On 2 April 1968, tens of thousands of Egyptians, Muslims and Christians alike, congregated to see the Virgin Mary appear above a Coptic Orthodox Church in Zeitoun.

A sense of panic quickly spread among mourners as they prepared to leave Cairo's main Coptic cathedral on Sunday afternoon. Young men ran in and out of the church telling funeral attendees to beware of unknown assailants outside pelting mourners with rocks.

The injury toll from Sunday's cathedral clashes in Cairo stand at 21, according to Egypt's health ministry. Clashes erupted on Sunday afternoon outside the main Coptic cathedral in Cairo's Abbasiya district as hundreds of mourners held a funeral for victims of Saturday's sectarian clashes in the capital's Qalioubiya governorate.

Coptic Pope Tawadros II called for calm among all parties to preserve the nation’s safety, Egyptians’ lives and national unity Sunday evening, after one person was reported dead and 29 injured in clashes at a Cairo cathedral that broke out after unknown assailants attacked a funeral.

Clashes broke out between Coptic Christians and Muslims in central Cairo on Sunday after the funeral of four Copts killed in sectarian violence outside the Egyptian capital on Friday night, a witness said.

The Virgin Mary church in Zeitoun apologised on Wednesday to journalists allegedly assaulted while covering Pope Tawadros II’s visit to the church on Tuesday.

The Palestinian movement Hamas which rules Gaza has arrested two hardline Islamists in connection with rocket attacks on Israel, sources close to a Salafist group said Thursday.

Salafis attacked President Mohamed Morsy and Prime Minister Hesham Qandil's Cabinet Thursday due to the hikes of food prices. They said the Cabinet’s actions and decisions will cause the economy to collapse.

Deputies of the Muslim Brotherhood and their allies in the Islamist-led Shura Council (the upper house of Egypt's parliament, currently endowed with legislative powers) teamed up on Monday and Tuesday to approve amendments to a 1956 law on the exercise of political rights.

Religious slogans will be permitted in Egyptian election campaigns, according to an amendment made to the electoral law by the Shura Council, the body currently holding legislative powers

The Supreme Council of Al-Azhar on Wednesday dismissed the head of Al-Azhar University Osama al-Abd over the mass food poisoning of 561 students after eating meals at the university.

The Salafi Dawah and the Nour Party are launching campaigns against Egypt’s warming ties with Iran, leading Salafi sources have told Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayyeb was named the top cultural figure of the year by the Sheikh Zayed Book Awards board Tuesday.

COWANDILLA motorists could be forgiven for doing a double take when passing a 3m statue of an Egyptian pharaoh. The St Mary and Anba Bishoy Coptic Orthodox Church has put up a statue of Ramses II, along with a 4m high pyramid, to educate children about Egyptian and Coptic history.

CAIRO, April 2 (Reuters) - President Mohamed Mursi's Islamist allies accused the United States on Tuesday of blatant interference in its affairs after Washington said Cairo was muzzling freedom of speech.

The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) on Tuesday condemned a recent US State Department statement criticising an arrest warrant issued earlier this week for Egyptian television satirist Bassem Youssef.

The Gaza Strip’s Hamas movement condemned the actions of students from the West Bank's Fatah party who hanged an effigy of the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani on Tuesday.

Dar al-Ifta issued a fatwa Sunday that said using verses from the Quran or the call to prayer as ringtones for mobile phones is haram, or prohibited in Islam.