Iraq

The Kuwaiti government has announced its approval for running regular flights to Basra and Baghdad. It is worth noting that flights between Iraq and Kuwait were suspended in 1990. After resuming relations, passengers were using a land road through the fly blown town of Safwan.

Saudi Arabia

Some 20 years after public screenings of films were banned; the first cinema will open next month in Saudi Arabia, showing only cartoons. The cinema will open for women and children at a Riyadh hotel at Eid al-Fitr on November 2 or 3. The pan-Arab Saudi newspaper Al-Hayat said that the 1,400-seat cinema will hold three one-hour shows to screen foreign cartoon films dubbed in Arabic every evening. It estimated that more than 50,000 people will visit the cinema during the two-week Eid break. The paper said the project was a prelude to the start of real cinema screenings for all in Saudi Arabia, given that cafes in main cities already show films, sports games and video clips on large television sets. Cinema was once shown in private clubs in Saudi Arabia until all public screenings were banned in the early 1980s.

Namibia

The city of Windhoek launched a massive vaccination campaign after an outbreak of rabies in dogs was confirmed. Veterinary and municipality officials said nearly 50 cases of rabies had been confirmed.

Malaysia

The aedes mosquito, the source of the dengue fever across the country, has evolved into a super resistant menace. Even its eggs can survive for a long period in very harsh and tough conditions without water. Findings by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) entomologist Prof Abu Hassan Ahmad showed the eggs of the aedes mosquito can withstand extremely dry conditions. And they are able to survive in these conditions for up to six months. However, said Prof Abu Hassan, the eggs would need to be laid in water first. He said fogging would only kill the adult mosquitoes but would not affect the eggs that had been laid. The eggs have a very strong shell that cannot dry or crack for as long as they are incubating in mud, soil, damp leaves or wet sand; The eggs can survive for a long period under such conditions and will hatch when the next round of rain comes, forming a small pool of water to enable the larvae to swim out; Continuous fogging with the same chemical will, in a short time, result in a change in the immune system of the aedes mosquito, enabling the insect to adapt to the chemical and shield itself from poisonous effects; The mosquitoes can breed in all types of water, even in clean water in bath tanks or any storage tank.