Reports from Washington indicating major changes in US global military strategy may be on the cards have put the GCC states on their mettle, as the status of the ‘special relationship’ the six enjoy with the US is called into question. Ed Blanche reports.

• Occupied Territories suffer financial strangulation
• Cautious progress in Amman
• A widening conflict
• Al Khobar bombing: The search continues
• Unpicking the tangled skein of Israeli party politics

• Qatar’s Dolphin project takes off
• The Middle East stock markets in 2001 and beyond
• No early reprieve for the Turkish economy
• Powerful US trade lobby urges an end to Iran sanctions
• End of the line for Baku-Ceyan?
• The $ multi-million scandal of the crumbling sphinx
• OPEC maintains firm resolve

• A facelift for Egypt’s sacred sites
• A woman for all seasons
• Money money money
• Hossam Hassan breaks record