Madeleine Albright's visit to the region may end up on a better note than the note it started with
Straws in the wind
The crisis caused by the "petition of 20" may have passed, but not its significance. Graham Usher in Jerusalem reports on the ongoing fall-out from the most savage Palestinian criticism yet of their national authority and "symbol"
To be, or not to be, prepared
The clock is ticking, and the millennium glitch gets closer by the day. Amira Howeidy reports
Parliament debates millennium-eve party
After an appearance at the Shura Council last week, Farouk Hosni went to the People's Assembly to answer the questions of parliamentarians on the planned third-millennium celebration, Gamal Essam El-Din reports
Fiasco in Seattle
While the din of activists' protests deafened the streets outside, no deals were clinched behind closed doors, write Thomas Gurguisian in Seattle and Faiza Rady in Cairo
Argun's no Stalingrad
Moscow is stepping up its bombardment of Chechen capital Grozny and trying to overrun the strategic town of Argun, but the Chechens are holding out, writes Abdel-Malek Khalil from Moscow
