Violent anti-government protests in Iran left at least eight people dead (see box on this page). Opposition figures arrested the following day included aides to the opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and the former president Mohammad Khatami.

At least ten Afghan civilians were killed in military operations by international forces in the east of the country on 27 December. Reports indicate that children were among the casualties. President Karzai says the government will investigate.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was charged with attempting to blow up a flight bound for Detroit on Christmas Day with explosives hidden in his clothes. The son of a prominent Nigerian banker, he was found to have been on a UK watch-list before the event.

In Karachi, Pakistan, a bomb detonated during a Shia Muslim procession on 28 December killed at least 25 people. In the preceding days several attacks had been made on processions marking the Shia holy month of Ashura.

Thailand began deporting thousands of ethnic Hmong people to Laos, despite objections from the UN. The Hmong face persecution in Laos, but Thailand views them as economic migrants.

Israel announced plans to build 700 new homes in East Jerusalem. The EU said it was "dismayed" by the move. The Palestinians have refused to resume peace talks without a complete halt to building in the West Bank.

Vladimir Putin opened a new oil route between Russia and Asia, giving Russia access to new, non-European clients. Meanwhile energy supplies to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary may be disrupted by a price dispute between Russia and Ukraine,
the Slovak government said.

Clashes in northern Nigeria on 28 December between government forces and suspected members of an Islamic sect killed at least 20 people. Fighting began after open-air preaching, a banned activity, by the Kala-Kato sect in Bauchi. Hundreds were killed after an uprising by another
sect in early 2009.

An alleged assassination plot against the Turkish deputy prime minister, Bulent Arinc, led to the arrest of eight Turkish soldiers on Christmas Day. The government has its roots in political Islam, while the army is deeply secular. Earlier this year, dozens of people went on trial in Turkey accused of plotting to overthrow the government.

Direct flights from Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, to Russia are to resume on 6 January. They will be the first since the conflict between the two countries in 2008.

UN sanctions were imposed on Eritrea from 23 December - the first country to be affected since Iran in 2006. The UN is concerned by the flow of arms into neighbouring Somalia, where insurgents control most
of the country. Eritrea denied involvement in arming militants.

Latin America's first gay marriage took place in Argentina between Alejandro Freyre and Jose Maria Di Bello. Gay marriage is still illegal there, but the governor of Tierra del Fuego issued a special decree owing the couple, who are both HIV-positive, to wed.
Malawi also witnessed its first gay wedding, between Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza. Homosexuality however remains illegal and carries a maximum imprisonment term of 14 years.

The Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was jailed for 11 years for "subversion" on 25 December . He has been in jail since 2008, after helping to draft Charter 08, a petition calling for democratic reforms including an end to one-party rule. The US, UN, EU and human rights groups have spoken out about his sentence.

Hundreds of freedom marchers trying to march into Gaza began a hunger strike after Egypt refused to let them cross the border. The protest marks the first anniversary of the Israeli strikes on Gaza.