The ruling NDP and the country's opposition parties will be using the month of Ramadan to prepare for the parliamentary race beginning in September and the presidential one the following year. Dina Ezzat reports

Youssef Rakha anticipates a complicated Ramadan

A one-day conference of the Coalition of Egyptian Opposition Parties called upon President Mubarak to respond to calls aimed at ensuring free and fair elections, Gamal Essam El-Din reports

Egypt is working to get Nile Basin countries to return to the negotiating table, Dina Ezzat reports

The pro-Gamal Mubarak campaign continued for the second week, with organisers taking it to cyberspace and densely populated Nile Delta governorates, reports Gamal Essam El-Din

With none claiming responsibility, Egyptian Bedouins in Sinai fear they may pay the price for rockets fired on Israel and Jordan, Amirah Ibrahim reports

Saadeddin Ibrahim recently arrived in Cairo on a three-week visit for the first time in three years. Are matters settled between him and the Egyptian government, asks Mohamed Abdel-Baky

The legal battle over the leadership of the liberal Ghad Party reached a climax with the election of Ayman Nour as its chairman, Mona El-Nahhas reports

Reem Leila reports on the spate of piracy in the Gulf of Aden involving ships with Egyptian crew members

Threats of shortages in the international wheat market and hikes in prices are causing consumers to panic and inflating the government's imports bill. Mona El-Fiqi reports

A row is flaring over government efforts to reduce electricity consumption amid an exceptionally hot summer, reports Ahmed Kotb

While some extra goods are now available to people in Gaza, few have the money to buy them, writes Saleh Al-Naami

Historic party figures are speaking out against resuming, on Washington's bidding, unconditional and open talks with Israel, writes Khaled Amayreh in Ramallah

After insisting that Israel has nothing to hide from the UN secretary-general's panel of inquiry into its 31 May bloody attack on a Turkish ship carrying pro-Palestinian peace activists, Israel is now trying to arm-twist the international body in the hope of eviscerating the investigation of substance, reports Khaled Amayreh

The fate of the UN Hariri Tribunal hangs in the balance after Hizbullah reveals evidence that implicates Israel, Omayma Abdel-Latif reports

Lebanon's Israeli spy scandal took another turn this week with the charging of a prominent figure in a party allied to Hizbullah. Lucy Fielder reports from Beirut

Is the ban on the wearing of the face veil in Syrian schools and universities motivated by support for secularism or by fear of the influence of Islamist trends, asks Bassel Oudat in Damascus

Efforts to end the impasse over the formation of a new government in Iraq are nowhere near a breakthrough, writes Salah Hemeid

The deadlock over the appointment of the top commanders demonstrates the continuing shift from military to civilian, but reinforces concerns about the AKP's commitment to the rule of law, says Gareth Jenkins in Istanbul

The first meeting of Yemen's national dialogue took place last weekend, with as yet uncertain aims and schedule, writes Nasser Arrabyee

A new interpretation of the 1882 Orabi revolt, writes Marco Pinfari, shows that the old fallacies and prejudices of the colonial era tend to resurface in contemporary historiography, just in a different form

A year or more in Cairo: Giuseppe Acconcia remembers first finding a place to live

Notwithstanding faulty sound engineering, Ati Metwaly discovers how summer can be a many-spleandoured thing

Kamal Soltan previews the crop of light entertainment coming to your TV screens during Ramadan

The UCSB Middle East Ensemble brings familiar Arab musical instruments all the way from California to give an outstanding concert at the Opera House. For Ghada Abdel-Kader the familiar tunes brought back memories

Eugene Rogan, The Arabs: A History, London: Allen Lane, 2009

Among social networking site Twitter's 106 million global users, only 2,000 or so are from Egypt. Ahmed Abu Ghazala finds out why

The Egyptian football league kicked off a new season with title holders Ahli and runners-up Zamalek drawing separately, Ahmed Morsy reports

The 17th African Senior Athletics Championship has concluded, Ghada Abdel-Kader reports from Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi