This week's prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hizbullah marks a new chapter in the Arab-Israeli conflict, writes Amira Howeidy

The Argentine sheriff has a showdown with the Sudanese strongman. The fireworks have begun, shudders Gamal Nkrumah

Sarkozy is trying to heal the rift with Syria but has little to show as yet, Bassel Oudat writes from Damascus

As Fatah seeks to extend the presidency of Abbas by diktat, it is Abbas that is resisting by all means national reconciliation dialogue with Hamas, writes Saleh Al-Naami

Recent Israeli army aggressions against Palestinian charities, beauty salons and shops show unequivocally that Israel is morally lost, writes Khaled Amayreh in Nablus

In spite of claims of fraud, the ruling National Democratic Party easily won by-elections in Alexandria and the Nile Delta. Gamal Essam El-Din reports

Overseas Copts protest against the alleged persecution of their co-religionists back home. But are these outbursts detrimental to the wider interests of Egypt's Coptic community, wonders Gamal Nkrumah

No bad news is good news. That's what a reported draft law regulating broadcast media might espouse. Mohamed El-Sayed writes on what's feared by critics to be a possible muzzle of the media

Will chaotic traffic improve after the new traffic law? Reem Leila stands at the crossroads

Bouteflika's sudden reversal -- with no explanation -- on the French-sponsored union has raised many hackles, reports Nasr El-Din Qasim

Why does Al-Maliki really want a timetable for US withdrawal from Iraq? Salah Hemeid tries to figure it out

Four years on, Palestinians still demand that the World Court's ruling on Israel's apartheid wall be implemented, writes Khaled Amayreh in the West Bank

The US continues to play games with Iran, while Europe continues to try to keep things calm, Rasha Saad reports

Flamboyant attempts to re-launch cooperation around the Mediterranean might well yield results

Soaring grain prices are causing poorer populations to go hungrier, writes Sherine Nasr

Selling public banks to foreigners is not the panacea for all the sector's woes, as Rehab Ahmed finds out

There is a new cold war in South East Asia -- between the US and Pakistan, writes Graham Usher in Peshawar

American soldiers who deserted the US army because of their opposition to the war in Iraq are fighting a legal battle to obtain political asylum in Canada, Tamam Ahmed Jama reports from Ottawa

Dutch politician Geert Wilders's film Fitna is an alarming new episode in the 'clash of civilisations,' this time fomented in cyberspace, writes Amira Nowaira

One trip to Alexandria, five friends: Jailan Halawi plays with perspective

After claiming the gold medal in the World Juniors Championship in Cairo, Egypt's modern pentathlete Aya Medani shoots for Beijing, Inas Mazhar reports

The new football season starts with two crunch matches between powerhouse rivals Ahli and Zamalek, writes Ahmed Morsy

Can our environment have a direct impact on our luck and the life opportunities that come our way? Amira El-Naqeeb examines the power of the healing art of Feng Shui