Following the 25 January Revolution, many Coptic social movements were formed. These movements have challenged the hierarchical clerical order of the Coptic Orthodox Church, its Pope, and Bishops. Turning against such hierarchy, whose congregation is the biggest among the other Christian dominions in Egypt, has reflected a historical and critical yet unresolved debate. It has to do both with the ‘adequate’ leadership and, consequently, with the ‘suitable’ policies that should rule the lives of the Coptic Christian community.

It isn’t the first time Muslims have had to explain, in the aftermath of a terrorist attack in a western city, that Islam is not a religion of violence. After attacks in Paris, claimed by ISIS, which killed at least 129 on Friday evening, Islamist parties across the Middle East and Muslim groups in Europe and the United States were quick to condemn the assault. They denounced them as “a violation” of the principles of Islam and “far from religion”.

China vowed on Thursday to bring to justice those responsible for executing one of its citizens after Islamic State said it had killed a Chinese captive, the only known Chinese hostage to have been held by the group.

Officers from the Russian and French air forces held a phone call on Thursday to discuss joint efforts to fight Islamic State in Syria, the RIA news agency reported.

The Islamic State group executed five men it described as spies in Iraq's Anbar province, west of the capital, according to photos posted online.

Iraqi and American intelligence officials say the Islamic State group is aggressively pursuing development of chemical weapons, setting up a branch dedicated to research and experiments with the help of scientists from Iraq, Syria and elsewhere in the region.

Islamic State's official magazine carried a photo on Wednesday of what it said was the improvised bomb that brought down the Russian airliner over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula last month, killing all 224 people on board.

Islamic State (ISIS) and families of leading members have started relocating from Syria's Raqqa to Mosul in Iraq, Syria Monitor group said.

Saudi Arabia's harsh religious tradition is seen by many outsiders — and some Saudi liberals — as a root cause of the international jihadist threat that has inflamed the Middle East for years and struck in Paris last week.

Egypt’s Dar Al-Ifta created a Facebook page entitled “Not in the name of Muslims” as part of their initiative to tackle Islamophobia in the West, following the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and the Russian plane crash.

Two suspected jihadists were killed, including a woman who blew herself up, in a shootout Wednesday in north Paris with police hunting the mastermind of last week's attacks on the French capital, sources said.

British Prime Minster David Cameron said on Tuesday he will set out a comprehensive strategy for tackling Islamic State militants, including why he believes the country should join international airstrikes against the group in Syria.

Russia Tuesday staged a "significant number" of air strikes on the Islamic State group stronghold of Raqa in Syria, a US defense official said.

The Great Mosque of Paris urged French Muslims on Tuesday to gather at the country's most important mosque Friday to say "No to terror" and "We are all Paris!".

German police in the western city of Aachen have arrested two women and one man in an operation linked to the attacks last Friday in Paris which killed at least 129 people, the police said on Tuesday.

A fire broke out by unknown assailants in Al-Salaam Mosque located in Ontario, Canada on Sunday; no injuries or deaths were reported.

Islamic State warned in a new video on Monday that countries taking part in air strikes against Syria would suffer the same fate as France, and threatened to attack in Washington.

Tanta University’s challenge against the ruling allowing female students to take exams with their niqab, an Islamic face veil, was rejected by the Administrative Court Monday, Youm7 reported.

WASHINGTON: he United States and its allies conducted 23 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria on Sunday, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement released on Monday.

Egyptian security forces shot dead 24 Islamic State militants in central Sinai, 70 km from the crash site of the Russian passenger plane the group claimed it brought down, security sources said on Monday.

Nour Party member and a candidate in the current parliamentary elections, Emad El-Mahdy, was stabbed infront of his campaign headquarters in Egypt's Sharqiya governorate, the Facebook page of the candidate said.