Dubai-based airline Emirates announced an order of 30 Boeing 777 passenger jets, a deal worth $9.1 billion. The announcement comes just a month after the company placed a record $11.5 billion order for 32 Airbus A380 super-jumbos.

An internal Israeli military investigation concluded that “mistakes were made…at a relatively senior level” during the raid of the ‘Gaza flotilla’ in late May.

Nakheel, a property developer owned by Dubai World, met with creditors in an attempt to renegotiate its $10.5 bn in bank debt. Dubai World caused a scare on the financial markets last November after announcing a freeze on debt repayments.

Dubai World reached an agreement with its creditors to restructure $23.5 billion of debt. It emphasised that government support was no longer required. The state-owned conglomerate scared markets last November when it requested a six-month standstill on debt repayments.

Saudi forces announced the arrest of 113 people suspected of having ties to Al-Qaeda.

The foreign secretary of Britain denounced the Israeli secret service Mossad for forging passports in the name of 12 British citizens for an operation targeting the execution of an Hamas official in Dubai.

Barack Obama received Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in the White House, in a period of a chilled relationship between the USA and Israel. Obama is said to be hardening his stance on recent Israeli settlement pushes in the East Jerusalem.

US-Syrian diplomatic relations are being restored as the US nominated its first ambassador to Syria in five years.

An parliamentary panel in Iraq recommended that some 500 candidates should not be allowed to participate in a general election due in March, due to alleged past ties to the Baath party. Sectarian tensions resulted.

It was leaked that Abu Dhabi’s bailout of (Dubai) state-backed Dubai World was only half of the USD 10bn which was previously reported, as USD 5bn was a prior credit commitment. The announcement fueled fears about Dubai’s rescue.

A suicide bomber from Jordan operating as a CIA double-agent killed seven American CIA men and a Jordanian intelligence officer at a base in Khost (Afghanistan). The bomber was a trusted double-agent whose task it was to track down Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Al-Qaeda’s number two.

The Burj Khalifa Tower was officially opened in Dubai. Standing at 828 meters, the tower is the world’s tallest building and cost USD 1.5 billion to build. The ceremony came at a time of financial difficulty for Dubai, only having received a USD 10bn bailout from (neighbouring emirate) Abu Dhabi a few weeks ago for state-backed Dubai World.

A series of bombings targeting government buildings in Baghdad killed at least 120 people. An Al-Qaeda or Baathist group is believed to be behind the attacks, in an attempt to destabilise Iraq in the run-up to a general election in early March. An election law had been ratified two days prior to the bombings. The December attacks follow November’s lowest violent-death toll (88) since the American invasion in 2003.

Three people have died in an explosion at a petrol station in Damascus, capital of Syria. The Syrian interior minister ruled out a terrorist attack, and said the tyre of the bus exploded as it was being pumped. The bus was carrying Iranian pilgrims visiting the Sayyida Zeinab shrine for Shia Muslims.

Dubai World outlined its plans to restructure $26bn in debt, following last week’s request for a six-month delay on debt payments. The issue raised fears in the Gulf region and hit global stockmarkets. Abu Dhabi, Dubai’s Emirate neighbour, was reluctant to intervene immediately with a bail-out, and said to review situations on per-case basis.

In order to revive peace negotiations with the Palestinians, Benjamin Netanjahu, prime minister of Israel, offered to put a hold on building settlements in the West Bank for a period of ten months. To the dismay of the Palestinians, the offers excluded East Jerusalem, existing settlements and settlements already under construction.

The parliament of Jordan was dissolved halfway its 4-year term by King Abdullah, following tensions between the government and Islamist opposition.

A row erupted between supporters of the Egyptian and Algerian football teams, following a victory by Algeria. Both sides accuse each other of violent attacks. Dozens were hurt in Egypt, Algeria and Sudan. The Arab League has asked President Ghaddafi of Libya to mediate in the conflict.