CAIRO: Sohair Abdou Asaad, who had converted from Christianity to Islam and then back to Christianity, was arrested on Monday for allegedly forging her national identity card. She was released on Tuesday upon the orders by the Prosecutor General, who also ordered the launch of an investigation into the alleged forgery of the official documents …

CAIRO: Ahmed Kassem, a 24-year-old Muslim from Daqahliya, was arrested Thursday after he stabbed a 40-year-old Copt, whose son allegedly had an affair with the defendant’s sister, a case that has brought sectarian tension to the small town of Domas, north of Cairo. Investigations at Meet Ghamra prosecution office started late Thursday and are due …

CAIRO: Egyptian as well as Arab human rights organizations accused their governments of tolerating human rights violations in their countries during the United Nations’ Human Rights Council session in Geneva on March 2. During the session, 13 human rights organizations said the deteriorating human rights conditions in the Arab world can be attributed to the …

CAIRO: Egyptian opposition forces are planning a reception to welcome an aid convoy that set off from London and drove across Europe and North Africa, bringing together activists and members of parliament. The convoy, made up of over 130 trucks loaded with food and medical aid for Gaza, is headed by British MP George Galloway …

CAIRO: The Egyptian Orthodox Church recently agreed to join a campaign launched by members of the Coptic Diaspora requesting the government to approve the building of places of worship, an urgent plea that came after the collapse of a church last month. On Feb. 21, 2009 a church in the governorate of Sohag collapsed causing …

CAIRO: Two Christian brothers convicted of killing a Muslim Bedouin in Upper Egypt last year, were arrested and imprisoned in Wadi El-Natroun Prison on Sunday despite a court ruling that had ordered their release on bail. In a land dispute involving the Abo Fana Monastery in May 2008, monks clashed with Bedouins in Minya governorate, …

CAIRO: Local and international human rights organizations and NGOs decried the punishment of 1,500 lashes handed down to two Egyptian doctors in Saudi Arabia in a memo they will send to the United Nations Human Rights Council next month. Raouf Amin and Shawky Abd Rabbou have been held in Saudi Arabia since October 2008, and …

CAIRO: A widow of a former judge filed a lawsuit against the president of the Higher Judicial Council, demanding LE 1 million in compensation, after she was prevented from entering the Judges’ Club in Alexandria because she was wearing a full face veil (niqab). It all began in 1996 when Hosneya Hamza Nasr Ghorab, widow …

CAIRO: Although several rights organization have pledged to monitor the upcoming elections of the Egyptian Judges’ Club, almost 2,000 Egyptian judges, who are employed in neighboring Arab countries, will not be able to vote due to the club’s limited facilities. According to the secretary general of the judges’ club, Hisham Geneina, who is running for …

CAIRO: The Egyptians Against Corruption movement is calling on international aid agencies to pressure the Egyptian government into abiding by international agreements and working to end corruption. In its newly launched campaign, the group plans to collect signatures from Egyptian citizens, including intellectuals and activists, and present a petition to international donors that calls for …

CAIRO: Coptic lawyer Mamdouh Nakhla requested the Foreign Ministry’s approval to resort to an international committee to conduct a census on Copts living in Egypt. In his request, filed Wednesday, Nakhla suggested enlisting a neutral civil organization to take on that task, under the supervision of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), …

CAIRO: Amid fears of an expected organizational vacuum, leaders of opposition movement Kefaya are pressuring the incumbent general coordinator Abdel Gelil Mostafa to remain in office for another year after he had announced he would step down at the end of the month. After repeatedly refusing the offer [to lead the movement], Mostafa agreed to …

CAIRO: Debate surrounding the proposal to involve the public in the management of public assets, known as sukuk, continues. The proposed program was discussed by the National Democratic Party’s (NDP) during its annual conference earlier this month. According to the proposal, all Egyptians over 21 will receive free shares in public sector companies. Meanwhile, activists …

CAIRO: Sunday night saw clashes between Muslims and Copts in Ein Shams, resulting in the injury of over 50 people, including riot police, and the arrest of 35 others. Eye witnesses informed Daily News Egypt that following prayers in a mosque across the church, a large group of Muslims gathered outside the church chanting slogans …

CAIRO: The historical practice of obliging Christians living in a Muslim country to pay the jizyah, a per capita tax levied on a section of an Islamic state’s non-Muslim citizens, isn’t applicable today, a recent study found out. Ayman Ahmed Mahmoud’s PhD thesis argued that the jizyah was originally implemented to substitute for the enrollment …

CAIRO: Unlike regular custody battles, over 50 cases currently being tried in Egypt’s Family Courts are turning into religious conflicts. Christian men who converted to Islam are seeking custody of their children based on the religious difference. Custody laws give mothers the right to raise their children until they turn 18, provided that the child …

CAIRO: In a new escalation of his case, the founder of the opposition Ghad party Ayman Nour announced that a “surprising decision will be taken by the International Criminal Court before the end of November. On August 15, Nour sent a complaint to ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Acampo against Egyptian officials, most notably Egyptian …

CAIRO: Three monasteries closed their doors Saturday following threats of vandalism in retaliation for the rumored killing of Wafaa Constantine, a priest’s wife who had reportedly converted to Islam and then back to Christianity in 2004. The Orthodox Marmina Monastery in Alexandria, Mare Girgis in Beheira and Drenka in Assiut closed their doors to visitors …

CAIRO/MINYA: The Sammallout Prosecution Office in Minya detained 18 Copts and 12 Muslims for four days pending investigation after sectarian clashes broke out in El-Tayaba village, in which one Copt was killed and four injured, including a Muslim. Gen. Gamal Gad, Minya police chief, said clashes erupted late Friday when Muslim youths allegedly sexually harassed …