Egypt s Al-Azhar University overturned a decision to permanently expel a female student after she was filmed during a public embrace with a male friend, hours after the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed El-Tayeb urged the university to reconsider their decision. The university s disciplinary committee said in its emergency meeting that it has decided the scrap the punishment , deciding to prevent the student from sitting for her exams this term in keenness over her educational future .

The Egyptian authorities deported the German citizen of Egyptian origin Issa Mohamed Abdelghani al-Sabbagh, who was arrested a few days ago when he arrived in the country from Germany via Luxor airport in possession of maps of North Sinai and a compass. According to the authorities, the investigation showed that Sabbagh adopted the terrorist ideology of ISIS, electronically connected to some of its elements, and came to Egypt to join the ranks of the terrorist organization in Sinai.

A female student at Al-Azhar university who was expelled last week after a video of her hugging her fiancé on campus went viral can appeal the decision to expel her in front of a university committee, an Al-Azhar official told Ahram Online. "The expelled student now has the right to appeal the universitys decision before a high disciplinary board," university spokesperson Ahmad Zarei told Ahram Online on Sunday.

A Giza criminal court has acquitted leader of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie and seven others in a retrial over 2013 violence, the first time the group s leader and associates have been acquitted in a series of trials. The case dates back to clashes that took place near the Istikama Mosque on the outskirts of Cairo in July 2013 following the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi, which left nine people dead and 20 injured.

Egypt will unify the adhan (the Islamic call for prayer) at all the country s mosques starting from February, the Minister of Endowments, Mokhtar Gomaa, announced on Sunday. In a meeting with the ministry s officials at the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Gomaa stated that the unified Adhan will come into effect after solving some technical problems. The Adhan will be broadcasted live via satellite from a specific mosque chosen by the ministry to all mosques.

Egypt s Minister of Interior Mahmoud Tawfik paid a visit on Monday to the Coptic Cathedral in Cairo to offer Christmas tidings to Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II. Minister Tawfik extended the tidings of the entire police force to the pope and all Christian citizens on the occasion of Coptic Christmas – which falls on 7 January.

The Coptic Orthodox Church s official spokesperson says that Egypt s new Nativity of the Christ Church, the largest in the Middle East, will officially open on 6 January, where Coptic Christmas mass will be held. The mass will be attended by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Coptic Orthodox Church Pope Tawadros II. The Church said in a video posted online that the public can attend the mass after registering with the Church.

Al-Azhar s Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayeb paid a visit on Wednesday to the Coptic Cathedral in Cairo to offer tidings to Pope Tawadros II on the occasion of the Coptic Orthodox Christmas on 7 January. El-Tayeb was accompanied by top clergymen and youth from Al-Azhar institution, the country s highest Islamic Sunni authority. El-Tayeb congratulated the pope on the opening of the new cathedral in the New Administrative Capital, and stressed that the feelings of compassion and the exchange of visits between Muslims and Christians are in accordance with the teachings of Islam, which urge followers to communicate with their fellow countrymen.

The International Electronic Fatwa Centre of Egypts Al-Azhar Mosque has said that Muslims may greet and exchange gifts with Christians during their religious celebrations and on social occasions. In a fatwa, or religious edict, published on its official Facebook page, the centre said that tolerance and coexistence between Muslims and Christians, and courtesy for each other during holidays, weddings and social events, is not only acceptable but “desirable.”

Iraq sentenced more than 600 foreigners including many women and dozens of minors in 2018 for belonging to the Islamic State (IS) militant group, the judiciary said on Monday. Iraq declared "victory" over IS at the end of 2017 after a three-year war against the jihadists, who once controlled nearly a third of the country as well as swathes of neighbouring Syria.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has issued an order to set up a higher committee to prevent sectarian incidents in the country, the official gazette said on Sunday. The committee will comprise members of the Armed Forces, military intelligence, general intelligence, the Administrative Control Authority and the National Security Agency. The committee will be chaired by the president s advisor on security and anti-terrorism affairs.

Sudan s top Islamist party, a member of President Omar al-Bashir s government, called Wednesday for a probe into the killings of protesters in demonstrations that have rocked the economically troubled country. Angry crowds have taken to the streets in Khartoum and several other cities since December 19 when the government tripled the price of bread

Egypt condemned in "the strongest terms" on Tuesday a terror attack on the Libyan foreign ministry in Tripoli, which killed at least three ministry employees and injured others. In an official statement, Egypt s foreign ministry reiterated the importance of mobilising international support for UN efforts to achieve peace and security in Libya, especially in executing security arrangements in the Libyan capital, and that Libyan institutions should be solely responsible for handling the security situation in the country.

Hundreds of Coptic Catholics arrived at the Keyama (Resurrection) Church in Alexandria to attend the Holy Liturgy on Monday evening amid tightened security measures. The security services took over the security at the entrance to the church and closed the street where the cathedral is located from both sides to vehicles and put barriers to prevent the passage of cars to and from the street, especially in the area facing the cathedral. This move coincides with the start of the Christmas Mass.

Egypt s Armed Forces, in coordination with the Ministry of Interior, has intensified measures to secure New Year s and Christmas celebrations nationwide, a statement by military spokesperson Tamer El-Refai said on Monday. "The general command of the Armed Forces has taken every measure... to secure the celebrations of New Year and the glorious Christmas in all governorates of the Republic," the statement read.

A Cairo Court of Cassation has accepted an appeal by the head of Egypt s Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie and 36 others, decreasing their prison sentences in the so-called Beni Suef violence case. The court reduced Badie s sentence from life imprisonment to 10 years. The remaining defendants had their sentences reduced from 15 years to three years.

Members of the Egyptian parliament s African Affairs Committee held a meeting on Thursday with Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II to discuss the expected role of the Coptic Orthodox Church in furthering Egypt s relations with African countries in 2019. The meeting comes a few days before Egypt takes over as chair of the African Union in 2019.

Egypt s Coptic Orthodox Church has decided to appoint a team of international lawyers to restore its legitimate ownership of the Deir Sultan Monastery in Jerusalem, said Ibrahim Azmi, the international media officer of the Coptic Orthodox Church, according to Al-Ahram Arabic news website. Azmi said that the church has also filed a complaint with the Ministry of Justice and the prime minister against the practices of Israeli police, and will also file a lawsuit to demand the right to restoration of the monastery.

Egypt s general prosecution has said that it is referring a police sergeant to criminal court over the murder of a Coptic man and his son in Upper Egypt s Minya last week. In an official statement, the prosecution said police sergeant Rabie Mostafa Khalifa, who was assigned to guard the Church of Nahdet El-Qadasa, was referred to court in an emergency session for killing Emad Kamal and his son David.

Shady Lewis Botros says his recently published novel — “Ways of the Lord” — can be broadly viewed as an attempt to answer one question: What it’s like to be a Christian in Egypt? The answer, given in stories narrated by the book’s chief character, is complex and often disheartening. It’s giving your children neutral names that don’t identify them as Christians in hopes they’ll have a sporting chance of progress in the mainly Muslim nation. It means facing baseless but dangerous charges of spying for Israel at time of war. It means turning off the lights at home and gathering the family in one room to escape the attention of a Muslim mob on the street.

Masked for centuries by the soot of candles and lately by scaffolding, the mosaics of Bethlehem s Church of the Nativity have been restored to their Crusader-era splendour in time for Christmas. Over the past 15 months, experts have cleaned and repaired surviving fragments of the 12th century masterworks, preserving 1,345 square feet (125 square metres) of what was once 21,528 square feet (2,000 square metres) of glittering gold and glass. The rest has been eaten away by wear, humidity, wars and earthquakes.