Egypt's interior minister said yesterday police arrested three members of an Al Qaeda-linked cell in an alleged transnational plot to bomb a Western embassy and other targets in the country.

Naguib Gabriel, head of the Egyptian Federation of Human Rights, filed a memorandum to the Egyptian prosecutor-general on Sunday, asking for the immediate release of Coptic schoolteacher Demyana Emad and other Copts who are currently imprisoned as a result of a rash of case with sectarian elements.

In the middle of heavy evening traffic on 6 October Bridge, Hussein, a taxi driver in his early 60s, is not paying attention to the shouting and honking of horns following a car accident that has just taken place. He is listening to a news broadcast announcing that "Egyptian authorities prevented two Palestinian Hamas members from entering Egypt from Gaza.”

Egyptian security officials say a Coptic Christian who stabbed his wife for converting to Islam has killed himself by jumping out of a fourth-story courthouse window.

A Christian-Coptic man in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Assiut committed suicide on Saturday by jumping off the fourth floor of the Assiut courthouse, where he was set to face questioning over the stabbing of his wife.

The Building and Development Party, the political wing of the Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya, called on the United States government to release its spiritual leader Omar Abdel Rahman from prison and to remove the group from the Foreign Terrorist Organisations (FTO) list.

Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II will embark on a trip to the Vatican on Thursday, marking the first such visit by a Coptic Orthodox leader in 40 years.

Secular youth used Facebook and Twitter two years ago to help topple President Hosni Mubarak from power, but now Salafi Islamists are gaining sway in Egypt because of TV sheiks like Khaled Abdullah.

Radical Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi on Wednesday started a visit to Hamas-ruled Gaza, crossing via Rafiah, on the border with Egypt.

Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II will embark on a trip to the Vatican on Thursday, marking the first such visit by a Coptic Orthodox leader in 40 years.

A Salafi delegation met Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed Al-Tayeb on Wednesday, where they agreed on the threat of Shi’ism to Egypt, according to Younis Makhyoun, head of the Salafi Al-Nour Party.

Alaa Hamza, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood accused of capturing and torturing opposition protesters, was released on bail of LE10,000 on Wednesday, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

American Middle East analysts often claim that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is a moderate organization, nothing like the more radical Salafis. If true, what do we make of the fact that the most intolerant, anti-American, hate-filled Salafis and jihadis also happen to be the greatest and staunchest supporters of Morsi? Doesn’t such unequivocal support indicate shared ideologies and goals?

Springtime in Cairo amounts to a week or two when the city is warmer than it was in winter, but not as hot as it's about to get. That's why Sham El Nessim, a national holiday celebrated by picnicking and sailing on the Nile, is so popular.

Egypt’s Black Bloc grew out of their struggle for liberation from an authoritarian system, only after non-violent civil efforts had failed. Ironically, the U.S. Black Bloc and Egypt’s Black Bloc are on opposite sides of the political struggle – one, in the U.S., a friend to the Muslim Brotherhood and doubtless trying to gain prestige through their nominal association with international fighters; the other, in Egypt, an enemy to the Brotherhood, and fighting for democracy and legitimate government.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi swore in new cabinet ministers Tuesday in a reshuffle of his government that strengthened the position of the Muslim Brotherhood in key ministries and provoked complaints from the nation's disparate opposition.

For many years, a young ambitious Marwa Esameldin wanted nothing more than to become an airplane pilot.

On late Saturday, Pope Tawadros II led his first Easter Mass as head of the ancient Coptic Christian Church in Egypt by praying for security and prosperity in the country. It was the most important event of the year for Egypt’s Christian minority. Many Muslims attended the service, including various figures from the opposition parties. However, President Mohamed Morsi and Prime Minister Hesham Qandil were conspicuously absent; their Muslim Brotherhood government effectively snubbed the mass by sending sent a low-level token representative – the country’s housing minister.

“What’s been done will be done again.” This is a line from the Bible that has taken on a special resonance as Egypt's Christians weigh up yet another attack on their homes and places of worship.