Egypt’s three-stage general election drew to a close with a final run-off to occur on January 11th. The relatively moderate Muslim Brotherhood is expected to gain most votes, though have indicated to prefer a coalition with secular parties rather than the extreme Salafists.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met in Jordan and had their first talks for more than a year.

Palestine was admitted as a full member of UNESCO when the General Assembly voted by 107 votes to 14. The United States and Israel said they would stop their contributions.

Libya’s transitional council voted Abdurrahim al-Keib to be the country’s prime minister. He will head an interim government that is set to rule at least until elections to a constituent assembly next summer.

Dozens of people were killed in Yemen during protests against President Saleh. Though he has promised to step down, he showed no sign of actually doing so.

More than 20 people were killed as protests broke out in the Syrian city of Homs. According to the UN, over 3,000 people have been killed since the Syrian unrests began in March.

Israeli solider Gilad Shalit, who had been held captive for more than five years by Hamas, was freed in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian soliders.

Israel went ahead with plans to build another 1,100 homes in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians see as their future capital.

Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh unexpectedly returned home, promising to arrange an orderly handover of power.

Forces fighting for Libya’s new government tightened their grip around Bani Walid and Sirte, the last two strongholds under Colonel Qaddafi’s control. The port of Sirte was said to be in the hands of rebel forces.

Yemeni capital Sana’a experienced three days of fighting between government forces and deserters calling for the resignation of President Saleh, who has been recuperating in Saudi Arabia following a bomb attack on his life in June. The battle left at least 70 people dead, most of them anti-government protesters.

The Palestinians seemed set to bid for full statehood at the United Nations to the consternation of Israel and the United States, which was sure to veto the application in the Security Council.

Tunisia’s ousted president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, and his wife were sentenced in absentia to 35 years for corruption and fined US$ 66m.

Dozens of Al-Qaeda members escaped from a prison in the port city of Mukalla in Yemen.

In Bahrain, eight pro-democracy campaigners, all Shias, were given life sentences for “plotting to overthrow the government”.

A series of bombings in Iraq killed at least 35 people, predominantly in Diwaniya, south of Baghdad. The attacks were presumed to have been carried out by Sunni extremists linked to Al-Qaeda.

Mahmoud Abbas and Khaled Meshal, leaders of respectively Fatah and Hamas, cancelled a meeting at which they were meant to select a prime minister. The news came as a blow to Palestinian hopes of unity.

NATO ramped up its air attacks on Tripoli, capital of Libya, and deployed Apache attack helicopters.

Prosecutors in Egypt announced that former president Hosni Mubarak and his two sons would be tried on a series of chargers including murder.

Scores of Yemenis were killed in clashes with security forces as President Ali Abdullah Saleh continued to reject a deal which would require him to leave office within 30 days.

Shokri Ghanem, oil minister of Libya, was reported to have defected. He is the highest-ranking official to abandon Colonel Qaddafi since the foreign minister fled in March.

Yemen’s government and an opposition coalition came close to striking a deal that would end the three-month long crisis. Under the plan, brokered by the GCC, President Saleh would step down within 30 days and a unity government would be formed.

Nabil el-Araby, Egypt’s foreign minister, was elected secretary-general of the Arab League, thereby replacing his fellow countryman Amr Moussa.

Fatah and Hamas, the two biggest Palestinian parties, signed an agreement to back a government of national unity.

The government of Syria continued to crack down on protesters and political opponents. Tanks were sent into restive cities across the country. The total death tally now stands at more than 600 since the protests began.

Saif Al-Arab, one of Colonel Qaddafi’s sons, was killed in a NATO airstrike in the Libyan capital Tripoli.

A bomb left at a bus stop in Jerusalem killed one British tourist and injured 30 people. It was the first such attack the city for more than six years. The bomb came after Israeli jets launched air raids in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for rockets being fired into Israel by Palestinian militants.

The death toll from the crackdown by Bahrain’s security forces rose to 18. Protesters continue to demand reform.

Three-quarters of Egyptian voters endorsed a batch of constituional amendments in a national referendum. The move paves the way for a general and presidential election in June and September respectively.

Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh promised to step down by the end of the year after snipers killed at least 50 protesters in Sana’a. Several of his closest military and tribal allies have turned against the president in recent days.