Church spokesman Bouls Halim said the death toll is likely to rise. Local church officials in Minya province put the death toll at 10, but the higher figure could not be confirmed.

No group immediately claimed the attack south of the capital Cairo, which bore the hallmarks of Islamic State militants who have for years been fighting security forces in the Sinai peninsula and along Egypt’s porous desert border with Libya.

It is the second attack on pilgrims heading to the St Samuel the Confessor monastery in as many years. The previous attack in May last year left nearly 30 people dead.

The Interior Ministry, which oversees the police, said the attackers used secondary dirt roads to reach the bus carrying the pilgrims, who were near the monastery at the time of the assault.

The attack last year was the latest in a deadly series that targeted churches in Cairo, the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and Tanta in the Nile Delta, north of the capital.

Those attacks, all claimed by IS, left at least 100 people dead and led to tighter security around Christian places of worship and other Church-linked facilities.

Egypt’s Christians, who account for 10% of the country’s 100 million people, complain of discrimination in the Muslim majority country.

The Church allied itself with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi when, as defence minister, he led the 2013 military overthrow of…

A total of twelve men were arrested on 13th October by the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) whilst they were meeting at the home of a church leader in Nyala, South Darfur.

Three of the men were released without charge after two hours of questioning.

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), the remaining men were tortured and pressured to renounce their faith while in custody.

CSW’s chief executive Mervyn Thomas said in a statement: “We are alarmed by the arrest and torture of Christians in Darfur.

“The men, who were peacefully gathered in a private place and posed no threat to the state, were subjected to serious mistreatment and forced to renounce their faith.”

Eight of the men were released on bail eight days after – only once they agreed to the demands of the NISS officers and were charged with public nuisance. At least four men required medical treatment.

The church leader was also arrested and remained in custody for a day longer as he refused to renounce his faith and was charged with apostasy under article 126 of Sudan’s Criminal Code.

He has been released on bail but is required to report periodically to NISS.

Thomas said the case raised concerns over the protection of freedom of religion or belief for both Christians and other religious minorities in the capital Darfur.

He added: “We call for the charges against the men to be dropped…

One of the delegates, Christian author Joel Rosenberg acknowledged critics might question the timing of their summit but said he was keen to highlight issues of religious tolerance in the kingdom.

He told the US-based news outlet CBN News: “There’s [sic] a lot of people who would say this is the wrong time to go to Saudi Arabia and meet with the leadership there.

“I understand that criticism, but I disagree.”

“Given the fact that we care about the people of Saudi Arabia, Christianity in the Arabian Peninsula, the desire to see more freedom of worship, even Christian churches being allowed to be built, this all seemed important to us to do.”

Saudi Arabia, which bears a patchy human rights record, has consistently been ranked by Open Doors as one of the countries where persecution against Christians is most severe.

The visiting evangelicals – including a presidential advisor on faith matters, Rev Johnnie Moore – said they accepted an invitation from the future King of Saudi Arabia to visit the royal palace “more than two months ago”.

Earlier this week, Turkey’s justice minister repeated calls for Saudi Arabia to co-operate with a probe into the death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi – a well-known critic of Saudi rulers

The kingdom initially denied any involvement in Mr Khashoggi’s death but has since said it…

The pair, who had been courting for five months prior to their wedding in Georgia on 18th April, revealed their baby is due in June next year.

Posting on Instagram, Grace shared that her sister, Morgan, is also pregnant.

The Grammy-nominated American singer, whose tracks include Hold Me, said: “My husband and I went to share our baby-on-the-way news with my sister and her husband and they surprised us with some big news of their own!

“We would have never expected or planned to be pregnant at the same time but we’re so grateful to be on this journey together.”

 

Jamie and Aaron – a model and actor – took the unusual step of saying “everyone’s invited” ahead of their wedding at North Metro Baptist Church in Lawrenceville near Atlanta.

Grace continued: “Some may wonder if it’s too soon for my husband and I to have kids (seven months married) or even too soon to announce it, but what seems like a surprise to some is God’s perfect timing for us and never a surprise to Him.

 

“All four of us, and our crazy-excited extended families, are honored to celebrate these sweet, small lives (both due in June!!) and thank you in advance for your prayers with us as we celebrate them!”

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Justin Welby again waded into political controversy by praising the Tory MP’s commitment to “doing right”.

Ms Crouch resigned from her ministerial post as she insisted that not reducing the maximum wager on FOBTs from £100 to £2 until October 2019 was “unjustifiable”, and indicated it could cost lives.

Mr Welby tweeted: “@tracey_crouch who resigned as Sports Minister over the delay to reducing the maximum stake on fixed odds betting machines, is principled and courageous. May God bless her commitment to doing right.”

Announcing her departure from Government, Ms Crouch tweeted: “Politicians come and go but principles stay with us forever.

“Unfortunately, implementation of these changes are now being delayed until October 2019 due to commitments made by others to those with registered interests.

“From the time of the announcement to reduce stakes and its implementation, over £1.6 billion will be lost on these machines.

“In addition, two people will tragically take their lives every day due to gambling-related problems and, for that reason as much as any other, I believe this delay is unjustifiable.

“I know there is never a good time to resign and appreciate that this will be an unwelcome distraction, but as the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said in the House this morning, it is a fact of Government that ministers must adhere to collective…