License to keep killing
As the US reaffirms its support for Israel, Palestinian civilians, including small children, were the victims this week of continuing Israeli aggression. Khaled Amayreh reports

Opinion

INTIFADA IN FOCUS

Egypt

Backing Arafat
With the siege of Arafat lifted, Cairo's diplomatic efforts are focusing on asserting his leadership, Soha Abdelaty reports

Fighting child labour
Mrs Suzanne Mubarak has launched "A future without child labour," the first report on child labour in the world. Gihan Shahine reports

Case snagged
A key witness in Saadeddin Ibrahim's re-trial has testified that she had no knowledge of the human rights activist's alleged misuse of foreign funding, reports Khaled Dawoud

EgyptAir crashes again
Fourteen people died, including seven Egyptians, when an EgyptAir Boeing 735- 500 with 62 passengers and eight crew members crashed on Tuesday as it was attempting to land at Tunis airport, reports Amira Ibrahim

Region

An unravelling pledge
An agreement over the Church of the Nativity was put on hold almost as quickly as it appeared. Michael Jansen reports from Bethlehem

Targeting the past
Can the Palestinians preserve their heritage from Israeli aggression? Nevine El-Aref reviews efforts to stop the carnage

Blowing in the wind
Shifts in the course of the Arab-Israeli conflict have become as commonplace as changes in the weather, writes Mohamed El-Sayed Said from Washington

'Freedom, democracy and Israel'
What Israeli atrocities? On Capitol Hill, it's only 'us' against 'them'. Thomas Gorgussian and Anayat Durrani, in Washington, report on the latest US-Israel love-in

International

Vive la République -- for now
Chirac's overwhelming election victory over the Front National in last week's French presidential elections was more a national victory than a personal triumph, writes David Tresilian from Paris

Looking beyond Le Pen
Le Pen was defeated on Sunday's French presidential poll, but his initial success in the first round left an ugly stain on the French political establishment, writes Gavin Bowd

Clerical woes
The sex scandal that rocked the Roman Catholic Church in the US has uncovered deep political and theological divisions that threaten to rip the church apart, reports Samia Nkrumah from Rome

Seeking stability
Clashes between India's Muslim minority and its Hindu majority population threaten the stability of Indian democracy, Sudhanshu Ranjan writes from New Delhi

Economy

Shock-absorbent economy?
Egypt's economy is becoming increasingly vulnerable to external shocks, deputies have told the house. Now they want to know what the government is going to do about it. Gamal Essam El-Din reports

Just a job
May Day finds Egyptian workers with little to celebrate. Fatemah Farag finds out why

Features

"Making the world fit for children" is decidedly a noble goal. Why then is the Children's summit currently being held in New York beset by so much dissention? Negar Azimi reviews the controversy and reports on the Egyptian position

Putting children first

The Egyptian perspective

Living

End of the line?
Once an efficient mainstay of public transport, Cairo's tram is being branded today as passé. Amira El-Noshokaty takes a ride

Empire of the senseless
Nabil Shawkat remembers the roaring seventies

Sports

Travel

Getting to the point
With only six matches left, the battle for points is bitter. Alaa Shahine reports on the struggle at the top and bottom of the football table