Suspected Mossad spy is a US-Israeli student

A US-Israeli student, Ilan Grapel, suspected to be a Mossad spy is being questioned in Cairo after his arrest on Sunday 12th June. Grapel, 27, is accused of attempting to sabotage Egypt's uprising by inciting sedition.

Speaking about Grapel, Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Army Radio: "He has no connection to any intelligence apparatus, not in Israel, not in the US and not on Mars…This is a mistake or strange behaviour by the Egyptians…They have received all the clarifications and I hope the whole story will end quickly.”

On Monday 13th June, Egypt's State Prosecutor issued a statement saying that Grapel had posed as a foreign correspondent covering anti-government protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square, with the intention to foment Muslim-Christian tension and turn the people against the army following president Hosni Mubarak's resignation.

Israel insists that despite Grapel's reported "identification" by an allegedly "Israeli organisation," the Egyptian reports of a Mossad agent's arrest are unreliable. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor told the BBC on Monday: "There is no such thing, no Israeli agent has been arrested in Egypt… These reports are false. So far we did not receive any information from the Egyptian authorities on an Israeli citizen who has been arrested."

Sources: BBC News, Bikya Masr, Ynetnews

For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.

Hosni Mubarak detained in hospital

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has been placed under detention in his hospital room. His two sons, Gamal and Alaa, have also been detained and will be questioned in due course.

The news has been greeted with cheers by the opposition leaders responsible for brining down Mubarak's administration in February. Egypt's prosecutor general has detained the former president and his two sons, ahead of the impending investigation. Mubarak is reportedly suffering with heart problems and is in an "unstable condition".

The protests in Egypt have continued with tens of thousans of protesters staging weekly Friday demonstration in Tahrir Square. The Egyptian people are demanding that Mubarak be put on trial for the deaths of their fellow protesters and alleged abuse of power during his three decade reign.

It is estimated that around 360 people have been killed during the protests and hundreds more injured. Opposition within Egypt, however, is primarily concerted with the Mubarak family's wealth and how it was obtained. Experts claim that most of it was acquired through corrupt business dealings; others suggest that Gamal and Alaa, used their political clout to pressured domestic companies into giving them shares without paying the market price.

Some opposition groups have expressed suspicions over the timing of Mubarak's heart problems as initial reports indicated he was well enough to undergo questioning. The former Egyptian leader has rarely been seen since his departure in February, and has reportedly been staying at his holiday villa in Sharm El-Sheikh.

Sources: BBC, The Guardian, Boston Globe

For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.

Egypt's Interior Ministry set on fire amid protests

Reports from Egypt have confirmed that the country's Interior Ministry is on fire in downtown Cairo, following protests by policemen and civilian employees, demanding salary increases, earlier in the day.

The protesters have denied setting the building on fire, saying it began inside. Earlier, Egyptian security forces surrounded the ministry to prevent the demonstrators from storming it.

Before the fire broke out, thousans of demonstrators made their way to the site through Tahrir Square, the place where the protests that toppled longtime president Hosni Mubarak began, and in the direction of the state television and radio offices.

Speaking about the latest wave of protests, Egypt's Interior Minister Mansour El-Essawy said the protesters were also asking for increased health benefits, and promised to consider their demands.

Sources: USA Today, Bloomberg, AP, ABC News, CNN

For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.

Yemen: Four days of protests result in violent clashes

Anti-government protestors have clashed with Yemen's security forces, on the fourth consecutive day of demonstration in the country's capital Sana'a; as thousands of demonstrators, calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down, came up against a crowd of Saleh supporters.

Police fired tear gas into the crowds to disperse them, while the protestors chanted: "After Mubarak, Ali". There were also reports of clashes between pro and anti government supporters south of the capital in Taez.

It is estimated that over 3,000 protestors clashed in Tahrir Square, some armed with broken bottles, daggers and stones. Police locked several thousand people inside the local university to minimise the violent confrontations.

Saleh is reportedly preparing to hold talks with opposition groups on possible political reforms, in an attempt to prevent his overthrow before time as he promised to stand down in 2013, and assured the nation that his son would not replace him in office.

Sources: BBC News, The Guardian, AFP

For more news and expert analysis about Yemen, please see Yemen Focus.