EGYPT: Opposition Parties Tripped Up

With a recent gunfight at an opposition party headquarters and a series of arrests of Muslim Brotherhood members, the state of the Egyptian opposition has seldom been more uncertain.

DEATH PENALTY: Capital Punishment in Iraq Seen Simply As Death Not Justice

The execution of 13 suspected insurgents in March marked a revival of the death penalty in Iraq - and sparked a debate among Iraqis about whether capital punishment should be written into the laws of a modern society.

MIDEAST: New Message Across an Old Divide

Israel's security barrier designed to shut out terrorists cuts through the schoolyard of Anata Secondary School north of Jerusalem. Now the wall looks somewhat different.

IRAQ: Violence Driving People Out

Tens of thousands have fled their homes or the country since the bombing of the Shia shrine in Samarra Feb. 23.

MIDEAST: Sometimes There Is Home

Six Israeli soldiers kept watch over Zal Abu Dahuk's home from a distance.

MOROCCO: New Gender Law Upsets Everyone

A new family law intended to promote the rights of women seems to have pleased neither men nor women.

MIDEAST: Nowhere to Go for Palestinian Betrayers

Media reports labeled Rashid Abu Shabak the 'collaborator hunter' when he took over the Palestinian Authority's security forces last year. He had arrested more than 100 Palestinians suspected of supplying intelligence to Israel. Many of those caught were illegally jailed, and executed.

MIDEAST: Jostling Begins For New Israeli Government

Fresh after winning the most votes in last week's general election, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima party now faces the challenging task of forming a coalition willing to implement policies as far reaching as setting the country's borders to addressing socio-economic problems.

IRAQ: World Demonstrations Strengthen Iraqis

Three years after the occupation, calls for unity in fighting it are gaining ground across Iraq.

MIDEAST: First Displaced, Then Attacked

Abed Zatari still sports a black bruise on his forehead from an attack he suffered 10 days ago - the kind of account that has become all too common in this West Bank city.

MIDEAST: Winning Easier Than Governing

The new militant government of the Palestinian people failed to entice opposition parties to join a coalition, a fact many predict will make it hard for Hamas to govern.

MIDEAST: Sharon’s Successor Comes In From the Shadows

After months of flattering opinion polls, the first sign of nerves was beginning to show in the camp of acting Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert. In the space of a month, his front-running Kadima (Forward) party had lost 15 percent support, and the acting prime minister's popularity had also dived in the polls in the wake of a series of unflattering articles.

MIDEAST: Hamas Followed a Long Road to the Top

Hamas's win in the January elections in the Palestinian territories was not just the result of a national uprising against the former Fatah government's ineffectiveness, but came on the back of a long history of serving a suffering population.

IRAN: Crackdown Won’t Stop Women’s Movement, Activists Vow

Despite suffering under some of the most draconian laws in the world, Iranian women remain at the forefront of the battle for equality and democracy, as shown by their courage on International Women's Day last week, Iranian women's rights advocates here say.

UAE: Ports Row May Divert Arab Investments From US

Although the Dubai-based DP World has withdrawn its bid to manage key ports in the United States, questions linger as to what prompted Congress resistance to the deal- genuine security concerns, protectionism, Islamophobia or domestic politics.

IRAQ: Withdrawal May Not Mean Liberation

Talk of withdrawal has been dogging the administrations of the United States and Britain for months. Recently the Sunday Telegraph in Australia and the Daily Mirror in Britain ran reports quoting a senior British official that the two countries will withdraw by 2007.

MIDEAST: Life Gets Harder in the ‘Prison’

The overcrowded Gaza Strip has routinely been described as a big prison following the onset of the second Palestinian rising, the Intifadah, six years ago and the virtual closing of crossing points to and from Israel.

IRAQ: No Day Is a Woman’s Day

The unrest in the wake of Iraq's failure to form a new government is making life particularly difficult for women.

MIDEAST: Many Arab Israelis May Not Vote

Many Arab Israelis have said they will not vote in this month's elections, political indifference that some say underscores the community's feelings of marginalisation.

UAE: Hiccups as Nationals Replace Expatriate Workers

A policy of replacing expatriate workers with nationals in key jobs is now well underway with the United Arab Emirates government compelling all major companies to hire only citizens as public relations officers (PROs) or cease business.

INT’L WOMEN’S DAY: Conflict Only Makes It Worse

The overriding obstacle that Arab women cite in their fight for freedom and equal rights in the Palestinian territories is the continuing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.