The rate of unemployment in Egypt is ten times higher in the educated section of the population than among illiterates, independent newspaper Al-Masri al-Yawm said, citing an Arab labor report.

Another group of Palestinians awaiting the opening of the Rafah border crossing in Egypt returned Tuesday to Gaza via Israel. However, of 527 Palestinians who left Rafah Monday, only 300 were permitted to cross Israel.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have arrived in Egypt with promises of weapons for allies in the Middle East, saying it would help counter Al-Qaeda, Hizballah, Syria, and Iran.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has announced a proposed $13 billion military aid deal with Egypt and a $30 billion military package for Israel.

Another 527 Palestinians awaiting the opening of the Rafah border crossing in Egypt have left for Gaza via Israel, the MENA news agency reported Monday. The first group of 100 Palestinians arrived in the Gaza Strip Sunday evening.

Preliminary results from DNA tests carried out on a mummy believed to be Queen Hatshepsut is expected to support the claim by Egyptian authorities that the remains are indeed those of Egypt’s most powerful female ruler.

Russia's food safety watchdog said Wednesday it was ready to help Egypt fight the spread of a deadly bird flu virus, including supplying the country with a vaccine developed in Russia.

Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass told a packed press conference in Cairo that one of two mummies found in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor about a century ago had been identified as Hatshepsut.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are to hold talks in Egypt, early next week. As VOA's Jim Teeple reports from Jerusalem, Jordan's King Abdullah is also scheduled to attend the summit.

Chinese and Egyptian officials on Wednesday laid foundation stone for a joint project to manufacture oil drills, which is the first land oil rigs plant in the Middle East region.

The Egyptian Interior Ministry says police have arrested 14 members of the Muslim Brotherhood in a town 70 kilometers north of Cairo. Officials from the Muslim Brotherhood say the arrests are part of an attempt by the government to disrupt the organizations' efforts in the upcoming Shura Council elections.

Dana Gas, the Middle East's first private sector regional natural gas company, said it would expand its gas operations and investments in Egypt's growing natural gas industry.