A group of activists and MPs staged a protest at Dar al-Qadaa al-Ali, a prominent judicial institution in downtown Cairo, Saturday, against sectarian violence in Minya governorate.

Churches building law is not only religious affair but also a national matter, said Egyptian counselor Tahani Al-Jebali on late Saturday.

Prosecutors in the town of Samallout, Minya governorate, have ordered the arrest of three people suspected of involvement in a fight that the authorities feared was in danger of sparking a sectarian incident.

The Endowments Ministry has backtracked on its recently announced policy of enforcing pre-written Friday sermons in mosques across Egypt.

Nageh Ibrahim, an expert on Islamist insurgent groups and a former jihadist, said in an interview with Ahram Online that the militant group Ansar Beit El-Maqdas is "having its last throes," as the group has become quite weak during the past year.

A long-awaited draft law on building churches will make the process of obtaining licences easier, the legislation text shows.

The legislative committee of Egypt’s House of Representatives gives the priority to the churches building law, said MP Suzy Nashed on late Thursday.

A draft law is currently prepared to control the religious fatwa during the coming period and to contain the current state of chaos resulted from the increasing irresponsible fatwas issued by non-professionals, said MP Amr Hamroush.

Egypt’s liberal Wafd Party was the first to submit a draft law to regulate the building and renovation of churches in the country, said MP Mohamed Fouad on Thursday.

Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nassr discussed with the Ambassador of India in Cairo Sanjay Bhattacharyya current cooperation in the project of establishing a technology center at Azhar University.

The US State Department has said that Egyptian Coptic Christians still face enormous challenges, though stated that President-Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has made efforts to protect the country's largest minority, according to its 2015 Annual Report on International Freedom released on Wednesday.

Egyptian church performs a major role to cooperate with the African countries and especially the Nile Basin countries, said MP Abdel-Rehim Ali on Wednesday.

Dar al-Ifta, an official body that provides guidance on Islamic law, has condemned extremist groups for conducting smear campaigns against public figures and scientists, particularly when they involve allegations of apostacy.

Morocco's state news agency says a man who attacked a mosque in the Moroccan city of Tetouan has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the death of an imam.

Egyptian MP Mahmoud Al-Saidy called for establishing an economic authority to receive the zakat funs and other religious donations instead of mosques, Youm7 reported.

Writer Kamal Zakher told Youm7 that a draft law that regulates churches construction “does not fulfill Copts’ ambitions.”

MP Magdy Melek rebuked the parliamentary decision to refer the churches building law to the religious committee, saying that such a law should be discussed by the legislative committee not the religious one, Youm7 reported on Monday.

Parliament’s religious committee recommended generalizing the churches building law to include all worship places in Egypt, Youm7 reported on Monday.

A new fatwa issued by Salafist leader Yasser Borhami banning lottery prizes and describing them as a kind of gambling, Youm7 reported on Monday.

Parliamentary religious committee started its meeting to discuss the churches building law on Monday, said the committee’s chairman Osama Al-Abd.

Families of Egyptian Copts who were kidnapped in Libya have delayed their protest Sunday until they receive official police permit in accordance to the 2013 Protest Law.