In Tehran, Dina Ezzat waits for the groundbreaking visit by an Egyptian president to the Islamic Republic

How could one terrorist attack pack enough power not only to shake the foundations of the status quo in Sinai but send tremors that have shaken Egypt and Gaza, plus Egypt's sensitive, if relatively stable, relationship with Israel? Samir Ghattas explains

Government efforts at restoring security in Sinai are proceeding along three tracks, none of them without pitfalls, writes Ahmed Eleiba

The 100-member assembly in charge of drafting Egypt's new constitution has completed much of its job, but thorny issues remain, writes Gamal Essam El-Din

Hundreds of people have been poisoned by contaminated water in the Sansaft village in the Menoufiya governorate, writes Mohamed Abdel-Baky

The case of journalist Islam Afifi has raised concerns about what can be published in Egypt, reports Mona El-Nahhas

Egyptian-Chinese economic and trade relations have so far performed well below their potential, Niveen Wahish reports, as the president's visit to China hopes to change that

After almost two months of searching, the names of the presidential team are out, reports Reem Leila

A judicial commission was formed this week to investigate money smuggled out of Egypt by cronies of the former Mubarak regime, writes Gamal Essam El-Din

Despite the hype over the 24 August anti-Brotherhood demonstration, several experts and political analysts predicted its failure, Reem Leila reports

The government's decision to produce a more expensive version of the common subsidised bread may be a step towards reforming the whole system, reports Mona El-Fiqi

Renewed interest in aid from the fund has stirred new controversy, writes Niveen Wahish

With the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process going nowhere, mainly due to Israeli intransigence and American complicity, Israel is increasingly bullying the Palestinian Authority (PA) into doing its bidding, says Khaled Amayreh in Ramallah

Though nothing links Palestinians in Gaza to the Rafah attack that killed 16 Egyptian soldiers, their subsequent treatment -- by Egypt in particular -- smacked of collective punishment, concludes Saleh Al-Naami

The Eid Al-Fitr holiday has been bleak for Palestinians in Lebanon this year, but there are signs of hope, writes Franklin Lamb in Beirut

On 4 September, the trial of those accused in the murder of Vittorio Arrigoni is due to conclude. Much more than justice for one great man is at stake, writes Ramzy Baroud

With Syria imploding on its borders, Turkey is increasingly worried about armed groups in the vicinity using force to press their demands, writes Sayed Abdel-Meguid in Ankara

Lebanon is being sucked into Syrian war. Graham Usher reports from Tripoli, the country's most lethal frontline

A series of kidnappings, killings and the threat of bombings have pushed Lebanon to the brink of total instability, writes Andrew Bossone in Beirut

Lamia Al-Hariri, the first female Syrian diplomat to defect, says that the Bashar Al-Assad regime has thrown away every opportunity to reach a diplomatic solution to the crisis

With some historical sites being turned into military barracks and others being damaged and robbed, the alarm is being raised about the need to protect Syria's cultural sites

The veteran diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi has taken over management of the international response to the Syrian crisis, but will he be able to find a political resolution

Two conferences this month showed that Washington's attempts to isolate Iran have failed, writes Eric Walberg

Gamal Nkrumah tells the tale of the life and times of Abune Paulos, the Ethiopian patriarch who passed away last week and whose legacy entailed sorting out rational mechanisms for one of Africa's most venerable and ancient Christians on surviving and getting along in a precarious brave new world

Nader Habib examines the historical development of Christianity in Ethiopia and its relationship with Egypt's Coptic Church

Egyptian intellectuals staged a protest against recent constraints on journalists in downtown Cairo, Ahmed Morsy reports

Ati Metwaly thinks about art in an age of change

Recently in Tunisia, David Tresilian reviews former first lady Leila Ben Ali's testimony, now out in Paris, and visits the idyllic village of Sidi Bou Said just outside Tunis, looking beyond the revolution as such

Egypt's athletes return to the site of the Olympics for the start of the 2012 Paralympics, Abeer Anwar reports