Egypt has defended its border guards, who are accused of easily using their guns to stop illegal migrants trying to cross the border with Israel. Recently, 4 people from sub-Saharan Africa were shot dead by Egyptian border guards while trying to cross into Israel. They didn’t carry any ID on them and, according to the guards, were shot when they attempted to escape. In total 12 illegal migrants were kille... Read more »

The Health Minister of Egypt has announced that Egypt has bought five million doses of swine flu vaccine. The first batch will be delivered already in October, the Egypt News reports citing the minister. Egypt, the most populous country in the ... Read more »

Educational fund FSTC is going to distribute in the US and UK 3000 free copies of a new Arab textbook on the scientific and cultural legacy of Muslim civilization. The textbook, called “1001 Inventions”, aims to shatter the myth about the so-called “Dark Ages” and instigate debates about interconnection among faith, science and culture. The textbook spans 1000 years of scientific, technical and social dev... Read more »

Egypt is threatening mobile phone operator in the country to place sanctions on them if they fail to cancel their promo offers after Ramadan. Major operators, Vodafone Egypt and Mobinil, lowered their prices per minute of calls down to one cent until the end of Ramadan, the Daily News Egypt<... Read more »

A recent opinion poll among managers of leading recruiting agencies in the UAE has shown a considerable fall in average salary in the country. During the first half of this year companies reduced salaries in an attempt to cut expenses, the Arabian Business reports. ... Read more »

In UAE two offices of a marriage agency have received licenses and operate legally and according to Islam laws and traditions of the UAE. Anyone can come to the offices with a list of requirements for their future spouse, the Gulfnews reports. The payment must be done only after a suitable partne... Read more »

In Qatar there are almost four men for each woman, according to a recent census. The number of men in the country as of august was about 1.25 million, while women – about 350 thousand. The results of the census, published a few days ago, gave no explanation to this phenomenon. However, the current situation can be put down to large number of male foreigners living in Qatar without their families, alone. I... Read more »

The prime-minister of Jordan has arrived in Iraq to request an increase in oil supplies to the country. Currently Iraq exports about 18,000 barrels of oil per day to Jordan, and Jordan wants to double that amount. Previously, Iraq used to be the main exporter of oil into Jordan, but supplies stopped in 2003 after the invasion of US forces. In 2006 Iraq promised to start supplies but was unable due to wide... Read more »

The UN Security Council has unanimously extended the UN peacekeepers’ mandate in Lebanon till 31 August 2010. The peacekeeping operation in Lebanon started in 1978, but was stepped up after the 2006 war. Currently is has 12 thousand troops. Israel has criticized the UN forces for their inability to contain the growth of Hezbollah’s military capabilities. Hezbollah has been stockpiling weapons despite the resolu... Read more »

Iraq has requested that Syria hand over two people whom Iraq suspects of organizing last week’s bombings in Baghdad, which killed nearly 100 people. As officials in Iraq report, some suspects have already been arrested. One of them has been filmed as saying that he received orders from a Syrian man. Iraq demands that this Syrian person as well as the leader of the party he belongs to be handed over to Iraq by S... Read more »