(Message from the fiancée of Al-Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fahmy)

(Courtesy France 24’s Sonia  Dridi)

Main Headlines

 Monday

• Sisi flies to Kuwait
• Amal Clooney disputes Egypt arrest warning story
• Egyptian judge says verdict in gay raid trial will be announced next week
• Proposed amendments to higher education law could eradicate free university education
• Security kills two bikers who refused to stop at check point in Suez
• Orthodox church maintains ban on pilgrimage to Israel- occupied Jerusalem
• Egypt cautions foreign journalists against publishing “inaccurate news”
• Man discovers passage to Egypt’s Great Pyramid — under his house

Tuesday

• Sisi becomes first Egyptian president to attend the Coptic Christmas mass
• Two policemen were killed in a church attack in Minya
• Minya churches cancel Christmas celebration
• Families of jailed Al Jazeera journalists hopeful that deportation is near
• 11 militants killed, 22 tunnels destroyed in North Sinai
• One policeman killed in a blast outside a Giza police station
• Egypt’s cabinet approves issue of international bonds
• Sabahi’s Popular Current to boycott parliamentary election

 Wednesday

• Egypt’s El-Sisi condemns ‘terrorist attack’ on French paper
• Arab League and Al-Azhar condemn Paris attack
• Egyptian police officer was killed while trying to diffuse a bomb
• Egyptian ISIS leader was found dead
• Egypt condemns alleged ISIS attack on Saudi border
• Kuwait detains ex-MP for tweets critical of Sisi’s visit
• Wintry conditions cause damage in Egypt’s Alexandria

 Thursday

• Egypt to hold two-phase parliamentary election in March and April
• Egypt’s cartoonists pen their condemnation against attack against Charlie Hebdo magazine
• Egypt’s top prosecutor accepts grounds for appeal in Mubarak’s trial
• Egypt court sets 21 April for verdict in Morsi’s murder trial
• Egypt is doubling Gaza buffer, demolishing 1,220 more homes.
• A policeman was shot dead in Fayoum
• Egypt’s consumer inflation up to 10.13% in December
• 300 Egyptian fishermen flee seizure in Libya, remain missing at sea

Friday

• 100 houses cleared on day one of phase ii of Sinai’s buffer zone
• Egyptian police were called in to check for possible explosives in prime minister’s car
• 1 dead in clashes between Brotherhood supporters and security forces in Giza
• Egyptian political parties concerned by absent registration date for parliamentary poll
• Egypt’s journalists syndicate to demonstrate in condemnation of Charlie Hebdo attack
• Three new cases of bird flu in Egypt
• Egypt says wheat stocks enough to last until early May

 Saturday

• Two decapitated bodies found in Egypt’s Sinai
• El-Sisi underlines commitment to independence of courts
• Nine were injured in attack on Central Security Forces truck near Cairo
• 2 Egyptian policemen accused of rape ordered were released on bail
• 10 Egyptian policemen sentenced to 3 years in prison for negligence
• ‪Ethiopian ‪Orthodox patriarch visits Egypt
• Bomb explodes on Nile Delta railway, halts service, no injuries
• Egypt’s transportation minister: Egypt’s metro ticket price won’t increase
• 300 missing Egyptian fishermen return from Libya

 Sunday

• Egypt’s Sisi, Iraq’s Abadi have agreed to take steps to fight sectarianism
• Egypt’s El-Sisi to meet head of World Jewish Congress
• Egypt releases Morsi Adviser Khaled al Qazzaz ‪
• Egyptian student gets 3-year jail term for atheism
• One “terrorist” was killed and an officer was injured during a border guard chase on Egypt’s south west border
• Registration for monitoring Egypt’s parliamentary elections opens Monday
• Egyptian interior minister flies to UAE to discuss security cooperation
• Egypt paid $681million to Paris club creditors
• Unidentified gunmen kidnapped in Sinai’s Rafah
• Egypt to open Rafah crossing for 3 days starting Tuesday

 Good Report

• Despite gov’t condemnation, Egyptians appear divided on Charlie Hebdo’s attack . Mada Masr
• Three points of tension between Egypt and Morocco.  Al-Masry Al-Youm
• From Egypt’s leader, for reforms in Islam. Sarah El-Deeb and lee Keath.
• Migrants in post-revolution Egypt. Kelsey Norman
• Subsidy cut will break the back of Egyptian farmers.  Isabel Esterman

Good Read

• The time of the assassins. Hisham Melhem
• 5 reasons to object to the banning of exodus. Khaled Fahmy
• How to get Egypt’s generals back on our side. Steven cook
• Things you don’t want to be caught doing in 2015 in 2015. Heba Afify
• Egypt has a quiet existential crisis: Overpopulation. Holly Dagres
• Four years on: Have we made any progress in sectarian issues in Egypt?  Ziad Bahaa Eldin

Plus:

• Ahram Hebdo talks politics, religion with Pope Tawadros II ‪
• Remembering Ahmed Fouad Selim: Artist and visionary
• Why Copts celebrate Christmas on January 7

Photo Gallery

• Sandstorm hits Cairo

Finally here are Jayson Casper’s prayers for Egypt