CAIRO: Police in Egypt are boosting security around churches as Coptic Christians prepare to celebrate Orthodox Christmas on Sunday (Jan 7) after a year of deadly jihadist attacks targeting the ancient community. The year ended with an IS jihadist killing nine people in an attack on a church in a south Cairo suburb. LONG AWAITED CHURCH LAWSisi has attended Coptic religious ceremonies and called for a reform of religious Islamic discourse to weed out extremism. In December, hundreds of Muslims attacked a church south of Cairo that had been operating without a permit for more than a dozen years. But a few days ahead of Coptic Christmas celebrations, the government announced it would facilitate requests and expedite the regularisation of unauthorised churches.

Source: Pakistan Today January 05, 2018 08:15 UTC