In Egypt: Ayman Rifa'i, the man who was a witness in the 'trial' of jailed opposition leader Ayman Nour, was found hanged last week in his jail cell. Authorities attributed his death to suicide. Originally he was called as witness against Mr. Nour, but later he recanted, saying that he was 'pressured'. Suicide is rare in the Middle East, unless you are a Salafi with a truckload of explosives among unwary civilians. It is especially rare in Egypt.
Mr. Nour is the only man ever to run against Mr. Mubarak, or against any other Egyptian leader, in a rigged election and live to tell about it- so far, knock on wood. PS: Mr. Nour is still in jail, pending accession of Gamal (Jamal) Mubarak to the throne of Egypt whenever his father realizes that he is in fact brain dead and needs to move on.
Note to the State Department Spokesmen/women: Aymn Nour is definitely not suicidal- not yet.

Meanwhile, speculation has intensified about the health of Mr. Mubarak pere, who already looks quite mummified, thank you. His Prime Minister stated that Mr. Mubarak will be re-elected as leader of the ruling party in November, which was a surprise in this day and age of the New New Middle East. He also said that Mubarak's health is good, but that there is an 'organized'scenario' for accession in Egypt- WTF that means, perhaps that the security services will insure that the Dauphin will sit on the throne.

Syria: last week an Israeli warplane flew over Syria and dropped 'something'. Some claim that it was bombs and Syria crypticallt talked of reserving the right to retaliate. The latest speculation is that Israeli planes have bombed a Hezbollah supply convoy along the Ho Chi Assad Trail. The oddest claim: a Kuwaiti tabloid, Alseyassah, claimed that it was an American warplane that did the bombing and cheered the impending moment of 'Operation Syrian Freedom'. Typically, the newspaper attributed its information to 'reliable sources', almost certainly meaning its own editor's imagination.

In Saudi Arabia many thousands of camels have died over the past few weeks of a mysterious ailment. Some have attributed the cause to food poisoning and blame the substitute feed used recently to nourish the numerous dromedaries that are deeply intertwined with the history and culture of Arabia. Many attribute the cause to a switch in the animal feed, away from barley whose price has been rising. Yet the phenomenon is widespread around the country and has been called in the media a 'national tragedy', and many fortunes have been lost. If it continues, and pending discovering the real cause, this could expand into a regional tragedy beyond the borders of Saudi Arabia. It is not clear yet if international specialists and organizations have been approached for help.
The authorities, in typical fashion, claim to have opened an investigation-which is what authorities are good at doing.
Cheers
Mohammed