Egypt's Coptic Church on Thursday issued a statement criticising the system used to form Egypt's recently-established constituent assembly, tasked with drafting a new national constitution. Half the members of the 100-seat assembly were drawn from Egypt's first post-Mubarak parliament – roughly three quarters of which is controlled by Islamist parties – and half from among non-parliamentarians.

The People's Assembly on Thursday lifted parliamentary immunity from Salafist Nour Party MP Anwar El-Balkimy following publication of a report into his conduct by parliament's legislative affairs committee. Parliamentary speaker and senior Muslim Brother Saad El-Katatni said El-Balkimy had request the move so he could fight the lawsuit against him.

Salafist presidential hopeful Hazem Saleh Abu-Ismail has denied rumours that he is ineligible to run as a candidate because his mother holds US citizenship. Media reports circulating since Wednesday evening claimed that Abu-Ismail's mother is an American citizen are completely false, Abu-Ismail said. Other reports claimed that his wife holds US citizenship as well.

The Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt announced Tuesday that it formed a committee to study candidates to replace the late Pope Shenouda III. The decision came after a meeting of the Holy Synod chaired by the acting pope, Bishop Pachomius, and attended by a large number of Coptic bishops from inside and outside Egypt.

The Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, launched a sharp attack on media outlets on Monday, accusing them of tarnishing the image of the group. “The devil inspires the media to create an image of the Brotherhood as a substitute of the National Democratic Party (NDP) that will destroy the country,” said Badie in a symposium in Beni Suef city, south of Cairo, marking the inauguration of the group’s headquarters in the governorate.

The Muslim Brotherhood's Shura Council decided to postpone until Tuesday 3 April a meeting to discuss the group's decision on the endorsement of a presidential candidate from inside or outside of the group. Ahmed Abdel Rahman, a council member, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the meeting was postponed for "more pondering," adding that "all the cards are on the table."

Mohamed Badie, the Muslim Brotherhood's supreme guide, has said the Egyptian media is being driven by the devil into opposing his group. "The devil is plying his trade again, but this time to make the media convince Egyptians that the Brotherhood [and the FJP] is the new National Democratic Party (NDP) that will destroy the country."

The seeming honeymoon between the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s most formidable political faction, and the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) appears to be ending – or at least experiencing some turbulence. Recent statements issued by the two groups reveal mounting tension, the extent of which remains unclear.

The Muslim Brotherhood and the Freedom and Justice Party rejected on Monday what they called “threats” by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which had advised the group in a statement issued Sunday to “avoid undesired past mistakes.” President Gamal Abdel Nasser had brutally purged the group in 1954, following a failed assassination attempt on him that he accused the group of perpetrating. The Brotherhood denied the accusation at the time, saying it helped Nasser overthrow King Farouk in 1952.

An MP from Jama’a al-Islamiya’s Construction and Development Party and member of the constituent assembly, Hani Noureddin, said Monday that his party “won’t give up the application of the Sharia and will defend the second article of the (1971) constitution,” which stipulates that the principles of Islamic law are the main source of legislation. Noureddin told Al-Masry Al-Youm that there is no disagreement among political powers over the second article, adding that his party is open to suggestions that are in accordance with the principles of Islamic law.

A senior Muslim Brotherhood member and businessman, who at this time last year had just been released from Tora prison, launched over the weekend the Egyptian Business Development Association (Ebda) to act as a channel of communication between investors and the government. “We want a renaissance of Egypt’s economy through encouraging investment, developing human capital, and helping to create economic decisions,” founder Hassan Malek said.

Since the fall of Mubarak in February 2011, Egyptians have carried the thought of a new constitution in the forefront of their minds. The issue polarised the country during a referendum on amendments called by Egypt's ruling military council, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), in March 2011.

MP Mohamed Emadeddin, a member of Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee and a leader in the Muslim Brotherhood, stated Monday evening that the Islamist group will consider three names in their bid to select a candidate for Egypt's upcoming presidential polls, according to Ahram's Arabic-language portal. The short-list includes Mohamed Mursi, chairman of the Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party; Saad El-Katatni, the parliamentary speaker, and the group's deputy guide, Khairat El-Shater.

The Muslim Brotherhood is conspiring to rule the Gulf states, beginning with Kuwait next year as it is the most vulnerable, the Dubai police chief told Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas on Sunday. “I have sources that say the Brotherhood wants the Gulf regimes to reign but not govern,” he said, adding that the Islamist group will move on to the rest of the Gulf by 2016.

Outside the ballroom of the five-star hotel, bearded men in well-cut suits rush to line up for sunset prayers beside a banner announcing the day's event. Piety and commerce side-by-side, this was the scene at the Saturday launch of the Muslim Brotherhood-majority business lobby, the Egyptian Businessmen Development Association (EBDA, which also means 'start' in Arabic).

Until the late hours of 24 March, the names of the 100-member constituent assembly to draft Egypt’s first post-25 January Revolution were not yet officially announced. As many as 2,078 people are nominated for joining the assembly and it has proved cumbersome for members of the two houses of parliament - the People’s Assembly and Shura Council - to choose among them.

The Muslim Brotherhood attacked the Supreme Council of Armed Forces and the current cabinet for their management of the country Saturday. In a strongly worded statement, the Brotherhood said the military council's insistence on backing the current cabinet raises suspicions about the integrity of the presidential elections and the referendum on the new constitution.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the main Islamist force that emerged after the Arab Spring, is plotting to take over Gulf states, Dubai's police chief said in remarks reported on Sunday. Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan said he had his reasons to claim that the "Brotherhood was plotting to change the regimes in the Gulf," in an interview published in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas.

The vast majority of Egyptian Christians belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church, but there are a number of other Christian denominations with significant numbers of followers in Egypt. Ahram Online takes a look at three of the largest. The Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria The Greek Orthodox Church is part of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which has many adherents in Eastern Europe.

Displayed on the shelves of every church bookstore in Egypt is a collection of writings by the late Pope Shenouda III. The covers of his books, which number over a hundred, are all illustrated with an image of St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Abbasseya and the pope’s name in the top right corner. Pope Shenouda, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 89 after a long struggle with disease, was an avid writer. He studied English literature and history at Cairo University in the forties, and upon his graduation in 1947, taught in a school, in addition to writing for a number of Coptic publications. He was even a member of the Journalists Syndicate before becoming a monk.

The Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, has slammed interim Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri in a short statement published on his official Facebook page Thursday, wondering why the Ganzouri cabinet continues despite its refusal by parliament.