Egypt and Russia strengthen ties Russia is expected to offer assistance for Egypt’s proposed nuclear programme as the two countries’ presidents affirm their warm relations in Moscow.

Iran fires missiles in gulf war games Iran has started military exercises in the Arabian gulf just days after six other nations, including the United States, held a series of exercises in the same area.

Iran gives Holocaust cartoon prize Ignoring widespread condemnation, Iran awarded the top prize in a Holocaust cartoon contest to a Moroccan artist for his depiction of Israel’s security wall with a picture of the Auschwitz concentration camp on it.

Talabani: US must stay for three years US troops should stay for up to three more years in Iraq to allow local authorities to build up their own security forces, the Iraqi president says.

Eye of the Storm: The ‘Iranization’ of Syria While there is much talk of continued Syrian machinations in Lebanon, little attention is paid to an Iranian plan to remodel Syria into a Khomeinist state.

Web reaches new milestone: 100 million sites Are your Web surfing fingers getting tired? There may be a reason. Netcraft, an Internet monitoring company that has tracked Web growth since 1995, says a mammoth milestone was reached during the month of October.

Khatami labels US policy ‘a joke’ The former president of Iran, Mohammad Khatami, has branded US attempts to impose Western-style democracy in the Middle East as “a great joke”.

Hundreds to Commemorate “Genesis and Land of Israel” Weekends The Land of Israel and the Book of Genesis – read aloud on autumn weekends in synagogues around the world – are deeply intertwined, and special Sabbaths mark the connection.

Web inventor fears for the future The British developer of the world wide web says he is worried about the way it could be used to spread misinformation and “undemocratic forces”.

Syria denies it is trying to oust Lebanese gov’t Syria denied on Thursday accusations by the White House that it was seeking to topple Lebanon’s Western-backed government.