The NDP is seeking to woo a sceptical public, both at home and abroad, reports Dina Ezzat

The decision by three major opposition parties and the Muslim Brotherhood to boycott the 25 May referendum met with a lukewarm reaction from the NDP, reports Gamal Essam El-Din

A heated Judges' Club meeting results in a potential deadlock over supervising presidential elections. Mona El-Nahhas surveys the fallout

The Egyptian Movement for Change tells Amira Howeidy there can be no turning back

Prime Minister Nazif was grilled over Egypt's political reform process during his first official US visit. Asking for "the benefit of the doubt", he promised that elections would be both free and fair. Khaled Dawoud reports from Washington

How the government will ultimately respond to US President George W Bush's suggestion for the international monitoring of presidential elections remains unclear. Gihan Shahine samples the intense debate

The Palestinian parliament should this week clear the way for new elections in July. If it doesn't, every Palestinian will know why, writes Graham Usher in Ramallah

The State of Israel this week took another step forward in formalising the mass theft of Palestinian property and lands, writes Khaled Amayreh in the West Bank

In addition to car bombs, murder is increasing at an alarming rate in Iraq, writes Omayma Abdel-Latif

The only way Iraqis will be able to overcome violence and detract criminals is to establish a viable judiciary, writes Abbas Kadhim

The government may have stopped Al-Jazeera from broadcasting last week's Judges' Club meeting, but detaining eight of the channels' employees did not get it much good press, reports Mustafa El-Menshawy

With independent media mushrooming by the day, Magda El-Ghitany speaks to two of the genre's pioneers -- the controversial Ibrahim Eissa, chief editor of two weeklies, and Adel Hamouda, a veteran launching a new venture

The air traffic controllers' confrontation with aviation authorities has been temporarily frozen. But as both sides assess the damage, reports Amirah Ibrahim, there may be more trouble in the air

Bread queues are back. Mona El-Fiqi finds out why

The battle over John Bolton's nomination as the next American ambassador to the UN has entered a new phase, reports Sharif Abdel-Kouddous from New York

Back from the north and middle belt of Nigeria, Margot Badran writes on current religious-political debates six years after the emergence of "Sharia states"