ISMALIA, Egypt: Egypt’s army killed a field commander in Ansar Bayt Al Maqdis, the country’s most dangerous Islamist militant group, during clashes on Thursday in the lawless north of the Sinai Peninsula, security sources said.
Mohamed Abu Shatiya, among militants behind the kidnapping of seven Egyptian soldiers in Sinai last year, died during fighting with the army south of Rafah, on the border with Gaza. Two tonnes of explosives were confiscated from a nearby tunnel connecting Sinai to Gaza during the incident, they said. Sinai-based Ansar Bayt Al Maqdis has killed hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police over the last year and beheaded several people in recent weeks, saying they were spies for Israeli intelligence.
Oman says Sultan in good health
DUBAI: Oman’s royal court has told Omanis that H M Sultan Qaboos bin Said, in Germany since July for medical tests, is in good health, state media reported yesterday.
A statement by the court published ahead of the Eid Al Adha holiday did not say what kind of tests the 73-year-old ruler of the Gulf Arab state was undergoing or what he might be suffering from. “His majesty the Sultan is in good health and is continuing ... during the coming period the specified medical programme, which, with God’s grace, is achieving the reassuring and required results,” the statement, read on state television, said.
Dubai detectives to use Google Glass
DUBAI: Dubai police plan to issue detectives with Google Glass hands-free eyewear to help them fight crime using facial recognition technology, a police spokesman in the Gulf Arab emirate said.
The wearable device consists of a tiny computer screen mounted in the corner of an eyeglass frame and is capable of taking photos, recording video and playing sound. The spokesman confirmed a report in Dubai’s 7 Days newspaper that software developed by Dubai police would enable a connection between the wearer and a database of wanted people. Once the device “recognised” a suspect based on a face print, it would alert the officer wearing the gadget.Agencies
