News stories by Mohammed Omer, page 3

Arab cinema, which had a promising presence at international film festivals during the 1990s, may now be going through a declining phase for lack of patronage.

'We fast a long time,' says Gaza graduate Mona Ismail, 23. 'Only to break our fast on a piece of onion.'

Call it that choice between looking at the half-full or half-empty part of the results. And it is almost half; 55 percent of schoolchildren passed their exams in Gaza this year.

Mohammed Al-Sheikh Yousef could save his eyesight if only he could cross the border out of Gaza. He was denied a permit by Israel; he got one from Egypt, but not for someone to accompany him. And he can't go on his own because he cannot see very well.