Saudi Arabia is planning the creation of the country’s first nuclear power plant. The project is being developed by the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology located in Riyadh, the Arabian Business reports. Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, which is responsible for the UAE’s nuclear programme worth 41bn dollars, is planning to build 3 nuclear reactors. The first reactor is expected to be commissioned by 2017. At the same time, Qatar has announced that since a memorandum with EDF, the main electricity provider in France, was signed in early 2008, Qatar has lost its interest in developing nuclear facilities due to cheap oil prices.

A Syrian militant, who had been detained at a high-security prison in Lebanon, has managed to escape. He was detained on charges of terrorism, including organization of bombings. He is a member of Fatah Al Islam group whose ideology is similar to that of Al Qaida. According to officials, he is very “dangerous”. Currently, the police is searching for him. The militant managed to escape with the help of other inmates who created a human ladder to help him climb over the wall. Those seven inmates have been arrested, Gulfnews reports.

A woman in Tunis might break the world's record in multiple pregnancies since she is currently expecting 12 children. Currently the record holder is a woman from California who gave birth to octuplets. The pregnant Tunisian woman and her husband are both teachers. They got married in 2007, and since then the woman had 2 miscarriages, the Gulfnews reports. This time, she at first thought she was expecting twins, but then doctors discovered other fetuses. The social and health ministries of Tunis have already vowed to provide the future mother and her family different forms of support.

UAE and China have signed five agreements aimed at improving bilateral ties. The most significant is the deal between China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and, from the UAE side, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC). The deal envisages joint work on oil projects, including the construction project in Singapore where oil storage facilities will be built. A defense systems supplier from UAE has signed a cooperation agreement with a Chinese defense contractor, the Maktoob Business reports. In addition to these two major deals, cooperation agreements in the political, cultural and defense spheres were also signed.

Qatar is working on establishing a modern genetics centre, which will be the first in the GCC. It is to be accredited in October. Such centres are extremely hard to set up and are very expensive to run. This centre is being set up in the framework of the Newborn Screening Programme. To date, over 70 thousand newborn babies have been screened by the laboratory, the Gulf Times reports. Newborns are tested for such common problems as vision, hearing and metabolism disorders, as well as homocystinuria. The latter affects one in 4000 children and is a genetic disorder common to children of couples made between close relatives.
(two leading experts in the sphere are on the photo)

The Iraq’s cabinet of ministers has approved a bill which requires all top officials in the country to renounce foreign citizenships or quit their posts. Now the bill is awaiting approval by the parliament, the Middle East Online reports. The law will apply to Iraq’s president, prime-minister, parliament’s speaker, their deputies, ministers, as well as army and police chiefs. Over a half of the country’s incumbent ministers hold dual citizenships, including the ministers of the interior and foreign affairs, defence, oil and finance.

The Security Council has approved unanimously a one-year extension of the mandate of the UN mission in Iraq. The mission has 1104 troops in the country. The previous mandate has just expired, the Gulfnews reports. The Security Council has announced that it will review the terms of the new agreement 12 months from now on or, if the Iraqi government requests so, sooner. The United States and Britain supported the resolution. The latter calls on the government of Iraq and other member-states of the UN to continue their support of the mission in the spheres of logistics and security.

A new city in Qatar, Lusail, is being built. It will cover an area of 35 thousand square km, while the area of Beirut is only about 20 thousand square km. The city will be home to 455 thousand residents. It will be divided into 17 mixed-use districts, including a golf district, commercial districts, a business district, entertainment district, marina, resort islands, as well as residential areas with an international school. The first stage of construction is expected to be completed in 2011, Arabian Business and Gulf Times report.

The streets of Algiers are now quiet after the clashes that erupted this week between Algerians and the Chinese subsided. As local citizens report, the clashes rose from a confrontation between a Chinese driver and a local shop owner. As the result, 10 Chinese people were injured and 5 shops owned by Chinese immigrants were looted, the Alarabiya reports. There are many Chinese workers in Algiers, most of them being employed at government-funded construction sites. Many local citizens are annoyed by the presence of Chinese workers, especially since 7 out of 10 Algerians under the age of 30 are unemployed.

In UAE all students of both private and public schools will have to undergo vaccination against swine flu in September. The vaccination will be mandatory for all students over the age of 5 but free, the Arabian Business reports. Some 630 thousand students will be vaccinated, which will cost the government about 870 thousand dollars. In addition to this, the Health Ministry has announced that teachers and students who catch the virus will be suspended from school for about 5-7 days. If there is a serious outbreak, the authorities might even decide to close schools. The Health Ministry has started an awareness campaign aimed at informing teachers, students and their parents about the dangers of the disease.