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• Putin’s Party Dominates Parliamentary Elections (Dec. 2): United Russia takes 64.1% of the vote, far ahead of the Communist Party of Russia, which wins 11.6%. Opposition parties complain that the election was rigged, and European monitors say the vote wasn’t fair. Putin used his sway over the media to stifle the opposition and campaign for United Russia, making the election a referendum on his popularity.
• Venezuela Rejects Referendum (Dec. 2): Voters, 51% to 49%, reject referendum put forward by President Hugo Chávez that proposed 69 amendments to the constitution, including the abolishment of presidential term limits, removal of the Central Bank’s autonomy, which would have given Chávez new power to build a socialist economy, and others that enjoyed wide support, including reducing the work day to six hours and offering pensions to street vendors and housewives.
• Intelligence Report Concludes Iran Has Halted Weapons Program (Dec. 3): A National Intelligence Estimate compiled by the 16 agencies of the U.S. intelligence community says “with high confidence” that Iran froze its nuclear weapons program in 2003. The report contradicts one written in 2005 that stated Iran was determined to continue developing such weapons. (Dec. 4): Despite the report, President Bush says ran remains a threat and can not be trusted to pursue enriching uranium for civilian use. “Look, Iran was dangerous, Iran is dangerous, and Iran will be dangerous, if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon,” he said. “What’s to say they couldn’t’t start another covert nuclear weapons program?”
• CIA Destroyed Interrogation Tapes (Dec. 6): New York Times reports that in 2005 the CIA destroyed videotapes of the interrogation of two al-Qaeda suspects. The tapes reportedly included agency operative using harsh interrogation techniques. The tapes, the paper said, were not given to members of the Sept. 11 commission, which had requested such evidence, or to the defense team of terrorism suspect Zacarias Moussaoui. CIA director Michael Hayden said the tapes, if released, posed a “serious security risk” and could have jeopardized the safety of CIA officials and their families.
• Putin Names His Choice for Successor (Dec. 10): Russian president Vladmir Putin endorses Dmitri Medvedev in March 2008’s presidential election. A Putin loyalist who is said to be moderate and pro-Western, Medvedev serves as a first deputy prime minister and the chairman of Gazprom, the country’s oil monopoly. He has never worked in intelligence or security agencies, unlike Putin and many members of his administration. (Dec. 11): Medvedev says he will name Putin as prime minister if elected president.
• Car Bombs Explode in Algiers (Dec. 11): As many as 60 people are killed in two suicide attacks near United Nations offices and government buildings in the capital of Algeria. The bombings occur within minutes of each other. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, formerly called the Salafist Group for Preaching, claims responsibility. It’s the worst attack in the Algeria in more than 10 years.
• City in Southern Iraq Hit By Bombs (Dec. 12): In the worst violence in months, nearly 30 people are killed and 150 wounded when three car bombs explode in Amara. Local officials had recently assumed control of security.
• European Union Votes to Adopt New Treaty (Dec. 13): Treaty, if ratified by all 27 members, would have the president of the EU in office for two-and-a-half years rather than the current six-month term, and allows most decisions to be reached with a majority vote instead of unanimity, as is currently required.
• Musharraf Ends Emergency Rule (Dec. 14): Pakistani president also restores the Constitution, but he also issues several executive orders and constitutional amendments that preclude any legal challenges related to his actions during and after emergency rule was established and bars the judges who he fired from resuming their positions. “Today I am feeling very happy that all the promises that I have made to the people, to the country, have been fulfilled,” he said.
• Turkey Attacks Kurdish Targets in Iraq (Dec. 16): With the help of the U.S. military, Turkish fighter jets bomb areas in Dohuk Province in northern Iraq, targeting the Kurdish militant group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. At least one civilian is reported to have died in the attack.
• Britain Transfers Control of Basra to Iraqis (Dec. 16): Iraqi government takes military control of Basra, the last region that was still under British control.
• Russia Delivers Nuclear Fuel to Iran (Dec. 17): Russia says Iran has promised to use the enriched-uranium fuel rods for a power plant at Bushehr. The International Atomic Energy Agency will monitor and control the fuel.
• African National Congress Selects New Leader (Dec. 18): Delegates choose Jacob Zuma as their leader, ousting South African president Thabo Mbeki, who had been in control of the party for the last ten years. With the victory, Zuma is poised to become president when Mbeki’s term expires in 2009. Zuma was acquitted of rape charges in 2006 and faces corruption charges.
• Conservative Politician Wins Presidential Election in South Korea (Dec. 19): Lee Myung-bak, of the opposition Grand National Party, wins 48.7% of the vote. Chung Dong-yong, who was endorsed by outgoing president Roh Moo-hyun, takes 26.1%. Lee has been dogged by allegations of ethical improprieties, and the National Assembly voted two days before the election to reopen an investigation into whether he manipulated the stock of an investment company.

• Pakistani President Declares State of Emergency (Nov. 3): Pervez Musharraf suspends the country’s constitution and fires Chief Justice Iftakar Mohammed Chaudhry and the other judges on the Supreme Court. In addition, police arrest at least 500 opposition figures. Analysts suggest that Musharraf was trying to preempt an upcoming ruling by the Supreme Court, which is expected to declare he could not constitutionally run for president while head of military. Musharraf, however, says he acted to stem a rising Islamist insurgency and to “preserve the democratic transition.” (Nov. 5): Thousands of lawyers take to the streets to protest the emergency rule. Many clash with baton-wielding police. As many as 700 lawyers are arrested, including Chaudhry, who is placed under house arrest. (Nov. 8): Musharraf says elections will be held by Feb. 15, 2008. (Nov. 9): Thousands of police officers barricade the city of Rawalpindi, the site of a protest planned by opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. (Nov. 13): Bhutto is placed under house arrest so she cannot organize another rally. (Nov. 16): On the day that Parliament’s term ends its five-year term, Musharraf swears in a caretaker government, with Mohammedmian Soomro, the chairman of Pakistan’s senate, as prime minister. He also lifts Bhutto’s house arrest. (Nov. 22): The Supreme Court, filled with judges loyal to Musharraf, dismisses the case challenging the constitutionality of Musharraf being elected president while head of the military. (Nov. 25): Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif returns to Pakistan after eight years in exile and demands that Musharraf lift the emergency rule and reinstate the Supreme Court justices that were dismissed on Nov. 3. Musharraf overthrew Sharif in a coup in 1999. (Nov. 28): Musharraf steps down as military chief. He is replaced by Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the former head of Pakistan’s intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence. (Nov. 29): Musharraf is sworn in as a civilian president. Since he no longer controls the military, his power over Pakistan is significantly diminished.
• U.S. Suffers More Casualties in 2007 Than Any Other Year (Nov. 6:) Six American soldiers are killed in Iraq, bringing the total deaths in 2007 to 852, the highest annual total since the war began in 2003.
• Suicide Bomber Kills Dozens in Afghanistan (Nov. 7): More than 50 people, including 18 children, four teachers, and six members of Parliament, die in the attack in Baghlan. Members of Parliament were visiting the city in northern Afghanistan. It is the worst single suicide attack since 2001.
• Georgian President Declares State of Emergency (Nov. 7): After days of protests by opposition parties, President Mikheil Saakashvili imposes a state of emergency. The opposition calls for early elections and the resignation of Saakashvili, who demonstrators accuse of abusing power and stifling the opposition. Earlier in the day, riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets to break up the demonstrations. (Nov. 8): Saakashvili announces that presidential elections will be held in January 2008. (Nov. 10): Parliament votes, 149 to 0, to approve the state of emergency. The opposition in the 235-seat Parliament boycotts the vote, however.
• Hamas Police Kill Civilians at Gaza Rally (Nov. 12): Fighting breaks out between members of Hamas and Fatah at a Fatah-led rally commemorating the third anniversary of Yarsir Arafat’s death. Hamas police shoot and kill at least seven civilians.
• FBI Investigation Finds Killings by Blackwater Guards Were Unjustified (Nov. 13): Report says 14 of the 17 shootings of Iraqis on Sept. 16 were unjustified and the guards were reckless in their use of deadly force.
• Number of Weekly Attacks Falls in Iraq (Nov. 18): U.S. military reports that for three consecutive weeks, the number of car bombs, roadside bombs, mines, rocket attacks, and other violence have fallen to the lowest level since January 2006.
• Khmer Rouge Leader Appears in Court (Nov. 20): Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, who ran the notorious Tuol Sleng prison and is the first Khmer Rouge defendant to appear in court, seeks bail on charges against humanity.
• Troop Withdrawal Begins in Iraq (Nov. 24): A brigade of 5,000 U.S. troops starts to leave Diyala Province, the first significant pullback of troops. Once the withdrawal is complete, there will be 157,000 soldiers in Iraq, from a high of 162,000.
• Australian Prime Minister Is Defeated (Nov. 24): John Howard, the leader of the Liberal Party and a close ally of President Bush, loses to the Labor Party’s Kevin Rudd. Howard had been in power for 11 years.
• Presidential Vote Is Delayed in Lebanon (Nov. 24): A caretaker government, led by Prime Minister Fouad Siniroa, takes over after President Émile Lahoud’s term expires and Parliament for the fourth time postpones a vote on his successor.
• Bush Hosts Middle East Peace Conference (Nov. 27): At a meeting in Annapolis, Md., Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas agree to work together to broker a peace treaty by the end of 2008. Officials from 49 countries attend the conference.

• North Korea Agrees to Disable Nuclear Fuel Plants (Sept. 2): After a two-day meeting between Christopher Hill, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and North Korean negotiators, North Korea says it will disable its nuclear fuel production facility and disclose to international monitors an accounting of all of its nuclear programs by the end of 2007.
• Myanmar Completes Constitutional Convention (Sept. 3): Representatives to the convention, which has met on and off since 1993, release a draft constitution that ensures the military will continue to control the ministries and legislature and have the right to declare a state of emergency. The document also limits the rights of political parties.
• Bush Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq (Sept. 3): President Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates travel to Anbar Province, a Sunni stronghold, and meet with Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki and other leaders. Bush stresses that progress in security and reconciliation have been made in Anbar and hints that a troop withdrawal may start if such gains continue.
• Report Says Iraq Lags in Meeting Benchmarks (Sept. 4): Government Accountability Office report finds that while violence in Iraq seems to be abating, the Iraqi government has failed to stem the sectarian violence and has three of the 18 benchmarks outlined by Congress in May.
• German Officials Arrest Terror Suspects (Sept. 5): Three Islamic militants are arrested and authorities confiscate large amounts of explosive materials and detonators. Officials say the suspects were planning to attack the Ramstein Air Base and the Frankfurt International Airport.
• Panel Says Iraq’s Army and Police Ill Prepared to Take Control (Sept. 5): Independent commission, led by Gen. James Jones, a retired Marine, declares that while Iraq’s armed forces are improving, it will be 12 to 18 months before the police and army can assume control over the country.
• Bin Laden Releases a Video (Sept. 7): In his first video message in nearly three years, bin Laden promises to “continue to escalate the killing and fighting in Iraq.”
• Former Pakistani Prime Minister Is Arrested (Sept. 10): Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted in a coup in 1999 by Pervez Musharraf, is arrested and deported after trying to re-enter Pakistan from exile in Saudi Arabia. Pakistan’s Supreme Court recently ruled that Sharif could return to the country.
• Japanese Prime Minister Quits (Sept. 12): Shinzo Abe abruptly announces his resignation. The move follows a string of scandals and July’s stunning defeat in parliamentary elections, in which his Liberal Democratic Party lost control of the upper house to the opposition Democratic Party.
• Russian President Nominates New Prime Minister (Sept. 12): Hours after the resignation of Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, Vladimir Putin names Viktor Zubkov, a cabinet official, as the next prime minister.
• Sunni Sheik Allied with the U.S. Is Killed in Iraq (Sept. 13): Abdul Sattar Buzaigh al-Rishawi, a leader of Sunni tribes in Anbar Province that have joined forces with the U.S. to fight Sunni militants, such as al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, dies in a bombing. Such cooperation is credited with bringing relative peace and stability to Anbar Province.
• Influential Cleric Says He Will Withdraw from Governing Coalition (Sept. 15): The political movement led by Moktada al-Sadr announces that it plans to withdraw from the United Iraqi Alliance, the largest bloc in Parliament. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki would lose his majority in Parliament if the Sadrists follow through.
• Iraqi Civilians Are Killed by U.S. Security Company (Sept. 16): Seventeen Iraqi civilians, including a couple and their infant, are killed when employees of private security company Blackwater USA, which was escorting a diplomatic convoy, reportedly fire on a car that failed to stop at the request of a police officer. Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki threatens to evict Blackwater employees from Iraq.
• Pakistani President Says He Will Resign as Military Leader if Reelected (Sept. 18): If elected to a second term as president, Pervez Musharraf announces he will step down from his post as army chief before taking the oath of office. Some opposition leaders, however, question whether he would follow through on his promise.
• Lebanese Politician Is Killed in Attack (Sept. 19): A car bomb kills Parliament member Antoine Ghanem of the Christian Phalange Party, which is part of the governing coalition. He is the eighth anti-Syrian leader to be killed since the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.
• Khmer Rouge Leader Is Arrested (Sept. 19): Nuon Chea, who was second-in-command to Pol Pot during the four years of Khmer Rouge rule that led to the state-sponsored massacre of between 1 million and 2 million, is charged with war crimes.
• Japanese Lawmakers Select New Prime Minister (Sept. 23): The governing Liberal Democratic Party elects Yasuo Fukuda as prime minister, replacing Shinzo Abe, who resigned after a disappointing year in office. Fukuda was elected to Parliament in 1990 and held the post as chief cabinet secretary under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
• Iranian President Stirs Protests at Columbia Speech (Sept. 25): In his controversial speech, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insists there are no homosexuals in Iran, says the U.S. supports terrorism, and calls U.S. and European efforts to halt Iran’s nuclear weapons program hypocritical. Columbia’s president, Lee C. Bollinger, preceded Ahmadinejad’s speech with an attack of his own. “Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator,” he said. “You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated.”
• Government Cracks Down on Protesters in Myanmar (Sept 26): After a month of peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations, which saw steady increases in participation and recently drew in hundreds of monks, protesting sharp prices in fuel, government forces shoot at crowds, raid pagodas, and arrest monks. Dozens of people are killed. The protests are the largest in the country in 20 years. The brutality of the attacks sparks international outrage.
• Senate Passes Resolution on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (Sept. 26): The nonbinding resolution calls on the Bush administration to label Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a foreign terrorist organization and impose economic sanctions on Iran.
• Court Rules in Favor of Musharraf’s Election Bid (Sept. 28): Pakistan’s Supreme Court rules that President Pervez Musharraf can run for re-election while maintaining his role as military chief.
• Rebels in Darfur Kill Peacekeepers (Sept. 30): Hundreds of rebels attack an African Union base in Haskanita, a town in the Darfur region of Sudan, and kill at least 10 peacekeeping troops.

• Sunni Block Withdraws from Iraqi Cabinet (Aug. 1): The Iraqi Consensus Front, the largest Sunni faction in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s cabinet, resigns, citing the Shiite-led government’s failure to stem violence by militias, follow through with reforms, and involve Sunnis in decisions on security.
• Independence Hero Named Prime Minister of East Timor (Aug. 6): President Ramos-Horta names independence activist Xanana Gusmão as prime minister. Violent protests led by supporters of the Fretilin party, the former governing party, follow. Fretilin won the most seats in elections, but Gusmão formed a majority coalition, called the Alliance of the Parliamentary Majority (AMP).
• UN Passes Resolution on Iraq (Aug. 10): Security Council resolution, passed unanimously, expands the UN’s role in Iraq to help promote reconciliation, safety of citizens and workers, and civil rights.
• Taliban Releases Two Hostages (Aug. 13): Two female hostages are released to the Red Cross following days of talks between the Taliban and South Korean negotiators. The women were members of a group of 23 church volunteers abducted from a bus on July 19. Two male hostages have been shot, and the Taliban has threatened to kill more if their demands for a prisoner exchange are not met. Fourteen women and five men are still being held. (Aug. 29): After South Korea agrees to withdraw its 200 troops from Afghanistan and end any future evangelical work in the country, the Taliban releases 12 of the 19 remaining hostages. (Aug. 30): The Taliban releases the last seven hostages.
• Coalition Forces Launch Operation Phantom Strike (Aug. 13): US-led forces attack insurgent hide-outs, weapons caches, and bomb-building sites in a series of simultaneous raids. The operation follows the deployment of nearly 30,000 more US troops into Iraq.
• Quadruple Bombing Leaves at Least 500 Dead in Iraqi Villages (Aug. 14): Two pairs of truck bombs explode about five miles apart in the remote, north-western Iraqi towns of Qahtaniya and Jazeera. At least 500 members of the minority Yazidi community are reported killed and hundreds more are wounded, making it the single deadliest insurgent attack of the war.
• Thailand Votes in Favor of New Constitution (Aug. 20): In the country’s first referendum, voters approve a new constitution that was drafted by a panel selected by the military government. Elections are expected to be held in December, ending a year of military rule that followed the ouster of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
• U.S. Ambassador Criticizes Iraqi Leadership (Aug. 21): As sectarian violence continues unabated in Iraq, Ryan Crocker, the ambassador to Iraq, says political progress in Iraq has been “extremely disappointing.”
• Report Cynical of Progress in Iraq (Aug. 24): National Intelligence Estimate says the Iraqi government has failed to end sectarian violence even with the surge of American troops. The report also says, however, that a withdrawal of troops, a move supported by many Democrats, would “erode security gains achieved thus far.”
• Iraqi Government to Allow Former Baathists to Resume Jobs (Aug. 26): In an attempt at national reconciliation, a group of Sunni, Shiite, and Kurdish Iraqi leaders, including Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, and President Jalal Talabani, announce that former Baathists, members of the party loyal to Saddam Hussein, could regain their government jobs that were lost in 2003’s de-Baathification process. Hashemi, however, says the move is not enough to have Sunnis leaders resume their cabinet positions, which they quit in early August.
• Former Islamist Elected President of Turkey (Aug. 28): Abdullah Gul, of the Justice and Development Party, is elected president in the third round of voting by the country’s parliament. He is the first Islamist president in the country’s modern history. The military, which is highly protective of a secular state, opposed Gul’s candidacy.
• Deadly Violence Breaks Out Among Rival Shiite Groups (Aug. 28): More than 50 people are killed and hundreds are wounded when members of the Mahdi Army, the militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, and the Badr Organization, a group of fighters that supports Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, battle in the streets of Karbala during a pilgrimage celebrating the birth of Muhammad al-Mahdi. (Aug. 29): Moktada al-Sadr announces that he has ordered the Mahdi Army to suspend its military operations for six months.
• Pakistani Leader to Surrender Role as Military Chief (Aug. 29): According to exiled former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, President Pervez Musharraf has agreed to step down as army chief and run for reelection as president. In addition, Bhutto will be allowed to return to Pakistan and run for prime minister.

Nation

• House Passes Bill to Expand Healthcare for Children (Aug. 1): Legislation, which passed 225 to 204, would provide healthcare to more than four million children and increase Medicare payments to doctors by .5%. The bill, which would cost $25 billion over five years, would be financed by an increase in the federal cigarette tax.
• Senate Votes to Overhaul Ethics Rules (Aug. 2): Votes, 83 to 14, to pass the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which calls on lawmakers to disclose the names of lobbyists who bundle $15,000 in contributions within a six-month period, prohibits lawmakers from accepting gifts, trips, or meals from lobbyists, and increases the time from one year to two that former senators must wait before can lobby Congress.
• House Passes Energy Bill (Aug. 4): Legislation, passed 241 to 172, calls on most utilities to produce 15% of their electricity from renewable energy sources, such as wind or solar power, sets new efficiency requirements for buildings and appliances, and allots money for research into capturing emissions of carbon dioxide.
• Bush Signs Law to Expand Wiretapping (Aug 5): Law legalizes government eavesdropping of telephone conversations and emails of American citizens and people overseas without a warrant as long as there is a “reasonable belief” that one party is not in the United States. Both the House and Senate approved the legislation before leaving for August recess. The law expires in six months.
• Republican Senator Pleads Guilty to Disorderly Conduct (Aug. 8): The guilty plea follows Larry Craig’s June arrest for making sexual advances to an undercover police officer in a Minneapolis airport. (Aug. 29): The Idaho senator steps down from his leadership positions on several Senate committees.
• Rove Announces His Resignation (Aug 13): Karl Rove, highly influential and controversial advisor to President Bush, announces he will leave his position as deputy chief of staff at the end of August. Although Rove was instrumental in securing Bush victories in 2000 and 2004, many critics believe his focus on conservative voters has alienated more moderate Republicans and Independents–̶two groups that may swing the election in 2008.
• Dirty Bomb Suspect Is Found Guilty (Aug. 17): A federal jury convicts Jose Padilla, who was arrested in Chicago in 2002 and accused of plotting to explode a dirty bomb in the United States, of conspiracy to commit terror overseas and giving material support to al-Qaeda. The government had held him as an enemy combatant until 2006, when he was transferred to the civilian justice system and charged with another set of crimes. It was these charges that resulted in the conviction.
• Report Says Former CIA Head Failed to Understand Gravity of Terrorist Threat (Aug. 21): Report, completed in 2005 but not released until now, outlines several bureaucratic and intelligence failures that allowed the 9/11 hijackers to enter the United States and concludes that George Tenet, the former director of the CIA, should be held accountable for not formulating a plan to dismantle al-Qaeda.
• Attorney General Steps Down (Aug. 27): The White House announces that Alberto Gonzales, the beleaguered attorney general, has submitted his resignation to President Bush. Gonzales has been under fire for the firing of nine federal prosecutors in 2006, and some say he perjured himself when testifying about the National Security Agency’s wiretapping program.
• Median Household Income Up, Number of Insured Down (Aug. 28): Census Bureau reports that median household income increased to $48,201 in 2006, from $47,845 in 2005. Figures, however, reveal that more people are working longer hours, but wages have not increased. The poverty rate fell to 12.3% in 2006, from 12.6% in 2005. The number of uninsured increased to 47 million in 2006, from 44.8 miillion in 2005.
• Attorney General Gonzales Is Under Investigation (Aug. 30): The Justice Department announces that its inspector general, Glenn Fine, is investigating whether Gonzales made “intentionally false, misleading, or inappropriate” statements in his testimony to Congress about his role in the 2006 dismissals of U.S. prosecutors and in the National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretapping program.