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UAE cancels nearly $7 bln in Iraq debt (Reuters via Yahoo! News)

7 Jul 2008

The United Arab Emirates has cancelled almost $7 billion of debt including interest and arrears payments owed by Baghdad, becoming the first Gulf Arab country to forgive all of Iraq's debt.

Syria heads east to boost foreign investment (Financial Times)

7 Jul 2008

Western isolation has forced Syria increasingly to look eastwards for its economic future. As the country pushes through much-needed reforms, Bashar al-Assad, the president, is focusing on links with rising economic powers such as India and China.�

Top UN official shot dead in Mogadishu: officials (AFP via Yahoo! News)

7 Jul 2008

Gunmen on Sunday killed the head of the UN Development Programme in the Somali capital, a UN official said, the latest fatality in a string of attacks on aid workers in the lawless country.