Hamas swept to victory over the long-dominant Fatah party on Thursday in Palestinian parliamentary polls, and Israel immediately ruled out talks with any government involving the Islamic militant group

Palestinians go to the polls in the hope that their lives will change for the better, writes Graham Usher in Gaza City

With no big surprises in the results of the Iraqi elections, Sunnis, Shias and Kurds seem poised for another battle, this time over a new government, writes Salah Hemeid

The tripartite alliance of Syria, Hizbullah and Tehran will only get stronger in the absence of the broader Arab nation, writes Mustafa El-Labbad

The struggle over the leadership of the Wafd has placed the spotlight squarely on the implosion of official opposition parties, writes Amira Howeidy

It took a party coup to bring the Wafd Party back in the limelight. But what, asks Amira Howeidy, does the "liberal" party have to offer

Despite a lengthy interview published this week, burning questions about Gamal Mubarak's political future remain unanswered. Omayma Abdel-Latif reports

The Nasserists may be in disarray, but their chairman doesn't seem to be doing much about it. Gamal Essam El-Din reports

Ten of the country's smallest parties have formed a shadow government. Does anyone care, asks Mohamed El-Sayed

Niveen Wahish and Dina Ezzat seek the real story behind delayed US-Egyptian negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement

Whatever the final results of the Palestinian elections, a new dispensation is being born, writes Graham Usher in Gaza

No matter what the result, the infusion of party political debate in the run-up to Palestinian national elections this week is a heartening sign, writes Erica Silverman

Mona El-Fiqi examines ways in which the system of subsidies can be streamlined to better target those in need

David Tresilian, in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, explores the background to violence that last week shattered the peace of this Himalayan kingdom

The release of a new scathing human rights report has made US denials of employing a torture policy increasingly untenable, reports Hicham Safieddine

While Sudan was snubbed at the African Union summit, African leaders still put diplomatic niceties before hard-edged political progress, writes Gamal Nkrumah

With minority government rule today's norm in Canada, Arabs and Muslims are starting to play a bigger role in politics, writes Hicham Safieddine

Hala Halim finds seminar audiences at the 38th CIBF ready and willing to disagree with the panelists

Cairo traffic is moving from bad to worse, Reem Leila looks into one of Egypt's most chronic problems

After a good 3-0 start for the Egyptians over Libya, a 0-0 draw with Morocco left die-hard fans disappointed. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab reports on a coming nail-biting game between the Pharaohs and the Elephants on Saturday

Khalid El-Farra discovers that Arab football commentators are not up to the standards set by their Western counterparts