DUBAI, 4 November 2007 (IRIN) - Contents:

IRAQ: Number of girls attending school dropping, say analysts IRAQ: Officials deny threat to Mosul Dam ISRAEL-OPT: Violence, lack of land access, make for bitter olive harvest

ISRAEL-OPT: Temporary stay on Gaza power cuts JORDAN: Ten injured in diarrhoea riots JORDAN: Lack of expertise leaves refugees without proper mental care, say NGOs LEBANON: Five months after displacement, little plan for Nahr al-Bared's refugees SYRIA: Economic reforms threaten social unrest YEMEN: Thousands of African migrants smuggled into Saudi Arabia, say community leaders

IRAQ: Number of girls attending school dropping, say analysts

Education specialists in Iraq are worried about the low school attendance of girls as it could create a huge educational gap.

"The fear of losing their children through violence has led many families to keep their children at home but the number of girls kept at home is higher because in addition to the security problem, they are being forced by their families to assist in household chores," said Sinan Zuhair, a media officer for the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75037

IRAQ: Officials deny threat to Mosul Dam

The manager of the dam in the northern city of Mosul, 360km northwest of Baghdad, Abdul-Khaliq Thanon Ayoub, has dismissed a US report of a potential collapse. Analysts say such a disaster could drown the city and cause as many as 500,000 civilian deaths.

Iraq's largest dam, which was built in 1980s on the Tigris River, hit the headlines on 30 October after a report by the US Army Corps of Engineers detailing the potential erosion of the foundations. Apparently, it was built on a type of rock that dissolves when it comes into contact with water.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75107

ISRAEL-OPT: Violence, lack of land access, make for bitter olive harvest

Autumn in the West Bank is usually a festive season when families harvest the olives together but this year's Palestinian crop has again been marked by violence and restrictions on land access.

[Read this report in French: http://www.irinnews.org/ReportFrench.aspx?ReportId=75060]

"The olive harvest is a family thing," said Ahmed, an 18-year-old from Kufr Kalil near Nablus in the West Bank. "We all come together to work," he said, pointing to his mother Nadia and seven-year-old niece Nour, picking olives together. The oil is used for home consumption or sold, easing the financial burden of poor families.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75027

ISRAEL-OPT: Temporary stay on Gaza power cuts

Israel's Attorney-General, Menachem Mazuz, has ordered a temporary halt to the state's plan to cut power supplies to the Gaza Strip pending evaluations and assurances from the government and military that such a move would not cause undue harm to the population.

[Read this report in Arabic: http://arabic.irinnews.org/ReportArabic.aspx?SID=403]

Mazuz, however, did green light other new sanctions, including Israel's limiting of fuel supplies to Gaza by up to 15 percent and the closure of the Sufa Crossing, used to bring humanitarian goods into the enclave.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75057

JORDAN: Ten injured in diarrhoea riots

Hundreds of citizens of Sakeb, 40km north of Amman, the capital, have been hospitalised with fever, diarrhoea and vomiting, blamed on polluted water by the locals while officials insist the real cause is food poisoning. The outbreak began on 28 October, with 400 people, including children and the elderly, seeking treatment at the public hospital in the Roman city of Jerash, near Sakeb.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75072

JORDAN: Lack of expertise leaves refugees without proper mental care, say NGOs

Jordan's public mental health institutions lack expertise, according to aid agencies, prompting Iraqi refugees or Jordanians suffering from mental disorders to rely on NGOs under the umbrella of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Marwa el-Ansary, refugee team leader for CARE, an aid agency, said Jordan lacked the capacity to treat the increasing number of Iraqi refugees with mental health symptoms.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75106

LEBANON: Five months after displacement, little plan for Nahr al-Bared's refugees

Souad al-Sayyed still camps with her children in a classroom strung with washing lines, two months after the battle for Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon ended.

[Read this report in Arabic: http://arabic.irinnews.org/ReportArabic.aspx?SID=402] View photo slideshow: http://www.irinnews.org/photogallery/LebOct07/index.html]

Despite the stench from the neighbouring toilet and piles of rubbish in the corridors, Souad finds little comfort in the news that her time is up in her temporary home at a public school in Beddawi refugee camp, near the devastated camp.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75023

SYRIA: Economic reforms threaten social unrest

Syria is struggling to reform unsustainable and inequitable subsidies, despite warnings from leading economists that delays increase the likelihood of drastic economic shocks and possible social unrest.

The question is how to do so without provoking sharp price increases in a country where the average state wage remains little over US$120 a month.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75053

YEMEN: Thousands of African migrants smuggled into Saudi Arabia, say community leaders

Zamzam Ibrahim Hassan, 26, a Somali refugee, was deported by Saudi authorities 16 months ago when she tried to enter Saudi Arabia from Yemen. She then re-entered Yemen by boat from Somalia nine months ago.

[Read this report in Arabic: http://arabic.irinnews.org/ReportArabic.aspx?SID=407]

"I worked as a maid in one of the houses in the province of al-Baidha [in southeast Yemen] for three months and saved 30,000 riyals [US$150]. I heard some of my friends talking about going to Saudi Arabia. We decided to go and I paid all my money to the smugglers who were Yemenis. When we reached the border, they left us when it was dark," she said.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75092

© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.IRINnews.org

IRIN news