News stories by Adam Morrow, page 9

As authorities consider suspending a whole academic year to check the spread of swine flu among school children there is a feeling that measures to contain the H1N1 virus - known to be less dangerous than the one responsible for seasonal flu - are going over the top.

Egypt has long been recognised as the cultural trendsetter of the Arabic- speaking world. Despite recent challenges to this role with the advent of satellite television, experts say that contemporary Arab culture remains largely defined by Egyptian literature, music, film and television.

Leaders of Egypt's Coptic Christian Church have voiced support for Gamal Mubarak, son of President Hosni Mubarak, as preferred candidate for president. Concurrently, however, some Coptic activists are calling for demonstrations against what they see as official state bias against Christians.

Signs are emerging of some narrowing of differences over the sharing of Nile waters.

Opposition figures and political activists have slammed a new deal to sell Egyptian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Israel at what they say are vastly reduced prices.

The Egyptian government is now accusing the Muslim Brotherhood of links to Palestinian resistance groups and of establishing 'global networks'. Recent months have seen a host of government accusations - which critics say are fabricated - against opposition groups it claims have ties with Hamas, Hizbullah, and the ever-elusive Al-Qaeda.

A handful of recent clashes between Muslims and Christians has again raised the spectre of sectarian discord in Egypt. The incidents, though relatively minor, highlight longstanding tensions between the country's Muslim majority and its Christian minority.

Disputes have arisen over new legislation setting a quota for female representatives in parliament. Spokesmen for the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) of President Hosni Mubarak describe the quotas as a milestone for women's rights, but some critics say the move threatens to create more problems than it solves.

Speculation had been rife in recent months that parliament was on the verge of dissolution by order of the presidency. While the rumour ultimately proved unfounded, local analysts say it reflected a rift between the old and new guards of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) of President Hosni Mubarak.

Egyptian courts have handed down unprecedented numbers of death sentences in recent months, most of them for violent crime. 'Two hundred and thirty death sentences in six months', read the Jun. 24 headline of independent daily Al- Dustour. 'Fifty in the last week alone'.