Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II attempted on Monday to reassure Egyptians after the recent attacks on Copts in North Sinai, stressing that the Coptic families that have fled the governorate out of fear of terrorist violence will return to the city "when the time is right." At the start of this month, the Coptic Orthodox Church announced that 143 Christian families had fled North Sinai to Ismailiya after a spate of killings of Christians by Islamist militants in the governorate.

Islamic State's branch in the Sinai Peninsula posted a video on Tuesday depicting the beheading of two men the militant Islamist group said it had found guilty of practicing witchcraft and sorcery. The video, posted on a Telegram channel often used by IS, showed the group forming a religious police unit known as the Hasbah in northern Sinai, where it has waged an insurgency for years. The rugged, thinly populated peninsula borders Israel, Gaza and the Suez Canal.

Islamic State-affiliate Province of Sinai released a promotional video on Tuesday showing members of the organization carrying out what it alleges to be Hisba, or religious policing. The group claimed the footage is from locations in North Sinai, which it did not identify. Hisba is defined by religious scholars as the practice of commanding virtue and forbidding vice, professor of Islamic law professor at Al-Azhar University Ahmed Kareema told the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper. He added that Hisba should be conducted by a select few who must be efficient, fair, knowledgeable and capable, describing it as a type of guardianship falling to those who have been entrusted with religious matters.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is in talks with the Trump administration to keep American troops in Iraq after the fight against the Islamic State group in the country is concluded, according to a US official and an official from the Iraqi government.

An Egyptian criminal court ordered on Thursday the release of prominent Muslim Brotherhood leader and businessman Hassan Malek on EGP 20,000 bail pending trial on charges of harming the country’s economy and financing the banned Brotherhood group.

Days after concluding his visit to Egypt, Roman Catholic Pope Francis II described the country as a “sign of hope” for fraternity, not only historically, but also in the present day. During an address in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, the pope thanked the people of Egypt for their warm welcome and the Egyptian authorities for their “extraordinary commitment” to ensuring the success of his journey.

Islamic State claimed responsibility on Wednesday for an attack on an armored convoy used by NATO that killed eight people in the Afghan capital Kabul. It said in a statement on its Amaq news agency that a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged car as the convoy passed an area near the US embassy, killing eight American soldiers.

A Cairo court confirmed a death sentence against controversial Islamic preacher Wagdy Ghoneim on Sunday after Egypt's grand mufti gave his consent to the verdict.

The declaration signed by Pope Francis and Coptic Pope Tawadros II, that Catholics and Copts for the first time will recognize each other’s sacrament of baptism stirred wide controversy among Coptic Christians in Egypt. The websites affiliated to the Catholic Church reported that the common declaration states that there is no need for a second baptism for Christians who convert from one Church to another.

Roman Catholic Pope Francis and Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros signed on Friday a mutual declaration that each of their respective churches will seek to acknowledge baptisms performed in the other church. The declaration was signed shortly after Pope Francis arrived in Cairo for a two-day visit, the first trip by a Roman Catholic Pope to the country since Pope John Paul II's visit in 2000.

The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas will remove a call for Israel's destruction and drop its association with the Muslim Brotherhood in a new policy document to be issued on Monday, Gulf Arab sources said. Hamas's move appears aimed at improving relations with Gulf Arab states and Egypt, which label the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, as well as with Western countries, many of which classify Hamas as a terrorist group over its hostility to Israel.

Moroccans who secretly converted to Christianity are demanding the right to practise their faith openly in a country where Islam is the state religion and "apostasy" is condemned. At an apartment in a working-class part of the southern town of Agadir, Mustapha listened to hymns emanating from a hi-fi under a silver crucifix hung on the wall.

Pope Francis said on Saturday a third country, such as Norway, should try to mediate the dispute between North Korea and Washington, to cool a situation that had become "too hot" and posed the risk of nuclear devastation. Francis said he believed "a good part of humanity" would be destroyed in any widespread war. Speaking to reporters aboard the plane taking him back from Cairo, Francis also said he was ready to meet U.S. President Donald Trump when he is in Europe next month but that he was not aware that Washington had made a request for a meeting.

Senior local and international clerics underlined on Thursday the role of religious authorities in combating violence and terrorism and promoting coexistence during an international gathering in Cairo hosted by Egypt's Al-Azhar.

Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb inaugurated on Wednesday the fifth round of dialogue between eastern and western religious leaders. This comes as Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Egypt on Friday. “The Caliphate era was being ruled by certain legislations suited to its era regarding non-Muslims and their rights in the Caliphate; however, it makes sense, and according to Islam as well, that if the political system changes, many related legislations change with it,” Al-Tayeb said in his speech.

The two church bombings that killed dozens in Egypt this month targeted unity among Muslims and Christians in the most populous Arab nation, Coptic Pope Tawadros II said Tuesday.

The Islamic State-affiliated group Sinai Province released a statement on Wednesday declaring its responsibility for the car bomb that targeted members of prominent North Sinai tribe al-Tarbiyeen. The statement added that the name of the suicide bomber was Abu Qodma el-Seinway who targeted a gathering of tribe members. The militant group alleged that the attack left 70 dead, though official security sources cite four tribesmen killed.

Roman Catholic Pope Francis delivered on Tuesday a televised speech addressing the Egyptian people ahead of his upcoming two-day visit to the country on Friday; the first visit by a Roman Catholic pope since his predecessor John Paul II visited Cairo in 2000.

Nina Käsehage has conducted 175 interviews with Salafists in Europe. Ths has given her a deep insight into their lifestyle and way of thinking. She finds it regrettable that the whole group gets lumped together. Deutsche Welle: You have been interested in Islam for many years. How did you manage to make contact with Salafists in Europe? Nina Käsehage: I started in 2011 by leading a survey on conversions to Islam within Germany [...] My goal was to interview converts who were genuine German nationals because I wanted to deconstruct the preconception that a conversion to Islam is at the same time accompanied by a distancing from democracy.

Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II met with the emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, on Monday morning, according to Al-Ahram Arabic news website.

A Cairo criminal court issued on Monday a preliminary death sentence to 20 defendents undergoing retrial for involvement in an attack on a Kerdasa police station in August 2013 in which 12 policemen were killed, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported.