On Friday, 16 May, as part of a group of diverse national and religious background, I had the opportunity to attend the moulid, or festival, of St. Dimyana at her namesake monastery in the village of Dimyana in the district Barrary-Belqas in the Egyptian Delta. In general, the trip, organised by the Center for Arab-West Understanding, provided a fascinating look into the dynamics of a popular religious celebration, as well as into the lives of the nuns that live and work on the grounds of the monastery.

Brotherhood supporters marched on Al-Haram street on Wednesday evening, disrupting traffic and chaning slogans against the armed forces and the police in an expression of their rejection of the presidential elections.

Amid the preliminary results of Egypt's presidential poll announced on Thursday, a "third revolutionary wave" has been declared by the largest coalition supporting ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

Egypt's interim President Adly Mansour issued a presidential decree on Thursday cancelling Mohamed Morsi's presidential decree to pardon over 50 Islamists imprisoned on terrorism-related charges.

Giza Criminal Court headed by Judge Mohamed Nagy Shehata will resume Thursday the trial of 51 Muslim Brotherhood leaders including group Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie in the case known as Rabaa task force.

Pope Francis and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traded words on Monday over the language spoken by Jesus two millennia ago.

An Egyptian soldier was shot dead by unknown attackers in Sinai's Rafah on Wednesday, security sources said.

On Wednesday, gunmen killed an Egyptian soldier at Salah Eddin Square in Rafah, North Sinai.

Sources within the Nour Party, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the members dfied the instructions of the party leaders to vote for Sisi and boycotted the presidential elections.

Since the 2011 revolution that ousted longtime president Hosni Mubarak, the Arab world’s most populous country, Egypt, has faced an uncertain future. Briefly ruled by the long-repressed Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt was retaken by its dominant military after widespread dissatisfaction with the rule of president Mohamed Morsi, a Brotherhood member.

Nine university professors have been arrested in Saudi Arabia over alleged links to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood movement, which is banned in the Saudi kingdom.

On Tuesday morning, a small explosion rocked parts of Heliopolis after an IED planted on al-Hamam street went off, an official at the interior ministry's media center said.

Security forces arrested on Tuesday 8 alleged Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Minya after an illegal demonstration of 50 protesters took place near a polling station, state run MENA reported. The arrests come a day after at least 22 supporters of the ousted Morsi were detained.

To counter claims that top militant figure Shadi El-Menei is still alive, Egypt's Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim has confirmed the news of his killing, state news agency MENA reported late on Monday.

Pope Francis has visited the most important holy sites for Muslims and Jews in Jerusalem's Old City on the final day of his Middle East tour.

The National Alliance to Support Legitimacy issued a statement on Monday saying that a huge number of Egyptians have boycotted the first day of the presidential elections in protest at the "military takeover."

Extremist Islamist group Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis has denied reports that one of its leading figures, Shadi Al-Menei has been killed in a military operation in Sinai.

Security forces used teargas to disperse dozens of supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi who attempted to prevent voters from casting their ballots in the town of Kerdasa, located south of Greater Cairo, Al-Ahram's Arabic news website reported.

The influential Qatar-based Muslim cleric Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi on Sunday called on Egyptians to boycott presidential elections and shun front-runner Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, saying the former army chief had "disobeyed God".

The Cairo Criminal Court postponed on Sunday the trial of renowned activist and blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah and 24 others to 11 June.