• International divisions leave Syria in deadlock
• Pro-Gaddafi forces in Libya take control of Bani Walid
• State of emergency lifted in Egypt
• Read the latest summary
Here is a brief summary of developments from across the region.
Syria
• Arab peace monitors will continue their work in Syria, the deputy head of the regional body said, despite the decision by Gulf Arab states (see 11.10am) to pull their monitors out of the country. Ahmed Ben Helli told reporters in Cairo the mission would "continue its task". Britain and Australia called for the security council to be briefed on Syria.
• A delegation from the Gulf Co-operation Council is to hold talks in Moscow later this week, aimed at pressing Russia to end its support for the Assad regime. A senior Russian politician said Moscow could do little more to help Assad.
• Syria's foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, has accused the Arab League of manipulating its report on Syria and defying the will of Syrian people by calling for Assad to step down. In a defiant press conference, Moualem also said a referendum on a new constitution was imminent.
• Moualem signalled that the government crackdown against protesters would continue. "It is the duty of the Syrian government to take what it sees as necessary measures to deal with those armed groups that spread chaos," he said. The LCC activist network said 40 people had died in violence- 32 of them in Homs.
Egypt
• Egypt's military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi announced that the country's state of emergency would be lifted tomorrow- except in cases of "thuggery". On the eve of the first anniversary of the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak, the move appeared designed to quell tensions.
• But his pledge did not appear to have pleased his critics, who said that the caveat made the move worthless. Human rights campaigners called on MPs to face down the unelected generals and insist on a genuine roll-back of repressive laws.
• Maikel Nabil, the Egyptian blogger who was detained for insulting the military, was freed from his Cairo jail. His brother Mark wrote on his Twitter page that Nabil, who came close to death during his time in prison and on hunger strike, was "tired" and not taking phone calls.
Iran
• Britain has warned that any attempt by Iran to block the Strait of Hormuz would be "both illegal and unsuccessful." William Hague said that, while military action was not being planned, there was "unwavering international committment" to maintaining rights of passage. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said Britain could send extra military assets to the Gulf to deter Iran from blocking tanker traffic.
Bahrain
• Human rights violations against Bahraini citizens are still occurring each day, despite assurances of reforms, according to a new report. Justice Denied in Bahrain: Freedom of Expression and Assembly Curtailed outlined different types of violations, including detention and persecution of campaigners; the arrest, murder and harassment of journalists; digital media censorship; and intimidation of lawyers.
Britain could send extra military assets to the Strait of Hormuz to deter any attempt by Iran to block Persian Gulf oil tanker traffic, the country's defense secretary has said.
AP reports that Philip Hammond said the three warships that entered the Gulf on Sunday had sent "a clear signal about the resolve of the international community to defend the right of free passage through international waters." He added:
The U.K. has a contingent capability to reinforce that presence should at any time it be considered necessary to do so.
Human rights campaigners in Egypt are calling on MPs to face down the unelected generals and insist on a genuine roll-back of repressive laws after Field Marshal Tantawi's announcement today.
The Guardian's Jack Shenker has been speaking to Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, who said:
From our perspective, the state of emergency has not been lifted. Tantawi's speech does nothing to deal with the most harmful aspect of the state of emergency which is allowing the police to retain powers to stop, search and detain anyone they suspect of being a 'thug', without having to obtain a judicial warrant.
His comments are no different from Mubarak's repeated promise to only apply the state of emergency to terrorism and drug trafficking, a promise that was routinely violated and only led to the creation of a state of exceptionality that put the police above the law.
We call on the new parliament to reject this decree and insist on nothing less than the full and immediate lifting of the state of emergency and a return to normal civilian law.
Al Jazeera is reporting that Maikel Nabil, the Egyptian blogger who was detained for insulting the military, has been freed from his Cairo jail.
More when we have it. Nabil, who came close to death several times during his months in prison, was officially pardoned on Sunday.
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi may have been hoping for a rather more enthusiastic reaction to his announcement that he was ending Egypt's 30-year emergency law (see 3.05pm.)
But the wording has stuck in the craw of many. Tantawi said the emergency law would end- except "in cases of thuggery". The question appears to be: when is a thug not a thug?
@norashalaby
Tantawi ends emergency law, except in case of "thuggery". We know what the means #NoSCAF@TheMiinz
That awkward moment when you realize you're one of the thugs Tantawi is referring to.
@hossambahgat
Tantawi's empty promise: police to retain power to stop, search and detain anyone they suspect is a "thug". More of the same.@FarahSaafan
I need a written definition of what "thuggery" is from his excellency FM Tantawi please! #TantawiSpeech@Amiralx
Tantawi to Egypt: I'll only give you your birthday present if you behave #jan25
William Hague, the foreign secretary, has been speaking in the House of Commons after the EU's introduction of sanctions against Iran.
Sanctions are a means to an end, not an end in themselves. Our objective remains a diplomatic solution that gives the world confidence that Iran's nuclear programme is for purely peaceful purposes. We are ready to talk at any point, if Iran puts aside its preconditions and returns to negotiations.
Referring to the passage of the HMS Argyll, a French vessel and a US aircraft carrier through the Strait of Hormuz at the weekend, Hague said:
This was a routine movement but it underlined the unwavering international commitment to maintaining rights of passage under international law. Any attempt by Iran to block the Strait would be both illegal and unsuccessful.We call on Iran to answer the questions raised by the International Atomic Energy Agency, to adhere to UN Security Council Resolutions, to suspend its enrichment programme, and to return to the negotiations which are the only way of reaching a peaceful and long term settlement to their dispute with the international community.
A Tory MP, Robert Halfon, asked Hague to set out what military action Britain was planning in the Strait of Hormuz, warning:
Noone wants war but tragically it is looking increasingly possible.
Hague responded that Britain was not planning on taking military action in the Gulf:
This is not a set of actions designed to lead to conflict.
The LCC activist group claims 40 people have died in violence today- 32 of them in Homs.
The report, which could not be independently verified, says 18 of the 32 died when two buildings in the Bab Tadmur neighbourhood were shelled. Four people died in Hama, it adds.
This video, posted by the LCC, claims to have been taken in Hama and to record the noise of heavy shooting and explosions. It could not be authenticated.
Bedouin tribesmen have stormed a tourist resort in the Sinai peninsula in an effort to reclaim land – the latest in a string of conflicts between the Egyptian state and local communities emboldened by the revolution.
Our colleague Jack Shenker writes that, according to Egyptian media reports, dozens of gunmen took control of Aqua-Sun, a Red Sea hotel complex boasting 2km of private beaches to the south of Taba, and were demanding 4m Egyptian pounds (£425,000) in exchange for leaving the site peacefully.
No tourists were staying in the resort at the time, and although several Egyptian security guards were taken hostage during the incident their lives are not believed to be in danger.
Disputes over land have been common in the Sinai ever since the central government embarked on a mass "Red Sea Riviera" programme of resort construction along the eastern coast in the 1990s.
Arab peace monitors will continue their work in Syria, the deputy head of the regional body said on Tuesday, despite the decision by Gulf Arab states (see 11.10am) to pull their monitors out of the country.
Ahmed Ben Helli told reporters in Cairo.
The mission will continue its task now because the protocol was temporarily extended till 24 January.
He said the Arab League, which resolved on Sunday to prolong the mission, was waiting for Syria's government to accept the extension. There were now 110 Arab monitors left in Syria after 55 Gulf Arab monitors withdrew, Ben Helli said.
Egypt's military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi has just finished addressing the nation on television, on the eve of the first anniversary of the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak.
His big announcement was that the much-criticised state of emergency in the country will be lifted from tomorrow, except in cases of "thuggery". Define thuggery how you will.
This is the latest in a series of concessions announced in the run up to the anniversary, designed to head-off support for the revolutionaries who oppose military rule.
He also thanked the military for protecting the revolution and praised the police for their actions throughout a difficult time.
New footage from Homs purports to show a girl searching for toys buried in the rubble of apartment blocks in the Bab Tadmour district of the city, after reports of shelling.
Activists claim 18 people were killed when two buildings were destroyed by army shells.
A thank-you telegram from the People's Assembly to Egypt's military leader Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi (pictured left) has caused consternation among some of the newly-elected MPs, al-Masry al-Youm reports.
It is not hard to see why when one reads the sycophantic language in the message to Tantawi, who is likely to be the focus of protests against military rule tomorrow.
It reads:
The People's Assembly commends your historic stances in the great Egyptian revolution. You have taken the side of the people and their peaceful revolution since the outbreak of the first spark of the revolution. And as brave fighters, you shouldered the burden of making this choice.
In November, Amnesty International said the Supreme Council of Armed Forces, far from taking the sides of the people, had "continued the tradition of repressive rule which the January 25 demonstrators fought so hard to get rid of".
A number of MPs objected to the language in the telegram, according to al-Masry al-Youm.
Human rights violations against Bahraini citizens are still occurring each day, despite assurances of reforms, a new report says.
Justice Denied in Bahrain: Freedom of Expression and Assembly Curtailed outlines nine different types of violations by the authorities, including detention and persecution of campaigners; the arrest, murder and harassment of journalists; digital media censorship; and intimidation of lawyers.
The group of six non-governmental organisations, that compiled the report says that expectations were raised by publication in November of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) report, which detailed a series of abuses by the security forces, including torture. Today's report says "the reality on the ground in Bahrain remains unchanged".
It has made 11 recommendations, including calls to end the harassment, imprisonment and prosecution of Bahraini citizens for what essentially amount to persecution of free expression and legitimate human rights work. It also says torture and deaths in custody should be fully investigated and that all individuals responsible for the violent crackdown, "including those at the highest levels", should be held accountable.
Marian Botsford Fraser, chair of the Writers in Prison Committee, PEN International, said:
It seems that despite the BICI report's extensive catalogue of abuses against Bahraini citizens including torture, and a clear condemnation of the culture of impunity, the government of Bahrain is intent on maintaining the status quo. We are not seeing the immediate release of prisoners. Instead there is an interminable succession of postponed trials.
The activist group, the Local Coordination Committees in Syria, claimed 24 people have been killed today. The figure includes 18 people killed from the shelling of two buildings in the Bad Tadmur area of Homs.
The report could not be independently verified.
Video from Homs today purported to show residents picking through the debris of flats destroyed in an attack.
The campaign group Avaaz estimates that 7,276 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising began last March.
It used the figure to put pressure on Russia to end its support for the Assad regime.
Ricken Patel, executive director of Avaaz, said:
Russia has been the chief arms dealer, apologist and spin doctor for Assad's brutal thugs as they murdered more than 7,000 civilians. It's time for Russia see the writing on the wall, and stop blocking security council action. The fate of the Syrian spring is hanging in the balance, and the UN must act with an arms embargo, sanctions and a referral to the ICC without delay.
The UN estimates that more than 5,000 people have been killed in the Syrian uprising, but it has not updated its figure for almost a month.
The Violation Documentation Centre, a website maintained by activists that is thought to have influenced UN estimates, currently reports 6,579 deaths.
These include 428 children and 1,325 soldiers. The Syrian government claims more than 2,000 soldiers have been killed.
Here's a summary of events so far today:
Syria
• The Arab League is to discuss ending its controversial monitoring mission to Syria after the rest of the Gulf states followed Saudi Arabia's lead by pulling out of the initiative. The league's secretary general, Nabil al-Arabi, is reported to be meeting members of the UN security council. Britain and Australia have called for the security council to be briefed on Syria.
• A delegation from the Gulf Co-operation Council is to hold talks in Moscow later this week, aimed at pressing Russia to end its support for the Assad regime. A senior Russian politician said Moscow could do little more to help Assad.
• Syria's foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, has accused the Arab League of manipulating its report on Syria and defying the will of Syrian people by calling for Assad to step down. In a defiant press conference, Moualem also said a referendum on a new constitution was imminent.
• Moualem signalled that the government crackdown against protesters will continue amid reports from activists of shooting in the central city of Hama and explosions in Khirbet Ghazala, in the south. "It is the duty of the Syrian government to take what it sees as necessary measures to deal with those armed groups that spread chaos," Moualem said.
Egypt
• Egypt's new parliament has discussed how the government can help those injured in the revolution. Meanwhile, the security forces have been deployed in numbers in Cairo in preparation for celebrations to mark the first anniversary of the uprising tomorrow.
The Arab League meeting in Cairo today will discuss whether to cancel the monitoring mission to Syria, Reuters confirms.
Saudi Arabia's Gulf allies joined Riyadh on Tuesday in pulling out of an Arab League monitoring team to Syria, risking the collapse of a mission whose presence has not halted more than 10 months of violence.
Envoys to the Cairo-based League will meet later in the day to discuss whether to call off the whole mission, Sudan's ambassador to the 22-member body said.
"The meeting of representatives today will discuss the fate of the monitoring mission, whether it continues or withdraws," the envoy, Kamal Hassan Ali, told Reuters.
Is the Arab League now searching for a plan B on Syria? The future of the league's monitoring mission is in serious doubt following the withdrawal of the Gulf states.
The secretary general, Nabil al-Arabi, is reported to be meeting members of the UN security council ahead of a possible presentation to the council later this week.
Arab League envoys have also been summoned to a meeting in Cairo, according to the Guardian's Martin Chulov.
Things moving fast on #Arab League #Syria mission. Member state envoys summonsed to Cairo HQ @1430. AL boss seeks meeting with UN.
— Martin Chulov (@martinchulov) January 24, 2012
Foreign minister Moualem's comments suggest relations between Syria and the league have reached a new low.
Happy#AL suspended #Syria membership as we don't go to meetings to hear fake reports #moualem
— Jeremy Bowen (@jfjbowen) January 24, 2012
After yesterday's procedural formalities, today is the day when Egypt's first post-Mubarak parliament gets down to business, writes Jack Shenker in Cairo.
First on its agenda is a discussion over government help for those injured in the revolution, and the families of those killed.
Akram el-Shaaer, an MP from the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party and also the father of someone wounded in the protests, has just given an emotional speech to the chamber, asking to be included in a parliamentary fact-finding mission on the subject.
This follows a late-night speech yesterday from the newly-elected speaker of the people's assembly, Saad Mohamed el-Katatni, who told his colleagues: "We will never betray our martyrs' blood ... We will not rest until the revolution achieves all of its goals."
But despite yesterday's much-vaunted arrival of institutional politics, today's news is likely to be dominated by something far more familiar to Egyptians over the past twelve months: the politics of the street. Tomorrow will be the first anniversary of the start of Egypt's revolution, and both protesters and security forces are making their final preparations ahead of what are likely to be some of the largest anti-junta demonstrations yet seen in the country.
This week, the army has been strengthening its defences at the state television building – widely known to be a rallying target for some revolutionaries tomorrow – while those less enamoured with the ruling generals are debating whether to take part in the official anniversary 'celebrations' or adopt a more combative stance towards the military government.
In the run-up to tomorrow's drama, it's worth checking out this great collection of stories from the Egyptian press on 24 January last year – less than 24 hours before national revolution erupted and Mubarak's hated police force began to be beaten off the streets.
Several of the articles that day quoted Mubarak's speech about his security apparatus, in which he said: "We will always remember the huge efforts made by police forces to fight for the security of Egypt and its people ... We remember with pride the heroism of its policemen."
Despite Monday's inauguration of Egypt's first democratic parliament, there is a pervading sense of pessimism among many of the revolutionaries who helped topple Hosni Mubarak in the uprising that began a year ago tomorrow.
Mahmoud Salem, who blogs under the moniker Sandmonkey and failed to get elected to the new parliament after being heavily involved in last year's anti-Mubarak protests, puts it bluntly on Twitter:
Dear Journalists, I have no intention to talk to anyone about the one year after jan25 story y'all wanna do. That shit is depressing.
— Mahmoud Salem (@Sandmonkey) January 24, 2012
Wael Ghonim, the Google executive whose tearful interview after being released from prison was viewed by some as a landmark moment in the protests, strikes a similar tone writing in Time:
We are trying hard to achieve the objectives of the January 25 revolution. The longer the military council remains in power, the longer we wait without success.
Politics does not reward promises, only results. The 1952 revolution is a vivid example: Ali Maher Pasha — the post-revolution appointed prime minister — promised that Egypt would have a democratic parliament to take over authority from the Revolution Leadership Council within a maximum of six months. Sixty years have passed, and his promise has yet to be fulfilled. Egyptians are still waiting.
Bloomberg's Mariam Fam also has a bleak assessment of the picture for revolutionaries a year on:
At street level, Mohamed Wasfy, a 24-year-old engineer, is among the activists who are urging people in the upscale Cairo suburb to attend rallies against military rule planned for tomorrow's anniversary of the uprising against Hosni Mubarak.
Wasfy is hobbling, leaning on a walking stick, and says he was shot in the leg during clashes between troops and protesters last month. "This is the only achievement of the last year of revolution," he says. "We get fired at, and are not afraid to continue to protest. We're ready to get shot again and again."
The verdict reflects the frustrations and setbacks for Egypt's youthful activists since their leaderless uprising ended Mubarak's three-decade reign within 18 days.
Since then, the transition to democracy in the Arab world's most populous country, a key US ally, has been punctuated by violence that has delayed economic recovery as tourists and investors stayed away and currency reserves plunged.
Egypt's secular activists suffered defeat at the ballot box, where the parties they backed trailed Islamist groups who took almost three-quarters of the seats in the parliament that held its first meeting yesterday.
Protesters also came under fire in and around Tahrir Square, where dozens have been killed, mostly in the past three months. They accuse the generals who took over from Mubarak of using similar tactics to stifle dissent, and of seeking to cling to power behind a drawn-out and vague timeline for the return to civilian rule.
The BBC's Jeremy Bowen, in Damascus, tweets more defiant snippets from Moualem's press conference, including a claim that army casualties tripled during the monitoring visit.
#syria army casualties tripled since arrival #AL observers says #Moualem
— Jeremy Bowen (@jfjbowen) January 24, 2012
No one can doubt strength of #syria relationship with #Russia says #moualem
— Jeremy Bowen (@jfjbowen) January 24, 2012
#Saudis pulled out observers maybe as frightened their own people wll learn truth #moualem #syria
— Jeremy Bowen (@jfjbowen) January 24, 2012
Moualem accused the Arab League of submitting "politicised" demands on the future of Syria that it knew in advance would not be accepted.
"This is bluntly and utterly an interference in the sovereignty in our domestic affairs," he said.
He said the league's recommendations were hypocritical, adding: "A blind man can't judge colours. They have been attempting to shape a future for Syria, removed from the will of the Syrian people."
Syria's foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, is giving a defiant press conference on the Arab League monitoring mission.
He described the league's call for the involvement of the United Nation as a "provocation to bring in the international community" and another phase in the "conspiracy" against Syria.
Moualem said it showed the Arab League was not qualified to monitor the situation in Syria. Nevertheless, he highlighted points in the Arab League's report that favoured the Syrian government's narrative about the crisis. He said it confirmed the presence of armed gangs and that the Free Syrian Army had killed the French journalist Gilles Jacquier in an attack in Homs earlier this month.
Moualem insisted Syria had implemented its agreement with the Arab League but the report had been "manipulated" to hide this.
It points out that the bloc is comprised more than half of the 11-nation Arab monitoring mission, and that its exit "could expand rifts" among Arab states about how to deal with Syria.
The Guardian's Middle East editor, Ian Black, recently spent 10 days reporting in Syria in a rare visit to a country that has, in effect, been closed to foreign journalists for nearly a year.
Ian will be online here from 12 noon to 1pm GMT to answer your questions on the Syria crisis and the challenges of reporting from a closed and increasingly divided country.
The international criminal court is keen to know more about the conditions under which Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is being held in Libya. Will this image of him, circulating today, reassure the court?
Saif looks have a good company in Zintan, is he going to be handed to the Government ever? twitter.com/aneselsharif/s…
— Anes Alsharif (@aneselsharif) January 24, 2012
Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, has confirmed reports of calls for a Syria briefing at the UN.
Britain and Australia called today for UN Security Council to be briefed by #ArabLeague on #Syria
— William Hague (@WilliamJHague) January 24, 2012
Meanwhile, the secretary general of the Arab League, Nabil al-Arabi – who is expected to co-present that UN briefing – has written to Syria's foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem.
He called for urgent dialogue with the opposition, according al-Jazeera's Cairo based reporter Rawya Rageh.
Reports that Bani Walid has been taken by pro-Gaddafi fighters are not true, according to Aziz Daw, a British based dentist who comes from the town and is in regular contact with relatives there.
In phone interview, Aziz blamed the reports on propaganda from local National Transitional Council official Mohammed Bashir. He said fighting broke out between rival militias the 93 brigade and the May 28 brigade.
Aziz said there is frustration at the way the new authorities have run Bani Walid. The NTC is failing to reconcile differences in Libya, he added.
There has a been a flurry of diplomatic activity over Syria: Here's a roundup:
• Western members of the UN security council met "like-minded" ambassadors from the Arab League to seek a briefing in the security council, the Kuwait News Agency reports. The planned briefing would be made by the Arab League secretary general, Nabil al-Arabi, and Qatar's Hamad bin Jassem.
• A senior Russian politician said Moscow could do little more to support President Assad, Reuters reports. Mikhail Margelov said Russia's veto last year, alongside China, of a western-drafted security council resolution condemning Assad's crackdown on months of protests was the "last instrument" Russia could use to support him. "This veto has exhausted our arsenal of such resources," Margelov was quoted as saying by the Itar-Tass news agency.
• Gulf states are expected to follow Saudi Arabia's lead by withdrawing their observers from Syria, AFP reports. The Gulf Cooperation Council states that it will also take part in a high-level Arab delegation that will visit Russia to press Moscow to end its support for Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Welcome to Middle East Live. Syria's foreign minister , Walid al-Moualem, is expected to respond to Arab League demands for a national unity government at a press conference today.
Here are the latest developments and analysis:
Syria
• The hamstrung UN security council has been handed the task of trying to find a solution to the crisis in Syria after the Arab League asked it to approve its demand for Bashar al-Assad to form a unity government, the Telegraph reports. The Assad regime showed no sign of compromise, despite strongly worded condemnation from the league.
• Divisions in the Arab League and UN mean there is no foreseeable prospect of change in Syria, argues Joshua Landis, the director of the Centre for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma.
Assad remains confident that he can contain, if not beat, the opposition. The UN is as divided over Syria, as is the Arab League. No country is eager to lead a military intervention in Syria. Syria has become a hot potato. International organisations are turning to each other, drawing a long face of horror over the Syrian situation and saying: "Do something. You first."
• Similiarly, the BBC's Jim Muir says there is no end in sight to the crisis:
There is no visible way towards a resolution of the struggle between a regime determined to cling to power and a revolt that long ago passed the point of no return ...
Barring an unpredictable collapse or an internal coup of some kind, the regime seems to have enough hard-core support – and the determination – to defend its grip on power for months to come, if not longer.
• The Arab League richly deserves its reputation of being a consensus-based organisation that can never reach a consensus, a Guardian editorial says. But its proposals for Assad to handover power to a national unity government have significant support, it adds.
• Protesters and military defectors are growing more visible and defiant according to the dissident blogger Ammar Abdulhamid. In his latest post, he points out that more troops have declared their allegiance to the opposition in new defection videos from Rastan, in the central Homs province, Deir Ezzor, in the east, and Idlib in the north-west.
Meanwhile, in Douma, near the capital, Damascus, the Free Syrian Army provided protection at a funeral that became the focus for a large protest on Monday.
Libya
Reports said at least four people were killed during clashes between besieged forces loyal to the ruling National Transitional Council and armed and well-organised supporters of Gaddafi.
Iran
Tehran threatened to respond by closing the strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of global oil supplies pass, while a senior US official vowed that the west could use force to keep the route open."If any disruption happens regarding the sale of Iranian oil, the strait of Hormuz will definitely be closed," Mohammad Kossari, the deputy head of the Iranian parliament's foreign affairs and national security committee, warned.
Egypt
The divide between those who view Egypt's new parliament as the triumphant fruit of the past year's political upheaval, and those who see it as a hallmark of the revolution's downfall, is deep and messy.
The latter represent the parliament as a weapon designed to subdue the street by creating the facade of democracy, even as political elites dig in their heels and dissent is brutally crushed by the security forces.
Many are merely hoping that these MPs can do something to alleviate the many urgent social and economic problems that festered during 30 years of Mubarak stagnation. With parliament's powers highly constrained under the temporary constitution, and with its members hardly representative of the people who elected them – less than 2% of seats will be taken up by women – the gap between hopes and achievements looks set to be vast.
The near complete wipeout of former regime, ex-NDP candidates the fullul doesn't get nearly enough attention. Before the elections, most people expected the parliament to be split between the Muslim Brotherhood and rebranded former regime elements.
Instead, the fullul lost badly despite lavish spending and well-organised campaigns. Their failure should be seen as a major accomplishment of the revolution, and a vindication of the rejection of the old regime by the vast majority of the Egyptian population. The fact is that there is now a popularly elected parliament, recognised as legitimate by the Scaf, which is almost completely devoid of figures from the old NDP elite. That's an amazing achievement.
• The US ambassador to Egypt, Anne Patterson, has acknowledged the power of the Muslim Brotherhood in the new parliament by meeting the General Guide of the organisation, Muhammad Badie. It is the first official meeting of its kind, according to the Arabist. The US had previously avoided meeting any senior Muslim Brothers unless they were elected MPs.
Bahrain
• The Bahraini government claims it has intervened in a dispute involving 20 former employees at the Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit who were among 1,600 sacked for taking part in anti-government protests, the BBC reports. The group refused to return to work under new contracts that would have forced them to drop cases for unfair dismissal.