The surprising calm following the Iraqi football victory masks heightened political confusion, reports Nermeen Al-Mufti

The present draft Iraq oil law is virtually guaranteed to betray the vital interests of Iraqis, writes Hussein Abdallah

The catchall nature of the ruling Turkish party, despite new ideological alignments in parliament, may leave Turkish politics lacklustre, writes Mustafa El-Labbad

The suffering from the stand-off in fractured Palestine is a disgrace, says Saleh Al-Naami

The current campaign by the US to reproduce the Oslo euphoria is painfully off-key, relates Khaled Amayreh

A by-election in a Christian heartland this weekend will take the pulse of Lebanon's sparring factions. Lucy Fielder reports from Beirut

Dina Ezzat reports on the Arab reaction to the Libyan boycott demand over the saga of the Bulgarian nurses

From death row to freedom, the plight of a Palestinian doctor and five Bulgarian nurses in Libyan jails highlights the cultural chasm between the countries north and south of the Mediterranean, writes Gamal Nkrumah