President Mubarak of Egyot has activated Egypt's and the Arab world's first broadcasting satellite.

The president switched on the first broadcast at a station outside Cairo.

The satellite, Nilesat 101, will carry television programmes from North Africa to the Gulf.

It is capable of broadcasting seventy-two television channels, twenty-one of which are reserved for Egypt.

The Arab world already has access to three satellites owned by twenty-two members of the Arab League.