In wake of wide Saudi Arabian cultural and social global openness, for the first time in the country s history it has signed a cooperative agreement with the Vatican to build churches for Christian citizens to advocate the important role of religions and cultures in renouncing violence, extremism, terrorism and achieving security and stability in the world. The agreement was signed by the Secretary General of the Muslim World League Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdel Karim Al-Issa and the President of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue in the Vatican and the French cardinal of the Catholic Church Jean-Louis Tauran to achieve mutual goals between both sides.

Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades visited on Tuesday the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa in Alexandria. Patriarch Theodoros II of the Patriarchate welcomed the two presidents at the Greek Orthodox church in central Alexandria.

The Egyptian Armed Forces said on Wednesday that 30 Takfiris, 4 of them are top dangerous, have been killed in a week as part of the comprehensive operation to counter terrorism in Sinai Peninsula. A statement issued by the Armed Forces on Monday said that 173 suspects have been arrested during the last week of Sinai 2018 operation. It added that hundreds of shelters and hideouts of terrorists have been destructed.

The Syrian army said on Sunday it had captured a string of villages from US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) east of the Euphrates river near the border with Iraq where Kurdish-led forces are in control, state television said. The U.S.-backed proxy forces spearheaded by the Kurdish YPG militia since last year have taken over much of the territory east of the Euphrates in Deir al-Zor province as part of a major campaign that drove Islamic State militants from eastern Syria.

A clash between French soldiers and an armed jihadist group in northwest Mali left three "terrorists" dead, Paris said Thursday, while local media reported injuries among French special forces. The three were "neutralised" in a confrontation near the village of Goudam, west of Timbuktu, on April 21, French army spokesman Colonel William Thomas told a press conference.

Egypt s military and police forces have killed 30 Islamist "takfiris" and arrested 173 suspects in a week-long offensive to crush militants in central and northern Sinai, a military spokesperson said on Wednesday. Three army officers were killed and an officer and a solider were injured in clashes with terrorists during raids over the past week, Colonel Tamer El-Refai said in the 20th communique on Operation Sinai 2018, which was published on the official Facebook page of the Egyptian armed forces.

The spokesperson for Egypt’s army denounced a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released on Monday detailing the deterioration of humanitarian conditions in North Sinai and the suffering of residents in the governorate due to a siege being imposed by Egyptian Armed Forces. Army spokesperson Tamer El-Rafaai told Egypt Independent on Tuesday that the Egyptian Armed Forces are providing all the necessary goods and food requirements for the residents of North Sinai and added that the army is coordinating with all state entities to assure that the needs of residents in the governorate are being fulfilled.

Egypt has condemned a deadly blast at a voter registration centre in Kabul on Sunday that left at least 57 people dead as Afghanistan prepares for nationwide elections in the autumn. In a statement on Saturday, the Egyptian foreign ministry decried the attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State terrorist group, expressing its sincere condolences to the families of the victims.

Air strikes pounded a jihadist-held area near Damascus on Sunday, footage broadcast by Syrian state TV stations showed, as the Syrian government stepped up efforts to wipe out the insurgency s last foothold near the capital. Thick clouds of smoke rose from the al-Hajar al-Aswad area and the sound of jets could be heard in broadcasts from the area just south of Damascus that is controlled by insurgents from the Islamic State and Nusra Front groups.

Military forces from Egypt’s Third Field Army killed the ‘Emir’ (leader) of Sinai Province, the Islamic State-affiliated (IS) group based in North Sinai, during a sweeping operation conducted in central Sinai on Wednesday morning. According to a statement released by the Egyptian army’s official spokesperson Tamer al-Refaei, Third Field Army forces carried out a sweeping operation in a number of rugged mountainous areas in central Sinai where they faced Sinai Province leader Naser Abu Zakoul in an exchange of fire and killed him.

Iraqi courts have sentenced to death a total of more than 300 people, including dozens of foreigners, for belonging to the Islamic State group, judicial sources said Wednesday. The suspects are being tried by two courts, one near the former jihadist stronghold of Mosul in northern Iraq and another in Baghdad which is dealing notably with foreigners and women.

The state committee that considers the legalization of unlicensed churches made up of Egypt’s cabinet approved on Monday the legalization of 102 churches and 64 church-affiliated service buildings in various governorates. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, Local Development Minister Abu Bakr al-Gendy and representatives of other ministries and concerned authorities.

International inspectors were to try on Monday to visit the site of a suspected gas attack which brought U.S.-led missile strikes on Syria and heightened the diplomatic confrontation between the West and President Bashar al-Assad s main ally Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday more Western attacks on Syria would bring chaos to world affairs, and Washington prepared to increase pressure on Russia with new economic sanctions.

Egypt s Court of Cassation upheld on Sunday death sentences against four defendants convicted of terror-related charges, including two in absentia, in the 2015 "Ousim terrorist cell case.” The court also upheld jail sentences ranging between 15 years to life for 29 defendants in the same case, including 13 in absentia.

Egypt’s Grand Mufti has issued a ‘fatwa’ (religious ruling) against buying ‘likes’ on social media platforms, a mechanism commonly used by people running social media channels who opt to buy their followers in order to boost their numbers, Al-Masry Al-Youm reports. “Boosting content is permissible in Sharia law as long as it’s in a manner to promote an account, a product, a page or a publication in order for the content to reach a certain number of user targeted in exchange of money,” Shawki Allam, Egypt’s Grand Mufti, said.

Pro-government forces in Syria are emptying main airports and military air bases over possible US strikes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said on Wednesday. US President Donald Trump said in a Tweet on Wednesday that American missiles "will be coming" to Syria following a suspected chemical weapons attack on Sunday.

An Alexandria military court issued on Tuesday preliminary death sentences against 36 people convicted of involvement in deadly bombings on two Egyptian churches in Alexandria and Tanta in April 2017. The case involves 48 defendants, 31 of whom are in custody and 17 are fugitives. The court has referred the case to the country s Grand Mufti for his non-binding opinion on the death sentence as per Egyptian law. The verdict is subject to appeal.

An official security source in the Ministry of the Interior denied reports that an extremist had attempted to attack a church in the city of Obour, stressing that the arrested suspect was beggar mot linked any extremist groups. The security services assigned to provide security for the Church of Mar Boullus in Obour, Qaliubiya, reported that ‘Mohamed S. G.’, 21, from Sharqiya governorate tried to enter the church with a black plastic bag containing some clothes.

Four months after Iraqi government troops drove the last remnants of the Islamic State (IS) terror group from the country, the militants are waging a growing campaign of ambushes and hit and run attacks that has rendered that victory nearly futile. Over the past few weeks insurgents have been attacking the Iraqi security forces in areas which the government had taken back from IS, nearly every day, showing a high level of organisation and probably having inside information on the deployment plans of the soldiers.

Upper Egypt s criminal court of Sohag on Wednesday sentenced 35 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group to life in prison on charges of weapons possession in Sohag. In the same case, the court also convicted 155 others, handing down various sentences ranging between three and 15 years in prison. The sentences can still be appealed.

Over the past three days of Egypt’s presidential elections, many Christians turned out in support for President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, with many in the community endorsing him for a second term in office. While some Egyptians find his win inevitable against his little known rival Moussa Mostafa Moussa, a lot of Christians believe he is the best man to rule Egypt at the moment.