Egypt

More than 1.5 million Muslims have arrived in Saudi Arabia for the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and a total of 1.8 million are expected in total, but while the hajj represents an important spiritual experience for Muslims, problems are also surfacing.

The three-day blackout earlier this month cast a dark shadow over RIM, but the BlackBerry manufacturer had been in trouble long before a server in Slough decided to take the day off.

When pictures of the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held captive for five years by Hamas, were beamed around the world,many featured a beaming Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, unleashing a new phenomenon called "Bibi bombing" aimed at pocking fun at the politician's love of the limelight.

Human Right Watch (HRW) has warned of a cover-up by the Egyptian military following an investigation launched after the killing of more than two dozen demonstrators, mostly Coptic Christians, an incident which has put the spotlight on Egypt's ruling Military Council's harsh tactics.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet issued a statement confirming the approval of a prisoner exchange deal with Egypt to release suspected Israeli spy Ilan Grapel, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen arrested in June and accused of being a spy in exchange for 25 Egyptian prisoners from Israeli jails.

Muammar Gaddafi, his son Muatassim and a top aide have been buried at a secret desert location after Muslim rites with a few relatives and officials in attendance, but the burrials are unlikely to calm down the controversy surrounding Libya's former "brother leader."

With the popularity of Islamic-based political parties in Tunisia and Egypt, and the announce of the continuation of a sharia law-based Libya, political Islam in some of the Arab Spring countries is it seems regaining momentum, re-launching the debate between democracy and Islam.

Libya's National Transitional Council might have successfully ousted Gaddafi following months of a conflict which culminated with the former leader's death, but in Syria, activists were still in the streets protesting against Assad, while Egypt and Tunisia are still reeling from the fall of their former dictatorship.

Ancient Egyptian mummies are no more a thing of the past. In a first-of-its-kind scientific study, British scientists will attempt to mummify the body of a recently deceased Devon taxi driver. The project, intended to test out knowledge of a chemical process used 3,000 years ago by the Egyptians, will be carried out on the body of Alan Billis, 61, from Torquay.

The two sons of ousted President Hosni Mubarak have $340 million (£215 million) in Swiss bank accounts and are suspected of money laundering, says a senior Egyptian Justice Ministry official.

Gaza's Islamist rulers have released the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in return for hundreds of Palestinian militants held by Israel after more than five years in captivity, a Hamas military source has said.

Captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is expected to return to Israel via Egypt by next Wednesday, Palestinian sources and Israeli media have said.

Unconfirmed reports in the Egyptian press have said Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has already been handed over the Egyptian authorities, amid speculation as to the captive's whereabouts.

In a press conference on Wednesday Egyptian military leaders delivered their official version of Sunday's events, which has been widely discredited by journalist, witnesses and activists at the scene.

The news that Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit will soon be released after five years being held captive by militant Palestinians has provoked strong reactions across the world. Here we take a look at the way the story has been covered in the U.S., the U.K., and the Middle East.

Egypt's finance minister resigned on Tuesday, becoming the first high-level official to leave in the aftermath of the deadly clashes that emerged between Coptic Christian and Muslim demonstrators and military forces, with many accusing the military council of being responsible of what has been called in the Egyptian press the "Maspero massacre."

Libya's former foreign minister Moussa Koussa has obtained a Jordanian passport and is planning to move to Amman from Qatar, Arabic daily al-Arab al-Youm reports.

Twitter has emerged victorious at the T3 awards after scooping the digital media service of the year, beating Facebook and YouTube to the post thanks to its first class iPhone, Android and iPad apps.

Justice may still come to bear for the former 'King of Kings' .

Egyptian state media coverage of Sunday's violent clashes in Cairo between thousands of Christian Coptic demonstrators and Muslim supporters and security forces has come under fire after witnesses and journalists insisted it provided a distorted account.

Clashes between Coptic Christian protesters and Egyptian security forces killed at least 24 people and injured 200 in Cairo Sunday, authorities said.

The United States Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has openly and bluntly criticised Israel's foreign policy by blaming the Benjamin Netanyahu's government of being partly responsible for its growing isolation in the region.

With criticisms against the U.S. efforts to block the Palestinian statehood bid and the UN Quartet's unwillingness to directly tackle the settlements issue growing, many accuse those leading efforts to renew peace negotiations of being biased in favour of Israel, leading to the country becoming more and more regionally isolated.

Saudi Arabia plans to spend over $100 billion to build 16 nuclear reactors in an effort to meet its growing domestic energy needs, the kingdom's former Saudi intelligence chief and former ambassador to Washington said in a recent speech.

Just two days after Saudi King Abdullah's announced that Saudi women would be allowed to participate in elections, two Saudi women were punished for breaking the ban on female driving with one being sentenced to 10 lashes by a court in Jeddah while another was detained in Riyadh, leading rights activists to question the King's apparent new reformist tendencies.

Reports that Syrian Christians are throwing their support behind President Bashar al-Assad, despite months of a brutal crackdown on civilians protesters that call for an end to the regime, have emerged since the beginning of the uprising.

In a recent report, 43 percent of the sexually active teenagers in Britain, aged between 16 and 19, have confessed to unsafe sex without adequate protection with new partners. This is far more than 36 percent of teenagers who responded the same way in 2009.

Two Mexicans were recently accused of terrorism and sabotage for using the internet to spread false rumours about drug-related violence and, after much debate, the charges were dropped but the case is still causing an upheaval, as once praised for instigating change and helping revolution, governments are now accusing social networks of helping to spread violence.

Anonymous has joined the thousands of individuals and organisations still convinced Troy Davis was innocent, promising a series of revenge attacks for what it and many others take as an unjust, state-sponsored killing.

Anonymous has joined the thousands of individuals and organizations protesting Georgia's execution of Troy Davis, promising a series of revenge attacks in a number of statements issued via its AnonymousIRC Twitter account.