The Egyptian president's office said on Sunday it was committed to engaging "all political forces" to reach common ground on the constitution and stressed the "temporary nature" of a decree expanding President Mohamed Morsy's powers.

Ahmed Fahmi, chairman of the Islamist-dominated Shura Council (the upper, consultative house of Egypt's parliament), seized on Thursday's council session to criticise the constitutional declaration issued by President Mohamed Morsi on 22 November.

The Islamist group Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya on Sunday warned of increased violence and divisions in Egypt following President Morsi's Constitutional Declaration.

Jama’a al-Islamiya senior leader Nageh Ibrahim has warned that liberal political figures may be targeted for assassination during the next month.

The Muslim Brotherhood has declared that it would move its mass demonstration planned for Tuesday from downtown's Abdeen Square to Cairo University headquarters to avoid clashes with a rival demonstration planned to take place in Tahrir Square.

President Mohamed Morsy is expected to issue some important political decisions Thursday evening, sources within his office have said.

Mozakerat Mohamed Habib(Diaries of Mohammed Habib on Life, Politics and Thought) by Mohammed Habib, Cairo: Shorouk Publishing House, 2012. 528pp.

Environment Minister Mostafa Hussein Kamel vowed the government would remove a monastery encroachment on the Wadi al-Rayan reserve Tuesday, angering monks, who say they will defend their land with their lives.

A police officer was injured after intervening in clashes between Muslim Brotherhood members and protesters in Ismailia.

Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb and Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa visited Pope Tawadros II Wednesday to congratulate him on being ordained as the 118th pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Two Coptic activist movements have called for demonstrations Friday to condemn violence committed by security services during the ongoing clashes with protesters on Mohamed Mahmoud Street near the Interior Ministry.

Former Salafist Nour Party MP Ali Wanis has been sentenced to four months in jail by the Delta Appeal Court for performing an "indecent" sexual act in public and assaulting a police officer.

Muslim leaders will meet Thursday as Pakistan hosts a rare summit designed to increase trade and investment but likely to be overshadowed by the Gaza conflict as diplomats scramble to arrange a ceasefire.

Muslim Brotherhood students staged protests on Tuesday at seven universities across the country condemning the Israeli attacks on Gaza.

A senior leader at the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party said there are “clear indications” the US and Israel have played a role in the crises in Sinai and Gaza.

The three Egyptian churches’ decision to withdraw from the Constituent Assembly is final, said church leaders on Monday.

With human rights organizations reporting a spike in defamation charges, concerns are piling up over the effect of such charges on freedoms of belief and expression. And while the social and political environment may be conducive to more defamation cases, the laws governing them, as well as judicial reasoning, tell of legal exacerbations of the problem.

At one of Cairo's luxurious Nile side hotels, in a lavish ballroom, around a hundred Egyptian Salafists, including some of their top religious scholars, gathered to launch their Salafist movement's first business association.

With prayers and blessings in the name of Jesus Christ, spiritual leaders on Sunday anointed Tawadros II as pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church at St. Mark's Cathedral in the heart of Cairo.

"Down with military rule!" chanted Copts, interrupting last January's Christmas mass at Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral. The protesters were reacting to Pope Shenouda’s decision to invite members of the then-ruling military council to attend the celebration, despite the role of state security forces in the Maspero massacre which led to the death of more than 25 Coptic demonstrators in October 2011.

At the Hanging Church in Old Cairo, wishes and prayers are made by Christians and non-Christians alike. The story of Mar Girgis, or St. George, a Roman soldier who died a martyr in around 303 AD, is an outstanding tale of self-sacrifice.