Political trials
Marwan Barghouti intends his trial to be an indictment of the Israeli occupation, and sends a message to the Palestinians, writes Graham Usher from Jerusalem

Roads to nowhere
The cool reception the Palestinian delegation received in Washington speaks volumes, writes Mohamed El-Sayed Said from the US capital

GOLDEN JUBILEE OF THE 1952 REVOLUTION

Egypt

A partiality for Labour
The recent spate of visits to Egypt by Israeli Labour Party members is irritating their Likud government partners. Soha Abdelaty reports

Modernism and the NDP
As the ruling NDP prepares for its eighth congress next month, Gamal Essam El-Din explores how far the party's internal reforms will lead to a radical restructuring of its ranks

'Honour' drenched in blood
Reporting from the scene of the grisly murders of 22 members of the same Upper Egyptian family, Jailan Halawi discovers that this particular vendetta looks likely to produce only more and more death

Region

'Unfortunate incidents'
Israel kept up its fight against "Palestinian terror" with killings of schoolchildren and the elderly, while illegally seizing more land in Tulkarm. Khaled Amayreh reports from Jerusalem

Living on Nasser Street, Bethlehem
What is it like to live under nearly permanent curfew? Talal Jabari tells the story of a single building in Bethlehem

Odd man out
The only Palestinian left in Cyprus following the deal to end the siege of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem feels bitter towards the EU for not fulfilling its promises. He spoke to Michael Jansen in Nicosia

Counting down for war
With the Bush administration moving intently towards mobilising anti-Saddam Hussein forces, the question is now when and how it should be done, writes Salah Hemeid

Economy

International

Waiting on the cash
Quick relief funds pledged during the February Sharm El-Sheikh conference are still being negotiated six months on, Niveen Wahish reports

Somebody cares
The rescue packages the IMF approved for Brazil and Uruguay suggest an important change of policy. Not only at the IMF, but also in US government circles, Hisham El-Naggar reports from Buenos Aires

Who can you trust?
New anti-terrorism measures in the US summon the ghost of McCarthyism. Nyier Abdou probes what happens when Big Brother meets war hysteria

Living

Features

Older and a little wiser
Young Africans argue the case of human rights at AUC, reports Gamal Nkrumah

Travel

Heritage

Outpost on the Red Sea
The old Turkish fortress at Qosseir has been restored, and Amira El-Noshokaty took a pre-opening peek