Mideast tidbits

Some interesting gleanings from the Arab press this morning:

Oil prices fell below $50. Egypt is increasing its own oil output.

An Egyptian writer, columnist for Al-Ahram for 22 years, is quitting over continued government censorship.

In what can only be described as child abuse, a Palestinian Arab baby was forced to wear this keffiyeh showing child-molester Yasir Arafat wearing a keffiyeh, in the Firas Press website.

Another Firas story speaks of a US delegation in Egypt inspecting the Gaza border. In a throwaway line, it says they also looked at areas around Kerem Shalom that Israel "occupied" in 1948, indicating that Egyptian land claims against Israel might have quieted down but never really ended after Camp David.

While Hamas claims to want to keep the "calm" with Israel, the PRC - affiliated with Hamas - shot several mortars to Israel this morning.

An Egyptian official claims that Egypt is not biased towards either Hamas or Fatah. Wonder what the incoming US administration thinks about that?

In another indication of the crippling Israeli occupation, a brand-new and rather large mosque opened in Jenin.

A Saudi woman argues against marriages of children 10 and below. Yet she never quite says that it is socially acceptable child-rape:

Just imagine your 10-year-old daughter marrying a man even if he were somewhere between 20 and 50. How will she behave as a mother who is supposed to bring up children or a woman who is responsible for her husband and his family?

Is that really her primary concern?