Tunisia saw momentous changes in 2011, including the landslide win of the Ennahda Movement in the country's first democratic election. Expectations are high for what the party can achieve in 2012.

The continued closure of the Algerian-Moroccan border is a "great loss" to the Maghreb, former Algerian Foreign Minister Lakhdar Brahimi said last week. He appealed for re-opening the frontier, closed in 1994, insisting that there cannot be a united Maghreb without improved relations between the two nations.

"The Algerian government is trying to block the ongoing democratic process in the Maghreb region," First Secretary of the opposition Socialist Forces Front party (FSS), Karim Tabbou, said.

It came as a surprise to many when the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) extended an invitation to Jordan and Morocco to join the alliance. During the GCC summit in Riyadh in May 2011, the council offered membership to the other two Arab monarchies. In recent years, Amman had already tried to join the GCC, and Rabat reacted to the invitation with positive acknowledgement. 

Suspended FIFA vice-president Jack Warner leaked an email from the organisation's general secretary claiming Qatar "bought" the rights to host the 2022 World Cup, deepening the football federation’s corruption scandal. Qatar denies the allegation.

Saudi authorities have released a female activist who was held for 10 days after challenging the country's ban on women driving and encouraging others to follow suit, a lawyer and activists said.