RIGHTS-IRAN: Journalist Gets the Kafka Treatment

In a continued effort to suppress reform-minded critics, the Iranian government has sentenced yet another prominent journalist, Ali Farahbakhsh, to three years in jail and slapped him with a huge fine, partly due to a typo in the court documents.

EGYPT: Democracy Declared, Not Practised

In a victory for the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) of President Hosni Mubarak, amendments to 34 articles of the constitution were approved last week in a national referendum. While Mubarak described the vote as "a critical step towards the flowering of democracy", opposition groups and observers pointed out numerous voting irregularities, and decried the absence of judicial oversight.

MEDIA: Freedom Fight Against ‘Freedom Champions’

The al-Jazeera television network could be emerging as a freedom champion against U.S. pressures on the channel, leading media figures say.

EGYPT: Alleged POW Killings Spark Diplomatic Row

Another diplomatic row has erupted between Cairo and Tel Aviv after a documentary film aired on Israeli television in February claimed that Israeli forces had executed hundreds of unarmed Egyptian prisoners of war (POWs) in the wake of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

IRAQ: Fallujah Fears a ‘Genocidal Strategy’

Iraqis in the volatile al-Anbar province west of Baghdad are reporting regular killings carried out by U.S. forces that many believe are part of a 'genocidal' strategy.

IRAQ: One Picture Sits Over Differing Surveys

The two surveys, one following the other, told quite different stories about Iraq. But Iraqis did not need to look at either to know what their own story is like.

WORLD WATER DAY: Nile Bounty Not Enough to Supply Egypt

Over the course of the 1990s, grave warnings were occasionally aired about the role of water in Middle Eastern power politics. In 1991, former Egyptian foreign minister Boutros Boutros- Ghali, shortly before he was appointed UN secretary-general, ominously predicted that "the next war in the region will be over water."

IRAQ: Environmental Nightmare Drags On

Four years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and despite 22 billion dollars spent on recovery and reconstruction, Iraq's environment remains in disastrous shape.

EGYPT: Constitutional Position of Islam Questioned

Another constitutional debate has erupted this month after a number of academics and rights activists called for the amendment of Article 2 of the national charter that defines a role for Islam.

MIDEAST: United But Still Isolated

Palestinian leaders heaved a sigh of relief over the weekend when the formation of the long- awaited Hamas-Fatah national unity government finally became a reality. The unity coalition, they hope, will extinguish factional violence in the Gaza Strip that has claimed the lives of over 100 Palestinians in recent months.

IRAQ: Young Women Find Peace as Guerrillas

Saria, 20, is a bright and lovely young lady, and she has found peace in her life as a guerrilla.

EGYPT: Persecuted Islamists Pledge Peace

This month has seen the detention of numerous members of the banned but tolerated Muslim Brotherhood movement, in a continuation of the ongoing arrest campaign targeting the Islamist opposition.

IRAQ: Give Us Some Real Political Leaders

Many Iraqis are now looking to local political leadership to fill wide gaps in a fractured government that is failing to provide security and basic needs.

IRAQ: Security Meet Ends, Insecurity Does Not

The security conference held last Saturday in Baghdad produced statements, drew mortar fire, and brought little hope of security.

IRAQ: Kurds Fear a New War

The fragile quiet in this no-man's-land is broken by a young fighter shooting into the air at a regular morning ceremony to "commemorate martyrs".

EGYPT: Govt Challenged over Israeli Action at Mosque

In a rare show of unity, parties from across the political spectrum have condemned reported Israeli violations against Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque. They have warned of "dire consequences" if the site - the third holiest in Islam - were to be damaged.

IRAQ: Outrage over Imminent Execution of Iraqi Women

Three young women accused of joining the Iraqi insurgency movement and engaging in "terrorism" have been sentenced to death, provoking protest from rights organisations fearing that this could be the start of more executions of women in post-Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

IRAQ: Rape Cases Emerge From the Shadows

Reports of the gang-rape of 20-year-old Sabrine al-Janabi by three policemen has set off new demands for justice from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government.

EGYPT: Traditional Influence Begins to Decline

The Mecca Agreement was hailed throughout the Arab world earlier this month for putting an end to Palestinian infighting, which had claimed scores of lives. But some local analysts see the deal - which was sponsored by Egypt's diplomatic rival Saudi Arabia - as an indication of Cairo's waning influence as the principal mediator in inter-Palestinian disputes.

YEMEN: Anti-U.S. Group Battles Government

Militants from a major Shia group within Yemen have stepped up a fight against the government over recent weeks. The group opposes what it sees as policies supportive of the United States and Israel.

IRAQ: Sparks Rise From a Time Bomb

The security situation in Iraq's northern oil rich-city Kirkuk has deteriorated over the past few weeks as a constitutional deadline approaches to determine the fate of the city.