End of the Year Quiz

As the year draws to a close, here is your chance to test how well you have been following world events throughout 2011.  There is one question for each month of the year (although they are not posed in chronological order).  The first letter of each answer, according to the numerical responses, will spell out my 2012 greeting to you.

1. What is the forename of the Egyptian President, Mubarak, who resigned on February 11^th, following widespread protests calling for his departure, thereby leaving Egypt under control of the military (until a general election can be held), as part of the so-called “Arab Spring”?
2. What was the name of NASA’s last Space Shuttle, which returned to Earth on 21st July 2011 after its final journey into Space, ending the USA’s 30 year Space Shuttle programme?
3. In which country was Osama Bin Laden, when he was found and killed by a United States’ Special Forces military unit on May 2^nd?
4. Which country was admitted as a member of UNESCO on 31^st October, following a vote in which 107 member states supported and 14 opposed?
5. On 16^th November it was announced that this had broken through the 1 million mark to a record high in the UK, i.e. one in five 16-24 year olds are impacted.
6. In which city did circa 100 people die following a petrol pipeline explosion on September 12^th? 
7. What happened prior to the Tsunami that hit Japan on 11th March, resulting in significant devastation, loss of life and damage to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant?
8. Where were Prince William and Kate Middleton married on 29^th April?
9. President Ali Abdullah, who felt compelled to travel to Saudi Arabia on June 5^th to receive treatment of an injury sustained during an attack on his palace as part of the Arab Spring uprisings, presides over which country?
10. Which country joined the European Union and adopted the Euro as its currency on January 1^st?  I bet this was not the economic environment it wished to join!
11. Which President’s government is confident that the Arab League observers, due to arrive in Damascus on Monday, will confirm that the 23 deaths that occurred in Homs today (26^th December) are the result of “armed gangs” - as supposedly are the other 5,000 deaths (according to UN calculations) that have taken place in this country during 2011?
12. What happened in England between the 6^th and 10^th August, resulting in the death of 5 individuals, an estimated £200 million worth of property damage and the arrest of 3,100 people?

I would like to stress that I have not chosen what I see as the only important news items and events.  I limited myself to twelve occurrences, one for each month of the year.  Let me know if you need the answers…