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The number of pilgrims at this year’s Hajj is expected to be lower because of swine flu fears, a Saudi official says. The ministry said the four who died were a Sudanese man, a Moroccan woman and an Indian man – all aged over 75 – and a girl aged 17 from Nigeria. For more info visit the source site in the link above.

Iraq will not be able to hold polls before the end of January as required by the constitution, electoral officials say.

A trainee spy for Israel’s Mossad secret service is arrested by Tel Aviv police while taking part in a training operation, media say.

Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi is to mediate between Algeria and Egypt in a bitter football row, state media say.

Four people are killed in a civilian helicopter crash off the coast of northern Israel.

Jordan’s King Abdullah dissolves the country’s parliament halfway through its four-year term and calls for early elections.