Slideshows

Spectacular displays of an assortment of firework displays welcoming in the New Year of 2012.

As the year comes to close, many are relieved that a year of stormy clouds and unabated anger is behind us. Things can only get better or is there still worse to come? In 2011, it turned out that we could not forecast the range of violent weather, nor could we predict the rage of people. From the Gulf to the Caucuses, and from the USA to Japan the world felt pain in 2011.

A reminder in brief of the tumultuous news schedule of the year passed. 2011 saw news churned out globally at such a rate that had viewers transfixed to their TV screens, computers and phones for constant updates. In no order of importance or calendar chronology, Al Bawaba offers you its very own review in montage of the year in two parts.

Christmas is observed in some Middle Eastern countries, by local peoples as well as by expatriates. How do these some 10 million Christian 'Arabs' living in the Middle East mark Christmas, with most living in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine? Christmas visits smaller Arab Christian populations in Jordan, Iraq, and even some of the Gulf states.

Christians in Egypt are complaining of the after-effects of the Arab Spring. What exactly is their gripe with Egypt's crusade for change? In amongst all the cacophony of revolution, uprising and protest and the vying for change in the Arab world, there is another story that has at times been neglected. The predicament of the Coptic Christians of Egypt has perhaps been overlooked leading up to Christmas for the Eastern Church. Has the Coptic protest that stole the headlines of October-November been drowned out by global uprisings?

2011 was the year the political news stole the limelight from the Arab World's celebrities and stars. Revolutions were the fodder for the people's entertainment, where once the pop songs and soap operas had been their daily bread. A highlight of the year's drama for the celebrity camp, in a star-studded line-up.

The relationship of Arab and Persian can be summarized as one of antagonistic alternating bouts of best of friends with worst of neighbors!

Islamic guide to vegetable shopping - what's in and what's in the bin, according to a Muslim cleric banning women from touching sexy or penis-shaped vegetables.

For Shia Muslims, Ashura is a solemn day of mourning the martyrdom of Imam Hussein in 680 AD at Karbala in modern-day Iraq.

Who did the Egyptian actors and musical artists vote for in the first round of parliamentary elections, embarked on last week? Separating the anti-Islamist vote from the rest of the celebrity voices.