Is the unilateral agreement signed last week by four Nile Basin countries a watershed in relations between upstream and downstream states, asks Mohamed El-Sayed

While it may appear that Iran has backed down on its nuclear energy demands, the final winner of the long-running standoff is yet to be announced, writes Amani Maged from Tehran

Election campaigns for the Shura Council shift into high gear, reports Gamal Essam El-Din

With less than two weeks to the mid-term Shura Council elections only four NGOs have registered to monitor the poll, reports Mohamed Abdel-Baky

Female candidates for the mid-term Shura Council elections want more support, reports Reem Leila

There are many harsh political battles ahead, writes Dina Ezzat

Opposition and ruling NDP MPs exchanged accusations during a debate over redrawing electoral districts, reports Gamal Essam El-Din

Doaa El-Bey reports on the killing abroad of two more Egyptians

Subsidies on basic commodities remain a touchstone issue in Egypt with so many on or under the poverty line, Mona El-Fiqi reports

Fatah and Hamas remain locked in contention, unable to resolve their differences and unable to move forward, writes Saleh Al-Naami

Israel's denial of entry to Noam Chomsky is but the latest in a long list of attempts to silence critics of Zionist oppression and violence, writes Khaled Amayreh

While the vote recount has left the results of March's Iraqi elections intact, this may not mean that the crisis in the country's government is over, writes Salah Hemeid

The Lebanese premier is due in Washington next week on his first official visit, but expectations of it are low, Omayma Abdel-Latif writes from Beirut

Last week, the Russian president was in Damascus, but the minor agreements which were publicised were not the real reason behind the visit, reveals Bassel Oudat from Damascus

Sudan's fledgling democratic process is being stunted with the detention of a leading oppositionist and a flare in violence, warns Gamal Nkrumah

It was all smiles and little agreement during the Afghan president's visit to America, writes Graham Usher in New York

Nehad Selaiha is deeply moved by an Egyptian adaptation of Frank Wedekind's Spring Awakening

Ati Metwaly suffuses the royal atmosphere

In March Bachir El-Sebaie received the annual Rifa'a Al-Tahtawi Award for best translation published by the National Centre of Translation, for his translation of the French historian Henri Laurens's six-volume La Question de Palestine. He spoke to Sayed Mahmoud on the occasion

At the Cannes Festival, Samir Farid samples the year's crop

Costa Gavras agrees with Injy El-Kashef that the world will always need heroes

Many people pass him by every day without giving him a second glance. But this is a very talented man and one who loves the sea, says Osama Kamal

A success story in the fight for women's rights, Enjy El-Naggar talks to lawyer and activist Nehad Abul-Qomsan

Picking up her nephew from the airport on his recent visit to Cairo, Riham Adel is forced to seek answers to the problem of the country's roads

League champions Ahli and Zamalek finished the Egyptian domestic league season by a win and a goalless draw respectively, Ahmed Morsy reports