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Short Takes:
In some of today's action from the World Handball Championships in Egypt, the Egyptian team defeated Tunisia by a score of 24/22, while Cuba defeated Denmark 32/24. Go

Britain on Wednesday announced it has lifted the embargo on exporting planes, spare parts and other equipment relating to aviation to Libya. British Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Hoon said in an official statement that this decision is to complete the UN decision on lifting the embargo after the two Libyans suspected of being involved in the Lockerbie incident were handed over to by tried in the Hague, Holland in April. Go

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat discussed last night with the Qatari ambassador to Palestine, Abdullah Ben Motawa, developments in the peace process. Sources in the Palestinian presidency said that President Arafat reviewed with the Qatari ambassador the Palestinian position that looks forward to reviving and pushing forward the peace process after forming the new Israeli government and asserts the importance of Arab coordination to face the requirements of the coming phase. Go

Sheikh Yaqoub bin Hamad al-Harthy, Chairman of the Omani Development Bank¹s (ODB) board said yesterday at the bank's annual meeting for the financial year 1998 that the bank allocated 6.15 million Omani riyals for 644 projects in 1998, Oman News Agency reported. Go

Gulf Air made a profit of 3.6 million Bahraini dinars ($9.5 million) in 1998, Bahrain's minister of transportation and chairman of the Gulf Air's board of directors said, Bahrain Tribune reported. Go

Head of the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development, Badr Mshari Alhomaizi, arrived Wednesday in Tunis on a four-day working visit destined to assess past joint actions and identify future projects to be funded by the Kuwaiti fund. Go

The Algerian State-owned oil company Sonatrach and the Australian BHB oil group signed Wednesday in Algiers an agreement for the management and exploitation of the oil and gas fields found in south Algiers. Go

Lebanese economic sources in Cairo told ArabicNews.com today that Beirut will host the conference of the World Trade Organization in August, in the attendance of more than 35 trade ministers from all over the world under the patronage of United Nations, in addition to more than 30 economic experts who have confirmed their attendance to these meetings. Go

Tunisian President Zein El-Abidin bin Ali ratified adjustments to the electoral law which increase the number of seats at the deputies council to 180 in comparison to the current 163. The election law also specified a ceiling for the winning party of 80% of seats, which means that the opposition, which now holds 16 seats, will have the right to increase its seats to a minimum of 36 after the coming elections. Four parties hold all the seats in the current council. Go

The Syrian Ministry of Agriculture banned imports of meat and chicken from Belgium after they proved to be polluted with dioxin, a cancer-causing chemical. Go

A large Egyptian artistic show is under preperation under the title the Last Dinner, directed and designed by an Egyptian artist of Lebanese origin, Walid Awni, in Egypt including the Egyptian celebrations of the third millennium. The show will tackle the trip of the holy family in Egypt and it is to be presented twice, first at El-Farma castle in Sinai and second in the Hanging Church in Cairo, which are among the very famous sites where the holy family stayed during their trip for Egypt, which included 27 locations in many of Egypt's governerates. Go

Sheikh Ahmed Ben Saiid Al Maktoum, head of Emirates group, and Faisel Khaled, head of the Algerian airline, Air Algerie, signed a cooperation contract between Emirates and Air Algerie worth $8 million to provide Algeria with a system for automatic reservations. Air Algerie will benefit from the system which includes reserving trips, reservation administration and tourism programs, controlling seat numbers and ticketing. The contract lasts for six years. Go

Civil employees of the Northern province in Sudan have announced an open-ended strike as of Wednesday in objection over not being paid the wage increase approved in the state's budget. Go

The ministers of the interior from the Mediterranean states will hold their next meeting in Algeria on June 20 and 21. Taking part in the meeting is the French minister of the interior as well as his counterparts from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. Go

The Turkish daily Urta Dou said on Wednesday that Ankara has decided to produce Israeli "Papaya" air-surface missiles in order to increase the defense capabilities of the Turkish defense forces. The paper added that the project will start when the Turkish Treasury Ministry approves an agreement to produce these missiles that was signed between Turkey and Israel at a cost of US $200 million. Go

Jordan on Wednesday celebrated the investiture of King Abdullah Bin Hussein. A huge celebration was held on this occasion at the royal palace in the presence of a great number of guests, princes, high-ranking Jordanian state officials, people and party activists and members of the diplomatic corps accredited in Amman. Go