Slowly but surely
The Arab world needs reform, but it must come from within, President Mubarak told last week's Bibliotheca Alexandrina reform conference. Nevine Khalil reviews his inaugural speech

A pervasive term
With an avalanche of initiatives inundating the Middle East, Arab civil society was invited to develop a homegrown plan. But can reform really take place without government consent, asks Sherine Bahaa

Ambivalent response
Amira Howeidy talks to critics of the Alexandria reform conference

Eye on 2015
This year's national women's conference will be focussing on fulfilling the UN's millennium goals. Dina Ezzat reports

Difficult task
In a roundtable discussion with Al-Ahram Weekly staff, AUC President David Arnold talks about the institution's place amidst the US-dictated tumult of the Middle East. Yasmine El-Rashidi reports

Dying to serve their king
The latest discoveries at Abydos have revealed startling facts about ritual service in the court of the earliest dynastic Egyptian kings, reports Nevine El-Aref

The economics of reform
Participants at the Alexandria reform conference offered familiar prescriptions to age-old economic problems, reports Niveen Wahish

Opposition MPs slam Israel visit
The parliament's decision to participate in the Israeli Knesset's commemoration of the 25th anniversary of Egyptian-Israeli peace has infuriated opposition and independent MPs. Gamal Essam El-Din reports

The fall of Naga' Abdel-Rasoul
Another southern drug haven goes down. Reem Nafie reports from Assiut

Anti-war activist acquitted
Anti-war activist Ashraf Ibrahim described his acquittal as meaningless. Jailan Halawi reports on the state security case that wasn't

Jumping on the reform bandwagon
With talk of reform in the air, the frozen Engineers' Syndicate doesn't want to be left out in the cold. Mona El-Nahhas reports

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