Al-Ahram Weekly | Front Page

A de facto calm

The fragile truce between Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza and Israel is holding, writes Khaled Amayreh from Jerusalem

The heat is still on

Experts and consumers are not yet satisfied with the new government procedures to alleviate the ongoing bread crisis, Mona El-Fiqi investigates

No leader to send

With no head of state to send to Damascus and no solution to their political crisis, the Lebanese are wondering what will follow the Arab summit, Lucy Fielder reports from Beirut

Same as it ever was

The Arab League's Hesham Youssef tells Dina Ezzat that the Damascus Arab summit will not differ greatly from summits of the past

Egypt

Fuel for discussion

The parliament's debate on natural gas exports to Israel exposes the incendiary nature of the affair, reports Gamal Essam El-Din

Church weddings

A growing body of Coptic laymen and women are demanding change in church rules governing divorce and remarriage, reports Gamal Nkrumah

Making room on the bench

As the National Council for Women celebrates the first anniversary of the appointment of 30 women judges, Reem Leila looks back on a year in the courts

New dawn for Luxor temples

Nevine El-Aref reports on the reopening of Dendara Temple and Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif's visit to Luxor

Pending appeal

Ibrahim Eissa, editor-in-chief of Al-Dostour, is sentenced to six months in prison with hard labour for reporting rumours concerning President Mubarak's health. Shaden Shehab was in court

To strike or not

Heated disputes at the Doctors' Syndicate have done little to clarify the situation, writes Hala Sakr

Teachers stand up

Official promises to raise the income of university professors have failed to contain their anger, reports Mona El-Nahhas

Region

Precarious accord

No sooner signed than ignored, reactions to the Sanaa Declaration are indicative of deep rifts that persist in the Palestinian Fatah movement, writes Khaled Amayreh in Ramallah

Gaza's suffering children

The Israeli occupation and its relentless attacks destroy the mental health and lives of children of Gaza, writes Saleh Al-Naami

Same as it ever was

The Arab League's Hesham Youssef tells Dina Ezzat that the Damascus Arab summit will not differ greatly from summits of the past

Economy

Drilling partners

Chinese initiatives to invest in the Egyptian petroleum sector are bearing some lucrative results, reports Sherine Nasr

Formalising the informal

Laila Iskandar writes about the dilemmas of the informal sector

A sweet deal

Kraft Egypt is taking a larger bite out of the local biscuits and cake market, Sherine Abdel-Razek reports

m o r e

Iraq

War and democracy

Scores of political groups have sprung up since the US invasion of Iraq, but the silent majority still lack democratic representation, writes Salah Hemeid

'Cheated and used'

Five years on, Iraqis who went along with the US-led war now look back in anger as their nation is sucked into a quagmire, writes Saif Nasrawi

Where do Iraqis stand?

In all the analysis accorded to the sad anniversary of the US invasion and destruction of Iraq, few words have focussed on the human toll for Iraqis, writes Ramzy Baroud

Who's winning in Iraq?

Having handed Iraq to Iran, the US faces a strategic dilemma of enormous proportions, writes Mustafa El-Labbad

International

Pakistan's truculent justices

Pakistan's first parliamentary session was dominated by neither its new prime minister nor his assassinated leader but by an imprisoned judge, writes Graham Usher in Islamabad

Tibetan tinderbox

For all the hype around Tibetan angst, Western longings to trash the Olympics are bound to flounder, argues Gamal Nkrumah

Culture

Horrors of the war

An eye-witness account of the agony of war in Iraq, Aida Schlaepfer's film Gangs of Baghdad focuses on the ordeals of ordinary Iraqis, writes Nesmahar Sayed

Living

Made in Egypt

Amira El-Noshokaty looks into the long-forgotten world of traditional Egyptian folk art