Turkey warned Lebanon and Egypt on Tuesday not to press ahead with oil and gas exploration deals signed with Cyprus, saying Turkey and Turkish Cypriots also had rights in the region.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt and Director of excavations at the Giza Pyramids, Saqqara, and Bahariya Oasis, offers a special public talk, "The Riddle of the Pyramids and the Magic of King Tut," Thursday, February 1 at 6:00 p.m. in the Harrison Auditorium of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Philadelphia.

An Egyptian high court (the Supreme Administrative Court) has upheld a ruling rejecting the legal recognition of 12 political groups.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt closed, as soon as Palestinian Prime Minister Haniyeh arrived at the crossing point. This, in order to prevent him from carrying over suitcases containing tens of millions of dollars he raised in Iran and other countries in the region.

U.S. federal authorities say Egyptian cleric Omar Abdel-Rahman has been hospitalized, and warns that his death could trigger possible terror attacks in the United States.