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.

Pope Francis on Saturday described some of Europe's refugee centres as "concentration camps", as he paid tribute to an unknown Christian woman slain for her faith in front of her Muslim husband. "These refugee camps -- so many are concentration camps, crowded with people... because international accords seem more important than human rights," Francis said in impromptu remarks at a ceremony in memory of modern-day Christian martyrs.

Another victim of the Tanta church blast has died on Sunday, raising the total number of victims to 29. The body of Victor Mina is expected to arrive in Tanta for burial at Mar Girguis Church on Sunday evening. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bombing on Palm Sunday, leaving 29 victims and 90 wounded.

Security apparatuses based in South Sinai killed on Wednesday afternoon the perpetrator of the attack against a security checkpoint near St. Catherine's Monastery in South Sinai. According to a resident who preferred to remain anonymous, the perpetrator had managed to flee the scene following the Tuesday night attack but was unable to remain hidden due to an intensive security sweep in the el-Sabia region.

The Egyptian Tourism Authority (ETA) sent a letter to the Egyptian Travel Agencies Association (ETAA) to promote the visit of Roman Catholic Pope Francis at the end of April in a bid to increase tourism. The letter sent by the ETA directed companies to promote the visit in neighbouring and European countries in order to attract tourists to partake in the Pope’s mass, which will be held on 29 April. Head of the ETA, Hisham El Demery, said that the authority is coordinating with the private sector in the marketing of tourism products in all events that take place in Egypt.

A man suspected of involvement in the bombing of Mar Girgis Cathedral in Tanta on 9 April has turned himself in to a prosecutor’s office in Upper Egypt's Qena governorate, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported Wednesday. Mahmoud Mohamed Ali Hussein, who holds a Bachelor's degree in Agricultural Science, has been transferred to the State Security headquarters for investigations.

A non-commissioned police officer was killed and other three officers were injured on Tuesday night in a militant attack that targeted a security checkpoint located on the road to St. Catherine's Monastery in South Sinai, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria will hold an open funeral tonight for people to offer their condolences and grieve for the martyrs killed in the bombing of the cathedral on Palm Sunday, said Hegomen Rowais Morcos, churchwarden and spokesman for the cathedral In a statement to al-Masry al-Youm, Morcos said the cathedral welcomes all security officials and leaders in the province, headed by Governor of Alexandria Mohamed Sultan and Major General Mostafa Al-Nimr, head of the Security Directorate, as well as popular, executive and religious leaderships.

Allawi said he got the information on Monday from Iraqi and regional contacts knowledgeable about Iraq. "The discussion has started now," Allawi said. "There are discussions and dialogue between messengers representing Baghdadi and representing Zawahiri," referring to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and Ayman al Zawahiri, the head of al Qaeda.

In an impromptu Easter Sunday speech, Pope Francis on Sunday encouraged people to hold fast in their "fearful hearts" to faith despite all the wars, sickness and hatred in the world, acknowledging that many wonder where God is amid so much evil and suffering. Tens of thousands of faithful braved heavy security checks — and, later, a brief downpour from what had been sunny skies — to enter St. Peter's Square where Francis celebrated Mass on the steps leading to St. Peter's Basilica.

The National Security Prosecution decided on Sunday to detain three suspects for 15 days pending investigations on accusations of involvement in the Palm Sunday terrorist attacks on two churches in Tanta and Alexandria, which killed at least 45. According to state media, the three suspects face charges of joining an outlaw group that “aims at obstructing the rule of law and preventing state institutions from working, as well as assaulting the personal freedoms of citizens, especially Christian citizens, attacking their houses of worship and properties, in addition to targeting public institutions with the aim of destroying the state and jeopardising public order by using terrorism as a means to achieve their goals.”

The main suspect in the bombing of St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria was an accountant working in Kuwait who was deported to Egypt after confirming his ties with the Islamic State terrorist organization, Al-Qabas Kuwaiti newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The admin of a Facebook page named "Underground" has been arrested on suspicion of having links to the recent church attacks in Tanta and Alexandria, a source with Gharbiya Security Directorate told Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Pope Francis will visit Egypt as planned this month despite the weekend bombings of two Coptic Christian churches that killed 44 people, a Vatican official said. "There is no doubt the Holy Father will maintain his offer to go to Egypt" on April 28 and 29, Monsignor Angelo Becciu, the Holy See's number three, said in an interview published in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera on Monday.

Judicial sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm that investigations and DNA analysis results have revealed the identity of the perpetrators of the bombings of Tanta and Alexandria churches. The sources said that the preliminary information indicates that the suicide bomber who carried out the terrorist attack at Mar Girgis church in Tanta was named by the "Islamic State" (IS) militant group Abu Ishaq al-Masri.

Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church oversaw Monday the burial of seven victims of a suicide attack on St. Marks Cathedral in Alexandria that killed 17 people and injured dozens, Ahram Arabic website reported. Hundreds attended the funerals and the burial of the victims at Mir Mena (St Menos) Monastery in King Mariout on the outskirts of Alexandria governorate.

Pope Tawadros II dispatched a cable of condolences that was read during the funeral service of the victims of the St. Mark church bombing on Monday afternoon, at the monastery of Mar Mina, west of Alexandria. The Pope expressed his condolences to the families of the police victims, as well as to those of Christian worshippers, saying that they died on Palm Sunday, coinciding with a festival of joy and celebration in the church.

In bringing to fruition recent threats made by the Islamic State group in Egypt against the Coptic Christian minority, nearly 45 people were killed and more than 100 were injured on Sunday morning in two violent bombings at prominent churches in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria, in addition to unconfirmed reports of further terrorist attacks in other locations.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Sunday morning attacks on the Mar Giurgis church in the Nile Delta city of Tanta and Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria, according to the IS-affiliated Ammaq media outlet.