters were in Talaat Harb square when security forces dispersed the demonstration. Eye witnesses told Ahram Online that the protesters were not holding banners or flags when they let off fireworks. The protesters chanted 'The people want to topple the regime'.

A bomb attack has targeted the home of a judge presiding over one of the trials of deposed president Mohamed Morsi, eyewitnesses and security sources told Reuters' Aswat Masriya.

A fragment of what could be the earliest copy of the Gospel of Mark – the oldest of the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and central to the belief system of Christianity – is set to be published after being discovered in the face mask of an Egyptian mummy.

Muslim Brotherhood Asset Freezing Committee Chairman Ezzat Khamis said the committee had frozen the assets of 906 Brotherhood members and lifted the freezing on five of them, which brings the total number to 901 members.

Property owned by 901 members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood has been confiscated since the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, a judge has said.

The espionage trial of former President Mohamed Morsi and 35 co-defendants was adjourned to Saturday January 31, Youm7 reported Wednesday.

An Al-Azhar convoy of doctor and preachers left to North Sinai Wednesday with 10 tons of food and 800 blankets to be present in areas where extremist ideologies spread, the institution announced.

The terrorist group now calling itself the Islamic State in Egypt, formerly known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, posted photos on Monday showing confrontations between its elements and armed forces in North Sinai.

The Islamic State armed group which holds swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria issued a video online on Tuesday purporting to show two Japanese hostages and demanding $200 million from the Japanese government to save their lives.

A court in Egypt has given scores of the Muslim Brotherhood proponents prison terms over several charges as part of the ongoing crackdown on supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.

The Salafi Nour Party announced Tuesday they would not participate in any demonstrations during the fourth anniversary of the January 25 Revolution, Youm7 reported.

An online video released Tuesday purported to show the Islamic State group threatening to kill two Japanese hostages unless they receive a $200 million ransom in the next 72 hours.

Pope Francis left the Philippines on Monday, ending a week-long trip to Asia that culminated with a rain-soaked Mass for about seven million people in the capital of Asia's most populous Catholic nation, the largest-ever crowd for a papal event.

Al-Azhar, the highest seat of Sunni Islamic learning, does not accept comments by British Prime Minister David Cameron about the right to say offensive things about religion in a free society, the institution’s deputy leader has said.

Seventy-five alleged Muslim Brotherhood members were sentenced to lengthy prison terms in the Delta city of Mansoura Monday morning on charges of inciting violence, Youm7 reported.

Three "terrorists" were killed in security raids conducted by Egypt's armed forces in the Sinai Peninsula from Wednesday to Sunday, the army spokesman said.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday said the fight against "terrorism" needs a new Muslim religious discourse in addition to security and military measures.

“Nour Party is a party with a religious background. But it is a political party today; it is participating with us,” President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi told Sky News Arabia Sunday, a day after a court set Feb. 21 to pronounce a ruling on the party’s dissolution because it is “based on a religious background.”