1605 GMT: Palestine. Voters will be registered in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip from next month, paving the way for elections aimed at reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah.
Hamas had barred the Palestinian Central Election Commission from Gaza, accusing the body of bias in favor of the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority which rules the West Bank.
Following Egyptian-brokered talks, the two factions agreed to registration as the first step towards national Parliamentary and Presidential polls leading to a unity government.
1220 GMT: Egypt. The death toll since Friday has risen to at lest 54 following the deaths of two men, Ahmed Saad Eldin and Reda El-Refai, who were shot in amidst protests in Tahrir Square, Cairo.
1205 GMT: Niger. Following a request on Monday from Bisa Williams, US Ambassador, Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou has agreed to US serveillance drones being deployed in the country.
The West African state is keen to have closer security ties with the US in order to improve intelligence on Al-Qaeda insurgents in the region. THe US already has drones as well as other surveillance operations across several African states.1150 GMT: Gaza. After being detained for nearly a week by Hamas, four journalists have been released today following public outcry.
The journalists are Munir Al-Manirawi, executive director of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate; Mustafa Miqdad, chief editor in the Palestinian Media Group; Ashraf Abu Khsewan, a journalist with the Alkitab Channel and Jumaa Adnan Abu Shumer, a reporter for Sawt al-Huriyya.Concerns are still present about the lvel of press freedom in the region. The Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate had planned to hold a conference on the issue but cancelled after learning that the releases would be made.
1130 GMT: Israel Watch. Israel will give Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's administration around $100 million in tax revenues that had been withheld in retaliation for his statehood bid in the United Nations, Israeli officials said on Wednesday.
They described the handover as a one-time deal, signaling rightist Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had not formally scrapped sanctions that have hurt the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank and worried world powers.
1007 GMT: Egypt Arrests. Egyptian Prosecutor-General Talaat Abdallah has called for the arrest all members of the "Black Bloc" group on Tuesday following their involvement in recent anti-government demonstrations.
The Black Bloc, an anarchist faction which reportedly has about 100 members, emerged during Friday's violence on the second anniversary of the uprising against the Mubarak regime.
In a political move, the complaint prompting Abdallah's announcement linked the group to Hamdeen Sabbahi, a Presidential candidate last June and a leading member of the opposition National Salvation Front, as well as his campaign coordinator Sherif Ashraf and media personalities.
1000 GMT: Mali. Back from an academic break to find reports that French troops, airdropped in earlier this morning, now control Kidal airport in northern Mali.
The town of Kidal is the only one now held by insurgents after they withdrew from other towns, including Timbuktu and Gao, in the face of a rapid two-week advance by French and Malian Government forces.
0710 GMT: Egypt. We begin with Tuesday's pointed warning from the Minister of Defense and head of the armed forces, Abdel Fattah al-Sissi --- made in a speech to students at a military academy and then posted on Facebook --- "The continuing conflict between political forces and their differences concerning the management of the country could lead to a collapse of the state and threaten future generations."
Al-Sissi continued that failure to resolve the situation "could lead to grave repercussions if the political forces do not act".
Now the questions, after five days of clashes in which at least 52 people --- most of them civilians shot by security forces --- have died....
If this is a warning to opposition parties about their refusal to enter a dialogue, as offered by President Morsi, what steps follow if they do not change their position?
If this is a warning to the Government to get a grip on the situation, what happens if it fails to do so?