The aftermath of an explosion that took place at a Coptic church on Sunday in Tanta, Egypt, April 9, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

by  Reuters and Rebecca Harrington

TANTA, Egypt/CAIRO (Reuters) - At least 44 people were killed in bomb attacks on two Egyptian Coptic churches on Palm Sunday that included the seat of the Coptic Pope, the latest assault on a religious minority increasingly targeted by Islamist militants. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks, which also injured more than 100 people and occurred a week before Coptic Easter, with Pope Francis scheduled to visit Egypt later this month. The first bombing, in Tanta, a Nile Delta city about 60 miles north of Cairo, tore through the inside of St. George Church during its Palm Sunday service, killing at least 27 people and injuring at least 78, the Ministry of Health said. The second, carried out a few hours later by a suicide bomber in Alexandria, hit Saint Mark's Cathedral, the historic seat of the Coptic Pope, killing 16 people, including three police officers, and injuring 41, the ministry added. Coptic Pope Tawadros, who had attended mass at Saint Mark's Cathedral, was still in the building at the time of the explosion but was not harmed, the Interior Ministry said. "These acts will not harm the unity and cohesion of the people," Tawadros said later, according to state media.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi condemned the attacks and summoned the National Defence Council to an urgent session. Deflecting Western criticism that he has suppressed political opposition and human rights activists since he won election in 2014, Sisi has sought to present himself as an indispensable bulwark against terrorism in the Middle East, and he identifies militant Islam as an existential threat. "The attack ... will only harden the determination (of the Egyptian people) to move forward on their trajectory to realize security, stability and comprehensive development," Sisi said in a statement. US President Donald Trump expressed his condolences via Twitter on Sunday morning. He and Sisi met at the White House on Monday, April 3. "So sad to hear of the terrorist attack in Egypt," he tweeted. "US strongly condemns. I have great confidence that President Al Sisi will handle situation properly."

by dailystar.com.lb

Financial inflows to Lebanon in 2017 could jump by 20 percent thanks to the positive political and economic conditions, Bank Audi said Wednesday. “The improvement in Lebanon’s politico-economic conditions could generate no less than a 20 percent rise in financial inflows in 2017, following the noticeable double-digit growth that was reported in 2016 and that was driven by the financial engineering operations of the Central Bank. A net surplus in the balance of payments would be realized for the second year in a row after the five-year cumulative deficits that were realized between 2010 and 2015,” Bank said in a report on the performance of the fixed income market in Lebanon. Lebanon counts heavily on capital and financial inflows to inject new cash into the market as well as achieve a surplus in the balance of payments. Most of these inflows are in the form remittances from Lebanese expatriates in Arab Gulf states and Africa. The report also projected a growth in the money supply in 2017. “In parallel, we project a 7 percent growth in Money Supply for the year, driven both by domestic money creation and the positive change in net foreign assets. This moderate money supply growth is likely to yield a deposit growth of close to $10 billion in 2017 (15 percent more than the average of the past three years), with total banking sector deposits exceeding the threshold of $170 billion,” Audi said. This expected rise in both financial inflows and would also increase loans to the private sector, according to the report.

“At the uses level, bank loans to the private sector are likely to benefit from rising financing needs in a faster growth economy. We forecast a circa $4 billion growth in bank lending to the private sector (25 percent more than the average of the past 3 years), driven by growing lending opportunities to finance new projects, corporate expansion and working capital,” Audi said. It stressed that the expected rise in deposit growth and liquidity may provide some support for the eurobond market in Lebanon. “The current year started with a sound reflection of an improving domestic financial environment. Bank deposits grew by $1.4 billion over the first two months of 2017 (against a net decline over the same period of 2016).

by middleeasteye.net The toll in two days of clashes in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon rose to five on Sunday, …