DUBAI, 13 January 2008 (IRIN) - Contents:

EGYPT: No bird flu pandemic despite recent deaths - health officials IRAQ-SYRIA: WFP food aid for Iraqi IDPs, refugees in Syria ISRAEL-JORDAN: Group of Gazans arrives in Jordan for free medical treatment JORDAN: Government moves to curb domestic violence YEMEN: Two NGOs move to reduce tribal, other conflicts

EGYPT: No bird flu pandemic despite recent deaths - health officials

Four humans have died of bird flu in Egypt in the past week but health officials deny the country is gripped by an influenza pandemic.

"There is still no fear that the virus has transformed into an influenza pandemic," John Jabbour, a medical consultant for emerging diseases at the World Health Organization (WHO) regional office for the Eastern Mediterranean, told IRIN.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76083

IRAQ-SYRIA: WFP food aid for Iraqi IDPs, refugees in Syria

Iraqi officials and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have welcomed the UN World Food Programme's (WFP) emergency operation announced on 3 January to provide food aid to displaced Iraqi families.

The programme, worth US$126 million, will run for a year and target 750,000 of the most vulnerable internally displaced persons (IDPs) inside Iraq, as well as over 360,000 Iraqi refugees in Syria.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76135

ISRAEL-JORDAN: Group of Gazans arrives in Jordan for free medical treatment

The Israeli restrictions on the movement of people and goods in and out of the Gaza Strip, which has severely affected the health sector, has forced many patients to seek treatment outside the coastal enclave.

The first batch of ailing Gazans since Hamas took over in the Gaza Strip arrived in the Jordanian capital, Amman, on 3 January in a bid to get proper medical treatment and possible life-saving surgery.

The group of 13 includes the elderly and women. As a good will gesture they will be treated free of charge by the Jordanian government, said Hashem Abdulla of the King Hussein Medical Centre where the patients will be hosted.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76173

JORDAN: Government moves to curb domestic violence

The Jordanian parliament on 6 January endorsed a family protection bill in a bid to combat rising domestic violence. The draft law, which still needs to be approved by the Senate before taking effect, imposes stiff penalties on violators, ranging from hefty fines to imprisonment of up to six months.

The bill also gives the authorities the power to detain perpetrators of domestic violence for 24 hours "in order to protect the victim" and the court has the right to bar perpetrators from approaching "safe houses" where victims are sheltered in order to guarantee their safety.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76150

YEMEN: Two NGOs move to reduce tribal, other conflicts

Two international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are sufficiently concerned about the extent of tribal and other kinds of conflict in Yemen to have independently started programmes aimed at reducing them.

The two NGOs - the US-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Islamic Relief - have set up programmes in seven of the country's 21 governorates.

Current conflicts involve land disputes, fights over water resources, revenge killings, family disputes, inter-tribal conflicts and conflicts between tribes and the government.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76134

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