Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi is “closely following the developments in Lebanon” and would exert all efforts to support the resumption of dialogue among all Lebanese parties, his spokesman Minha Bakhoum said.

Al-Arabi is concerned over the “decline in the possibilities of (holding) dialogue among the parties,” Bakhoum said in a statement on Wednesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Cairo Tuesday seeking a partnership with Egypt in its transition to democracy, as she became the highest U.S. official to visit since Hosni Mubarak was toppled.

Clinton held evening talks with her Egyptian counterpart Nabil al-Arabi at the old foreign ministry building hard by Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the 18 days of mass protests that led to Mubarak's overthrow.

Hundreds of Islamists rallied in Jordan on Friday to demand sweeping government reforms, vowing to step up their protests if their demands are ignored.

Surrounded by a cordon of police, they chanted "The people want regime reforms," and "What is acceptable today will not be tomorrow," as well as "We want the dissolution of parliament."

A senior officer in Israel's Southern Command has said Iran and Hizbullah frequently send experts to the Gaza Strip to train Hamas forces, crossing through illicit tunnels on the Gaza-Egypt border.

Some foreign experts are even stationed in Gaza, he said.

Caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud has asked Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi to take “suitable measures” with regard to the travel of Intelligence Bureau chief Col. Wissam Hassan to Egypt.

Baroud told Rifi on Wednesday that such measures would clarify the extent to which various regulations were being respected.

Putting a collection together for Paris fashion week is a nerve-wracking experience in the best of times. Just try doing it in the middle of a revolution.

Egyptian designer Marie Bishara did, and it is a stroke of luck that she even got to the French capital with her sophisticated and feminine looks in the wake of the uprising that put paid to Hosni Mubarak's regime.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams stressed the importance of forming the cabinet to confront several challenges including the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s upcoming indictment.

In an interview published in As Safir newspaper Wednesday, Williams warned of the dangers of a power vacuum if the formation of the cabinet takes more time.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir met with Egypt's new military rulers on Tuesday, the official MENA agency reported, marking the first visit to post-Mubarak Egypt by an Arab head of state.

Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, met with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who heads the country's ruling military council.

Armed civilians attacked hundreds of Egyptian protesters outside the state security headquarters in Cairo on Sunday, as the army fired warning shots and used sticks to disperse the crowd, witnesses said.

Around 500 protesters tried to storm the headquarters of the powerful security apparatus in Cairo's Lazoghly neighborhood and were attacked with knives and rocks by men in civilian clothing, the witness told Agence France Presse.

Egypt on Sunday named its former ambassador to the United Nations, Nabil al-Arabi, as foreign minister in the latest move to purge the cabinet of members of toppled president Hosni Mubarak's regime.

"Nabil al-Arabi said he has accepted the foreign ministry portfolio during this critical time in the history of Egypt," the state-run MENA news agency reported.