Coptic blogger Maikel Nabil has been sentenced to two years in military prison on Wednesday and fined LE200 (US$30.3). The verdict was returned by a C28 military court Wednesday after the case was adjourned five times over the past few months.

A judge representing the public prosecutor’s office agreed on Thursday to release 27 out of 28 suspects in the case of the 9 October Maspero violence, in which 31 people were killed when the military and police attacked protesters, most of whom were Copts. However, prominent blogger and activist Alaa Abd El Fattah, who was also arrested in connection with the Maspero incident, remains in detention, his father and lawyer Ahmed Seif al-Islam told Egypt Independent.

The three Christian denominations of Egypt have welcomed recent statements of Muslim Brotherhood General Guide Mohamed Badie, in which he reassured Christians that their interests will be safeguarded. “It is a good step towards positive integration between the different sects of Egyptian society,” said Andria Zaki, vice president of the Anglican Church. “I hope this is guaranteed in the new constitution.”

As the Christmas holiday approaches, seasonal bazaars are popping up around Cairo. The bazaars present the opportunity to enjoy the spirit of Christmas with your family and friends while browsing the gifts, ornaments and cookies.

A military court on Wednesday postponed the re-trial of blogger Maikel Nabil until 14 December. This is the eighth postponement since the retrial began on 1 November. Nabil has been on a hunger strike for 106 days and is surviving on water and milk. He is charged with insulting the military and spreading false information about the armed forces via his blog.

CAPERNAUM, Israel — A new trail across northern Israel offers travelers the chance to walk — or trot — through New Testament sites in the footsteps of Jesus. The newly opened Gospel Trail winds for 39 miles(62.7 kilometers), heading south from Nazareth, across gentle green hills, through Jewish and Arab towns and down to Capernaum, the fishing town where Jesus is said to have established his home base. The Tourism Ministry believes the new trail may attract up to 200,000 Christian pilgrims to northern Israel over the coming year.

Cairo criminal court sentenced on Wednesday former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi's chief of staff Rifaa El-Tahtawy to three years in prison on charges of forgery.

Islamic State fighters have largely withdrawn from a Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus after expelling their main rival, several residents and a Palestinian official said on Wednesday.

Hundreds of citizens have organised a protest in Egypt's Nile Delta city Kafr El-Sheikh in reaction to the attack that took place earlier today leaving at least two students from the military academy dead and others injured, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

Two military students were killed when a microbus transforming military academy students exploded in the governorate of Kafr El-Sheikh on Wednesday, the governorate's security director said.

At least three civilians were killed and nine United Nations peacekeepers seriously injured in a suicide attack on a U.N. base in the northern Malian town ofAnsongo on Wednesday, a spokesman for the peacekeeping mission said.

An Egyptian Coptic Christian teenager abducted in Libya by armed men who killed her parents has been found dead, a hospital source said on Friday.

Masked gunmen in central Libya kidnapped 13 Coptic Christians on Saturday after seven were abducted days earlier, said a witness and a priest, in a new wave of assaults against Egypt’s Christians working in the war-torn North African nation plagued with Islamic extremists.

Deposed President Mohamed Morsy, who faces espionage charges along with 34 other Muslim Brotherhood members, offered felicitations to Cairo Criminal Court and Egyptians over Al-Mawlid Al-Nabawy, Prophet Mohamed’s birth, and Christmas.

A judicial source has revealed names of members belonging to the Muslim-Brotherhood led National Alliance to Support Legitimacy (NASL) whose properties and assets were ordered to be seized by judicial authorities on Saturday.

In a major positive development, Egypt's President Al Sisi has made an impassioned plea for a "religious revolution" in Islam. Speaking at Al Azhar University in Cairo, Sisi spoke directly to the religious establishment of Egypt: