A new message purporting to come from the leader of Islamic State militant group said air strikes by Russia and a U.S.-led coalition had failed to weaken the group.

Egypt’s ultra-conservative Nour Party said on Thursday that its elected members would attend the first parliament session, denying rumours that they would be absent because a woman will head the session.

Egypt's Catholics will celebrate Christmas on Friday, amid what officials say is a heightened state of security. The Patriarch of the Egyptian Catholic Church, Ibrahem Ishaq, will lead Christmas Eve mass on Thursday at the Virgin Lady Church in Cairo's northeastern Nasr City district, Spokesman of Egypt's Catholic Church Rafiq Gereich told Ahram Online.

It is a bitter Christmas for Elias Manna, who will celebrate alone for the first time because his five sons have left the Gaza Strip, the besieged Palestinian territory subjected to three Israeli assaults since 2008.

Al-Masry Al-Youm continues to monitor the tolerance between religions and the message of peace that you will notice as soon as you set foot in St. Catherine.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi extends his sincere greetings and warm wishes to Egypt’s Christians and Christians all over the world who celebrate Christmas on December 25, wishing them, their families and their loved ones all welfare and blessings.

An Egyptian military court Tuesday sentenced Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie to 10 years in prison over deadly clashes following the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, judicial officials said.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi attended a celebration, marking the Birth of Prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him, at Al Azhar Conference Center. Addressing the event, the President congratulated the Islamic Umma and stressed the value of responsible and conscious freedom in Islam.

For the first time in years, “Al-Mouled Al-Nabawy” (the Birth of Prophet Mohammed), falls on the 12th day of the third month of the Islamic calendar, Rabi’i Al-Awal, and coincides with Christmas on the same day. Both Muslims and Christians are celebrating the birth of their holidays in the same week.

Prime Minister David Cameron was urged to intervene Wednesday after a British Muslim family was prevented from flying to the United States for a visit to Disneyland.

Eight senior Islamic State commanders were killed in air strikes by the Iraqi airforce, Iraqi state TV reported on Wednesday citing a military statement.

A military court sentenced Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and other leading Brotherhood figures including Mohamed al-Beltagy and Safwat Hegazy to 10 years.

In response to calls for renewed protests on 25 January, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi emphasised his commitment to submit to the political mandate of the Egyptian people, in order to prevent a national security crisis, in a speech on Tuesday.

Iraq's armed forces stormed the center of Ramadi on Tuesday, a spokesman for the counter-terrorism units said, in a drive to dislodge Islamic State militants from their remaining stronghold in a city they captured in May.

The calendar year 2015 will see two celebrations of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, Dr. Ashraf Tadros told Youm7.

Islamic State group jihadists killed nine Syrian students when they shelled a school in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor on Tuesday, state news agency SANA reported.

A child suicide bomber detonated his explosives, killing himself, two other bombers and six people in Nigeria's northeast, in the latest bloodshed blamed on Boko Haram Islamist group, the army said on Monday.

ISIS is preventing civilians from leaving Ramadi ahead of an attack planned by the Iraqi army to retake the western city that the militants captured in May, an Iraqi Defence Ministry spokesman said on Monday.

Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyed met with Sheikh Moawad Awad Ibrahim, the oldest Al-Azhar centenarian, on Monday.

An internal review of the Muslim Brotherhood commissioned by the Prime Minister, while stopping short from calling the group a terrorist organisation, said that it was founded on the premise that “secularisation and westernisation were at the root of all contemporary problems of Arab and Muslim societies.”

Membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood is a "possible indicator of extremism" but it will not be banned, the prime minister has said.