The World in November 2008

World

• U.S. Airstrike in Afghanistan Hits a Wedding (Nov. 3): Afghan officials say 40 civilians are killed and nearly 30 wounded in an attack in Kandahar, a southern province. During a press conference, President Hamid Karzai urges U.S. president-elect Barack Obama to take measures to halt civilian casualties and instead target terrorist training centers.
• Russian President Sends a Warning to Obama (Nov. 5): The day after Sen. Barack Obama is elected president of the United States, Russian president Dmitri Medvedev delivers a speech in Moscow in which he says he will deploy short-range missiles near Poland that could reach NATO countries if the U.S. installs a missile-defense system in Europe.
• African Leaders and UN Officials Hold Emergency Meeting on Fighting in Congo (Nov. 7): As a cease-fire between the government and rebels, led by Laurent Nkunda, seems on the brink of collapse, leaders from several African nations and Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general of the UN meet in Nairobi. They sign an agreement calling for an immediate end to the fighting and say that if UN troops fail to protect civilians, then African peacekeepers would take over.
• Iraq’s Religious Minorities Receive Fewer Council Seats Than Recommended (Nov. 8): President Jalal Talabani and two vice presidents approve a bill that guarantees six seats on provincial councils to religious minorities, including Christians, Yazidis, Sabeans, and Shabaks. The UN had suggested that the groups be given 12 seats on the 440-seat council.
• Bali Bombers Are Executed (Nov. 9): Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, Imam Samudra, and Mukhlas, also known as Ali Ghufron, are executed by firing squad for their role in the 2002 bombings in Bali that killed 202 people, mostly tourists. Islamist extremists launch protests and threaten to retaliate for the executions.
• China Announces Enormous Stimulus Package (Nov. 9): China’s State Council says it will spend about $586 billion, or about 7% of its GDP, over the next two years on infrastructure projects, including new airports, subways, low-income housing, and rail systems.
• Dozens Are Killed in Blasts in Baghdad (Nov. 10): At least 28 people die and more than 60 are injured when three bombs explode minutes apart in a neighborhood in northern Baghdad during the morning commute. Officials suspect the explosions are linked to al-Qaeda.
• Taiwan’s Former President Is Arrested (Nov. 11): Chen Shui-bian, who lost a reelection bid in March, is arrested and charged with corruption and money laundering. Chen, who has long asserted that Taiwan and China are separate countries, denies the allegations and claims he is being persecuted to appease China.
• Iraq’s Cabinet Approves Security Deal (Nov. 16): After nearly a year of negotiations with the U.S., the Iraqi cabinet passes by a large margin a status of forces agreement that will govern the U.S. presence in Iraq through 2011. The pact calls for the withdrawal of all U.S. combat troops by Dec. 31, 2011, and the removal of U.S. troops from Iraqi cities by the summer of 2009. In addition, the agreement gives Iraqi officials increased jurisdiction over serious crimes committed by off-duty Americans who are off base when the crimes occur. Iraq’s Parliament must also approve the agreement. (Nov. 27): The Iraqi Parliament votes, 149 to 35, to approve the status of forces agreement.
• Pirates Hijack Oil Tanker (Nov. 18): The Saudi oil tanker, anchored about 480 miles off the coast of Somalia, is loaded with some two million barrels of oil, worth about $100 million. It is the first time pirates have seized an oil tanker. Piracy in the area has been occurring with increased frequency in 2008.
• Protesters Shut Down Airport in Bangkok (Nov. 25): Antigovernment demonstrators, who have been protesting since August, shut down the Suvarnabhumi airport. The protesters, called People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), are calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, whom they call a proxy for exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and are seeking to change the governing and electoral process that has empowered the rural majority, who PAD members say are “ill educated,” at the expense of the elite. (Nov. 26): Thailand’s army chief, General Anupong Paochinda, urges Somchai to resign and call new elections. Somchai refuses to heed Anupong’s advice. (Nov. 27): Prime Minister Somchai declares a state of emergency and authorizes the police and military to evict the protesters.
• Terrorists Launch Brazen Attack in Mumbai (Nov. 26): More than 170 people are killed and about 300 are wounded in a series of attacks on several of Mumbai’s landmarks and commercial hubs that are popular with foreign tourists, including two five-star hotels, a hospital, a train station, and a cinema. Indian officials say ten gunmen carried out the attack that was stunning in its brutality and duration; it took Indian forces three days to end the siege. India’s police and security forces were ill-prepared for such an attack, which many inside India are calling their own September 11. In fact, Indian sharpshooters were not equipped with telescopic sights, and therefore withheld firing out of fear of killing hostages. Deccan Mujahedeen, a previously unknown group, claims responsibility for the attacks. Pakistan officials deny any involvement in the attacks, but some Indian officials hint that they suspect Pakistani complicity. India has been hit by an increasing number of terrorist attacks throughout 2008.
• Hundreds Are Killed in Clashes in Nigeria (Nov. 28): Fighting between Muslims and Christians breaks out in Jos in a dispute over local elections. At least 400 people are killed, hundreds are wounded, and 7,000 are forced to flee their homes. Rival ethnic and religious groups burn churches and mosques and attack each other.

USA

• Report By Panel in Alaska Supports Palin (Nov. 3): Investigation by an independent counsel for the Alaska Personnel Board concludes that Gov. Sarah Palin did not violate the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act in her attempts to get her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, fired. The report contradicts an earlier report by Alaska’s legislature, which said she did violate the ethics law.
• Barack Obama Is Elected President (Nov. 4): In an election that is historic on many levels, Democratic senator Barack Obama wins the presidential election against Sen. John McCain, taking 338 electoral votes to McCain’s 161. Obama’s victory is assured after winning crucial swing states like Ohio and Pennsylvania. In addition, Indiana and Virginia vote for a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time since 1964. Obama is the first African American to be elected president of the United States. He will inherit a country facing two wars and an economy in tatters. Sen. John McCain delivers a gracious concession speech that focuses on the historic significance of Obama’s win. Democrats increase their majority in the House and pick up five seats in the Senate.
• California Votes to Outlaw Same-Sex Marriage (Nov. 4): Voters narrowly pass a ballot measure, Proposition 8, that overturns the May 15, 2008, California Supreme Court decision that said same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. Many supporters of same-sex marriage blame the results of the vote on an expensive campaign by the Mormon church, which opposes gay marriage.
• Obama Starts to Assemble Administration (Nov. 23): Obama nominates Timothy F. Geithner, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, as treasury secretary. In addition, he selects former treasury secretary Lawrence H. Summers as the head of the White House Economic Council.
• Stevens Concedes Senate Race (Nov. 19): Ted Stevens, who in October was found guilty of seven felony charges for lying on financial disclosure forms and failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts from an oil field services company, says he has lost the election to Anchorage mayor Mark Begich. The defeat gives Democrats 58 seats in the Senate. Stevens has served in the Senate for 40 years.
• Democrats Choose New Leader of the House Energy and Commerce Committee (Nov. 20): California congressman Henry Waxman is selected over current chairman of the powerful committee, John Dingell. With Waxman as head of the committee, observers expect swift action on energy and climate legislation. Dingell, who is from Michigan, has been criticized for supporting the auto industry by blocking legislation for more stringent environmental standards.
• Congress Rejects Plea for Bailout by U.S. Automakers (Nov. 20): Democratic lawmakers say that after two days of hearings, leaders from Ford, GM, and Chrysler failed to put forth a strategy that would salvage their flagging businesses. The automakers had sought $25 billion in loans from the government. “Until we can see a plan where the auto industry is held accountable and a plan for viability on how they go into the future—until we see the plan, until they show us the plan, we cannot show them the money,” said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Business/Science/Society

• Researchers Decode the Genome of a Cancer Patient (Nov. 6): Scientists at the Genome Sequencing Center at Washington University report that they have sequenced all the DNA from the cancer cells of a woman who died of leukemia and compared it to her healthy cells. In doing so, the experts found mutations in the cancer cells that may have either caused the cancer or helped it progress. It is the first time scientists have completed such research.
• Economy Stumbles Further (Nov. 7): The Labor Department reports that some 240,000 jobs were lost in October, bringing the unemployment rate to 6.5%, the highest point since 1994.
• Dozens Die When a School in Haiti Collapses (Nov. 7): About 90 people, mostly students, die and at least 150 are injured when a poorly constructed church-run school collapses in Pétionville, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince.
• Treasury Department Shifts Course on Bailout Package (Nov. 12): Rather than buying troubled mortgage assets from banks and financial institutions as envisioned in the financial bailout package passed in October, the Bush administration says it will instead use part of the $700 billion authorized by Congress to help banks lend to consumers.
• World Leaders Discuss Financial Crisis (Nov. 15): Officials from the Group of 20, which includes wealthy countries and those with emerging economies, meet in Washington and agree to tighten supervision of banks and credit-rating companies and consider controls on executive pay. They do not formulate concrete solutions to the crisis, however.
• Stock Market Tumbles Again (Nov. 19): The Dow Jones falls 5.1%, or 427.47 points, to 7,997.28. It is the first time since 2003 that it has fallen below 8,000. The decline coincides with a report from the Labor Department indicating that the Consumer Price Index fell by one percentage point in October, the steepest one-month drop since the index debuted in 1947.
• Government Rescues Citigroup (Nov. 23): Under the plan, the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will back up to $306 billion in potential losses incurred by Citigroup from high-risk loans and securities and will inject $20 billion in cash into the troubled company.
• Government Announces Another Plan to Help Economy (Nov. 25): The Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department will finance $800 billion in lending programs. The Fed will spend $600 billion to buy debt guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and other government-sponsored mortgage underwriters. The remaining $200 billion, financed by both the Fed and the Treasury, will help consumers secure student loans, car loans, small-business loans, and loans for credit-card debt.

 

Source: http://www.infoplease.com/world/events/2008/nov.html

The World in October 2008

World

• Iraq Takes Control of Awakening Councils (Oct. 1): The Iraqi government takes command of 54,000 mainly Sunni fighters from the U.S., which had been paying the fighters for their support. The fighters, members of awakening councils, turned against al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia in 2007 and began siding with the U.S.
• Russian Peacekeepers Are Killed in South Ossetia (Oct. 3): Two days after European Union observers arrive in Georgia to monitor Russia’s pull-out of troops from the troubled region, a car bomb explodes in the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali, killing seven Russian peacekeepers. (Oct. 8): Complying with the cease-fire agreement brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in early August, Russia starts removing troops from buffer zones surrounding the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The withdrawal is observed by 200 European Union members.
• Anti-government Protests in Thailand Become Deadly (Oct. 7): Two people are killed and more than 400 wounded in fighting between security forces and anti-government protesters. Demonstrators, tyring to prevent the inauguration of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, barricade lawmakers inside the Parliament building.
• Ukraine’s President Dissolves Parliament (Oct. 9): After weeks of political turmoil that saw the collapse of his pro-Western coalition, President Viktor Yushchenko signs an order to dissolve Parliament and calls for new elections. The vote is scheduled for Dec. 7, 2008; it will be the third parliamentary election since Yushchenko took office in 2004.
• U.S. Revises Estimate of Civilian Deaths in Afghan Raid (Oct. 8): The New York Times reports that an inquiry by the U.S. military found that more than 30 civilians and fewer than 20 militants were killed in an Aug. 22 raid by coalition forces on the western village of Azizabad. The U.S. initially said between five and seven civilians and up to 35 militants died, but the Afghan government said as many as 90 Afghan civilians, 60 of them children, died in the attack.
• U.S. Removes North Korea from Terrorism List (Oct. 11): North Korea agrees to give international inspectors access to its nuclear plant at Yonbyon and to continue disabling its plutonium-processing facility. In exchange, the U.S. State Department removes the country from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
• Sudan Arrests Militia Leader Wanted by The Hague (Oct. 13): Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kushayb, also known as Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman, who has been named by the International Criminal Court as a suspect in the murder, rape, and displacement of thousands of civilians in Sudan’s Darfur region is arrested by Sudanese police. He is not, however, handed over to the ICC.
• Canadian Prime Minister Is Reelected (Oct. 14): The Conservative Party, led by Stephen Harper, defeats the Liberal Party in national elections. The Conservatives, however, fail to win a majority in the House of Commons and will form a minority government, the third in four years.
• Iraq and the U.S. Complete Draft of Security Agreement (Oct. 17): Draft agreement, outlined in the media but not publicly released, calls for all U.S. troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2011, depending on the conditions in Iraq. Plan also gives U.S. military personnel immunity from Iraqi law except for serious premeditated felonies committed outside their “duty status.” Iraq will have jurisdiction over private U.S. contractors, however. (Oct. 21): Members of the Iraqi cabinet say they will not approve the agreement without amendments.
• Taliban Insurgents Engage in Grisly Attack (Oct. 19): Fighters pull as many as 30 men from a bus traveling in Kandahar and behead them. A Taliban spokesman says the passengers were members of the Afghan National Army. The Afghan government denies the claim, saying the men were civilians traveling to Iran to seek work.
• U.S. Troops Launch an Air Attack into Syria (Oct. 26): American Special Operations Forces kill a leader of al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia in a helicopter attack in Syria, near the Iraqi border. U.S. officials say the militant, Abu Ghadiya, has smuggled weapons, money, and fighters into Iraq from Syria.
• President of Georgia Dismisses Prime Minister (Oct. 27): Mikheil Saaksahvili replaces Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze with Grigol Mgaloblishvili, Georgia’s ambassador to Turkey. The move comes about three months after Georgia’s war with Russia that devastated Georgia’s infrastructure.
• Fighting Intensifies in Congo (Oct. 27): After capturing the major army base of Rumangaboebel, rebel forces in the northeast part of the country who are loyal to a Tutsi general, Laurent Nkunda, advance toward Goma, the capital of North Kivu province. Angry civilians attack UN peacekeeping troops, frustrated that they were not able to thwart the rebels. About 250,000 civilians have fled their homes since a peace accord fell apart in August. (Oct. 29): The rebels stop outside of Goma and declare a cease-fire.
• Peaceful Regions of Somalia Rocked by Bombings (Oct. 29): At least 28 people are killed in five suicide-bombings in northern Somalia. Somali officials cast blame on the militant Islamic group Shabab, which has been battling the transitional government. The highest death toll is in Hargeisa, the capital of the breakaway northern region of Somaliland.
• Petraeus Takes Over as Head of Central Command (Oct. 31): Gen. David Petraeus will oversee military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, and other countries.

 

Nation 

• Senate Approves Nuclear Deal with India (Oct. 1): Votes, 86 to 13, to end the ban on trading nuclear fuel with India. In passing the measure, the Senate ratifies the agreement, which will allow India to buy nuclear fuel on the world market for its reactors as long as it uses the fuel for civilian purposes only. India has agreed to give international inspectors access to its 14 civilian nuclear plants. Eight military facilities, however, will remain outside the purview of inspectors. The ban was imposed by the U.S. in 1974 after India tested a nuclear weapon.
• Candidates Hold Series of Debates (Oct. 2): Vice presidential candidates, Democrat Joe Biden, senator from Delaware, and Republican Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, clash over the war in Iraq, tax policy, oil and the environment, and the financial crisis that has dominated the news and Washington. Palin displays a folksiness ostensibly meant to appeal to middle America, and Biden politely attacks Palin’s characterization of McCain as a maverick. “Go to a kids’ soccer game on Saturday and turn to any parent there on the sideline and ask them, ‘How are you feeling about the economy?’ ” Palin says. “And I’ll betcha you’re going to hear some fear in that parent’s voice, fear regarding the few investments that some of us have in the stock market—did we just take a major hit with those investments.” Attacking McCain, Biden says, “He’s not been a maverick when it comes to education—he has not supported tax cuts and significant changes for people being able to send their kids to college. He’s not been a maverick on the war. He’s not been a maverick on virtually anything that generally affects the things that people really talk about.”(Oct. 7): The economic crisis dominates the second debate between presidential candidates, Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama. The candidates are somewhat reserved and less combative than had been expected. Obama, however, casts the blame for the crisis on deregulation under the Bush administration, and links McCain to the president. McCain says that Obama favors increased spending and higher taxes. (Oct. 15): In their third and final debate, McCain and Obama spar on domestic issues, including the economy, healthcare, and the environment. By far the most contentious debate, the candidates sharply criticize each other’s plans on those issues. When Obama suggests that a McCain presidency would mirror that of President Bush, McCain responds, “Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago.”
• Federal Judge Orders That Guantánamo Bay Detainees Be Freed (Oct. 7): Judge Ricardo Urbina, of the Federal District Court, orders the Bush administration to release 17 members of the Uighur Muslim minority from western China, saying they have never posed a threat to the U.S., nor have they fought against the U.S. They have been held at Guantánamo Bay since 2002. (Oct. 8): A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issues a temporary stay of Judge Urbina’s order so the appeals court can review a Justice Department request for a longer stay of the order.
• Connecticut Legalizes Gay Marriage (Oct. 10): The state’s Supreme Court rules that a state law that limits marriage to heterosexual couples and a civil union law that protects gay couples violate equal protection rights guaranteed by the constitution. Connecticut is the third state in the U.S., behind Massachusetts and California, to legalize gay marriage.
• Investigation Concludes That Palin Abused Power (Oct. 10): An investigation by Alaska’s legislature finds that Sarah Palin, the state’s governor and Republican vice presidential candidate, violated the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act when she used her office in an attempt to get her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, fired.
• Bush Administration Memorandum Asserts Federal Money Can Fund Groups That Discriminate Based on Faith (Oct. 18): The New York Times reports that a 2007 Justice Department legal opinion concluded that under the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, federal entities subject to anti-discrimination law can give money to groups that hire only people of a certain faith.
• Powell Endorses Obama (Oct. 19): Former secretary of state Colin Powell, a Republican, calls Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama a “transformational figure.” He expresses regret that the endorsement came at the expense of his personal friend, Republican nominee John McCain. “It isn’t easy for me to disappoint Sen. McCain in the way that I have this morning, and I regret that,” Powell said on NBC’s Meet the Press. But I firmly believe that at this point in America’s history, we need a president that will not just continue, even with a new face and with the changes and with some maverick aspects, who will not just continue basically the policies that we have been following in recent years.”
• Alaska Senator Is Convicted of Violating Ethics Laws (Oct. 27): A jury finds Republican Ted Stevens guilty of seven felony charges for lying on financial disclosure forms and failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts from the VECO Corporation, one of the state’s biggest oil-field contractors. He says he will continue with his reelection campaign. He has served in the Senate for 40 years.

 Business/Science/Society

• Senate Passes Bailout Plan (Oct. 1): Two days after the House of Representatives rejected a similar deal, the Senate votes, 74 to 25, in favor of a “sweetened” plan. In addition to the provisions in the $700 billion measure rejected by the House, which gives the Treasury unprecedented authority to buy a wide range of troubled financial assets, limits executive pay, gives the government an equity stake in companies that participate in the plan, and gives the federal government the ability to recoup losses from the financial industry after five years, the Senate plan increases from $100,000 to $250,000 the amount of bank deposits covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and extends $150 billion in tax breaks to individuals and companies. (Oct. 3): The House of Representatives, reversing an earlier vote, approves the bailout package, 263 to 171. President Bush signs the measure into law. Included in the package is a provision that requires employers and group health plans to provide equal insurance coverage for mental health care as for physical care. (Oct. 6): On the first day of trading since the bailout bill was signed into law, stock markets in America, Europe, and Asia experience their steepest declines in two decades. The Financial Times Stock Exchange Index suffers its biggest one-day drop (in terms of points), and Russia’s stock market plummets by almost 20%. (Oct. 8): Tokyo’s benchmark index falls 9.4% and Hong Kong’s dips by 8.2%. (Oct. 9): In the most active day in New York Stock Exchange history, investors sell off stocks in a panic, and the Dow closes below 9,000 for the first time in five years. In addition, the Icelandic stock exchange suspends trading, and the government nationalizes three major banks. (Oct. 10): The Bush administration begins to reconsider the priorities of the $700 billion bailout package, shifting focus toward recapitalizing banks.(Oct. 11): The finance ministers from the Group of 7 industrialized nations meet in Washington to formulate a coordinated plan to stem the escalating financial crisis. They agree to protect the deposits of citizens and to prevent the failure of additional financial companies. (Oct. 14): The Bush administration announces plans to invest $250 billion in nine of the largest U.S. banks as part of its continued effort to control the financial crisis. The move is part of the $700 billion bailout package.
• Economy Suffers Huge Job Losses in September (Oct. 3): The Labor Department reports that 159,000 jobs were lost in September, the most in five years.
• Earthquake Causes Devastation in Pakistan(Oct. 29): A 6.5 magnitude earthquake hits Baluchistan, one of the country’s poorest regions. At least 200 people are killed and more than 15,000 are left homeless.
• Economy Shrinks for First Time in Years (Oct. 30): The gross domestic product drops 0.3%. It’s the first decrease in the GDP in 17 years.

 

Source: http://www.infoplease.com/world/events/2008/oct.html

3rd Global Leadership Seminar, Talloires, France

Three of my classmates and I were sent as my school delegates to participate in the 3rd Global Leadership Seminar in Talloires, France. The seminar, which lasted for 3 days (23-27 Sept), seeks to raise transcontinental awareness on world’s issues by convening representatives from three continents (EU, USA and Asia) to participate in discussions around contemporary global issues.

The seminar, which is hosted annually at the Tufts University European Center, is sponsored by Ecoscientia Foundation and Holcim Group and is jointly organized by 5 leading graduate schools of international affairs and public policy:

1.      College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium

2.      The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, USA

3.      Lee Kuan Yew School, National University of Singapore, Singapore

4.      University of St. Gallen, Switzerland

5.      Yonsei University, Korea

 

This year seminar brought together 35 students from the participating schools for an intensive three days of discussions centering on “Developing International Regimes for Global Warming: Meeting Multiple Challenges of Political and Legal Possibilities, Economics, Science, and Technology”. The objective of the seminar is to lead the participants, tomorrow’s policy makers, to a better understanding of the complexities and varying perspectives surrounding global warming and to propose the practical solutions and recommendations to deal with this pressing problem.

Some of the seminar activities include:

-Lectures

·         Urgency of the Global Warming Crisis, by Prof. William Moomaw (Fletcher)

·         Political and Legal Aspects of Global Warming by Pro Raimund Bleischwitz (Wuppertal Institute) and Prof. Rolf Wustenhagen (University of St. Gallen.

·         Global Governance and Climate Change by Prof. Ann Florini (LKY SPP)

·         Role of the private sector in the Post-Kyoto World by Ms Margaret Flaherty (WBCSD)

 

- Student discussion and presentation on the topic “A 10-Point Action Plan to fight Climate Change)

 

- Cultural tour (walking and boating) in Annecy

- And of course eating, drinking and entertainment

Overall, it was a very productive and well organized seminar. The lectures were informative and interesting. Everyone participated actively and we able to come up with concrete action plan to mitigate and adapt to climate change. I personally benefited a lot. I gain a deeper understanding about climate change, made new friends, got to know French culture and ate a variety of wonderful French dishes.

Finally, I’d like to thank Sarah and Gabriella for their spending an enormous amount of their time and effort to make the seminar go smoothly and to make our stay in Talloires a memorable one. Your friendliness, kindness and hospitability will be remembered to all of us.

 

Here are some of the pictures I took during the seminar

Students get ready for the seminar

 

 Group presentation

 

Time for questions from the prof.

 

Dinner time

 

Picture time-A shot on the stair in front of the seminar roon

 

 

with Mina and prof. William Moomaw

A few more pic around Talloires….

A view near the lack at the back of the hotel

 

Garden view at the side of the hotel

 

My favorite one

 

My favorite too

me on the boat with my friend

A view along the river, taken from the boat

 

Another one

and another one

For more infomation and photo about Talloires, visit http://www.talloires.fr/

For more information about Tufts university and the seminar, visit http://fletcher.tufts.edu/global/about.shtml

The World in September 2008

World

• Japanese Prime Minister Resigns (Sep. 1): Yasuo Fakuda, who has been in office barely a year, announces that he will step down when his party, the Liberal Democrats, select his successor. In June 2008, the upper house of Parliament, which is controlled by the opposition, censured Fukuda, citing his management of domestic issues. The lower house, however, supported him in a vote of confidence.
• U.S. Transfers Control of Once Troubled Province to Iraq (Sep. 1): The Iraqi military and police assume responsibility for maintaining security in Anbar Province, which was until recently the cradle of the Sunni insurgency. More than 1,000 members of the U.S. military have been killed in the province.
• Thai Government Declares State of Emergency When Protests Turn Violent (Sep. 1): One person is killed and dozens are wounded in fighting between supporters of an opposition group and pro-government demonstrators. For more than a week, thousands of protesters, called People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), have staged a sit-in outside the government buildings in Bangkok, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. Pro-government launched counterdemonstrations. (Sep. 2): Prime Minister Samak declares a state of emergency. (Sep. 3): The military and police do not enforce the state of emergency. In a press conference, army commander Gen. Anupong Paochinda declares neutrality in the conflict. “We are not taking sides,” he says. “If the nation is the people, we are the army of the people.” (Sep. 9): Samak is forced from office when Thailand’s Constitutional Court rules that he violated the constitution by being paid to appear on the cooking show “Tasting and Complaining.” Somchai Wongsawat, the first deputy prime minister, becomes acting prime minister. (Sep. 14): Acting prime minister Somchai ends the state of emergency, which has disrupted the tourism industry. (Sep. 17): Parliament elects Somchai prime minister, 298 to 163.
• U.S. Report on Civilian Deaths in Attack on Afghans Conflicts With Other Accounts (Sep. 2): A U.S. military report on the number of civilian casualties incurred in an August airstrike by U.S. troops on a village in Azizabad finds that five to seven civilians and 30 to 35 Taliban were killed. The UN and the Afghan government, however, say as many as 90 Afghan civilians, 60 of them children, died.
• U.S. Troops Attack Militants in Pakistan (Sep. 3): In its first acknowledged ground attack inside Pakistan, U.S. commandos raid a village that is home to al-Qaeda militants in the tribal region near the border with Afghanistan. The number of casualties is unclear.
• Governing Party Wins Parliamentary Elections in Angola (Sep. 5): In the country’s first elections in 16 years, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) wins about 82% of the vote in the legislative election. The opposition, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita), takes 10%.
• Bhutto’s Widower Is Elected President of Pakistan (Sep. 6): Asif Ali Zardari, leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, wins 481 out of 702 votes in the two houses of Parliament to become president. Zardari, who served 11 years in prison on charges of corruption, faces the overwhelming task of rooting out members of al Qaeda and the Taliban, who control much of the country’s tribal areas. He also promises to improve the relationship between Parliament and the presidency.
• International Regulator Allows India to Buy Nuclear Fuel (Sep. 6): The Nuclear Suppliers Group, comprised of representatives from 45 countries, votes to allow India to buy nuclear fuel for its reactors as long as it uses the fuel for civilian purposes only. The U.S. Congress must approve the agreement. The opposition party in India, the Bharatiya Janata Party, is against the deal, calling it a “nonproliferation trap.” The deal could be scrapped if India uses the fuel for its weapons program.
• Canadian Prime Minister Calls for Early Elections (Sep. 7): Stephen Harper requests that Parliament be dissolved and sets national elections for October 14. He hopes to win enough votes to hold a majority in Parliament; he now heads a minority Conservative government.
• Three Convicted in Plot to Blow Up Planes (Sep. 8): Three men, out of eight who were on trial, are found guilty in a British court of conspiracy to commit murder. The defendants were arrested in 2006 for trying to use liquid explosives to blow up seven planes that were traveling from the UK to the U.S. and Canada. They are acquitted of the more serious charge of preparing acts of terrorism.
• Russia Agrees to Withdraw from Georgia (Sep. 8): Russian president Dmitri A. Medvedev says he will remove troops from Georgia by mid-October and will permit 200 observers from the European Union to keep watch over the conflict in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which began on Aug. 7 when Georgia attacked the breakaway enclave of South Ossetia. Russia stepped in to defend South Ossetia. (Sep. 10): Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov disputes that Russia agreed to allow European Union monitors into South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Instead, he says they will work in Georgia, outside the breakaway enclaves.
• Judge Drops Case Against South African Leader (Sep. 12): A High Court judge dismisses corruption charges against African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma, saying the government mishandled the prosecution. The ruling clears the way for Zuma to succeed Thabo Mbeki as president of South Africa. The judge also criticizes President Mbeki for attempting to influence the prosecution of Zuma.
• Several Bombs Tear Through Indian Capital (Sep. 13): Over the course of 25 minutes, five bombs explode in crowded markets in New Delhi, killing 22 people and injuring dozens. The Indian Mujahideen claims responsibility for the attacks.
• Rivals Sign Power-Sharing Deal in Zimbabwe (Sep. 15): President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who defeated Mugabe 48% to 43% in March elections but boycotted the June runoff election because of voter intimidation, will share executive authority over the country. Tsvangirai will serve as prime minister and the opposition will control 16 ministries. The governing party will control 15; Mugabe will continue as president.
• Military Command in Iraq Changes Hands (Sep. 16): U.S. Gen. Ray Odierno succeeds Gen. David Petraeus as the commander of the multinational forces in Iraq. Petraeus, who oversaw the surge of troops into Iraq, will become commander of the U.S. Central Command that covers all of the Middle East.
• Two Bombs Explode at U.S. Embassy in Yemen (Sep. 17): A car bomb and a rocket hit the U.S. embassy in Yemen as staff arrived to work, killing 16 people, including four civilians. At least 25 suspected al-Qaeda militants are arrested in connection with the attack.
• Dozens Are Killed in Blast at Popular Hotel in Pakistan (Sep. 20): A truck bomb explodes outside the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, killing more than 50 people and wounding hundreds. The bomb went off as government leaders, including the president and prime minister, were dining a few hundred yards away, at the prime minister’s residence. A previously unknown group, Fedayeen Islam, takes responsibility for the attack.
• South Africa’s President Announces Resignation (Sep. 21): Under pressure from leaders of his party, the African National Congress (ANC), Thabo Mbeki says he has stepped down. Party leaders accused Mbeki of interfering in the corruption case against ANC leader Jacob Zuma. An interim president will take over until Jacob Zuma, the leader of the ruling ANC, runs for Parliament. Once a member of Parliament, Zuma is expected to become president. Mbeki served as president since 1999. (Sep. 24): Mbeki’s deputy and 10 members of his cabinet also resign. Six ministers say they will not serve in a new government. (Sep. 25): Parliament elects Kgalema Motlanthe, a labor leader who was imprisoned during apartheid, as president.
• Israeli Prime Minister Steps Down (Sep. 21): Ehud Olmert, who is under investigation for corruption, resigns as prime minister. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who was recently elected the head of Olmert’s party, Kadima, is expected to succeed Olmert if she can maintain the fragile governing coalition.
• Ruling Party in Japan Selects New Leader (Sep. 22): Taro Aso, a conservative and former foreign minister, is elected president of the governing Liberal Democratic Party. (Sep. 24): The lower house of Parliament elects Aso as prime minister. He promises to restore the flagging economy.
• Myanmar Releases Thousands of Prisoners (Sep. 23): Just over 9,000 prisoners are released by the military government, including the longest-serving political prisoner, Win Tin. Most of those released, however, are not political prisoners. By most estimates, as many as 2,000 political prisoners remain in detention.
• Iraq Passes Scaled-Down Election Law (Sep. 24): Parliament passes a much-anticipated law that calls for provincial elections to be held in early 2009. Elections had originally been scheduled for October 2008. Elections, however, in the disputed city of Kirkuk are postponed until a separate agreement is reached by a committee made up of representatives from each group involved in the dispute over the future of Kirkuk.
• Car Bomb Explodes in Syrian Capital (Sep. 27): A powerful bomb, made of more than 400 pounds of explosives, kills 17 people near a Shiite shrine in Damascus. It’s Syria’s worst attack in more than 20 years. Terrorism is suspected.
• Five Bombs Kill Dozens in Baghdad (Sep. 28): At least 27 people die and more than 80 are wounded in the bombs that occur throughout the day.

USA

• Hurricane Affects Opening of the Republican National Convention (Sep. 1): With Hurricane Gustav heading toward New Orleans, which was devastated in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina, Sen. John McCain scales back the first day of the Republican National Convention, making it a business-only affair without the celebratory mood and speeches. McCain’s choice for vice president, Alaska governor Sarah Palin, announces that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is five months pregnant. (Sep. 2): President Bush delivers a speech via video from the White House, saying McCain is the man most fit to become president. “We live in a dangerous world,” Bush says. “And we need a president who understands the lessons of Sept. 11, 2001: that to protect America, we must stay on the offense, stop attacks before they happen, and not wait to be hit again. The man we need is John McCain.” (Sep. 3): In her address at the Republican National Convention, which was widely praised, Sarah Palin mocks Sen. Barack Obama’s role as a community organizer in Chicago, portrays herself as an outsider, and outlines her Alaska upbringing and professional experience. “Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown,” Palin says. “And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities.” Shortly after her speech, delegates select Sen. John McCain as the Republican presidential nominee. (Sep. 4): In his acceptance speech, Sen. McCain calls for change from the status quo and indicates that he will not always tow the party line. “Let me just offer an advance warning to the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me-first-country-second crowd: Change is coming,” he says.

• Report Finds That Former Attorney General Mishandled Sensitive Documents (Sep. 2): The Justice Department’s inspector general, Glenn Fine, concludes that Alberto Gonzales improperly handled top secret information relating to the National Security Agency’s wiretapping program and the Bush administration’s prisoner interrogation program. The report says Gonzales stored documents in his home or in a personal safe at the Justice Department, which violated security protocol.
• Detroit Mayor Steps Down (Sep. 3): As part of a plea deal, Kwame M. Kilpatrick pleads guilty to two felony charges of obstruction of justice and agrees to resign from office, serve four months in jail, and pay $1 million in restitution to end a scandal stemming from his attempts to conceal a past affair with his former chief of staff.
• Reports Find Interior Department Agency Riddled by Scandal (Sep. 10): The Interior Department’s inspector general sumbits reports to Congress that detail how officials in the department’s Minerals and Management Service accepted gifts from energy companies in excess of ethics limits, engaged in sexual relationships with subordinates and employees of oil and gas companies, and used illegal drugs at industry events.
• House Passes a Bill to Expand Offshore Drilling (Sep. 16): Legislation would allow drilling for oil 50 miles off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts if all adjacent states agree and 100 miles out regardless of a state’s position on drilling. The measure, which passes, 236 to 189, also cuts some tax benefits for oil companies and calls on utilities to produce 15% of their power from renewable sources by 2020.
• Congress Approves a Civil Rights Bill (Sep.17): The House of Representatives votes in favor of a bill that broadens the definition of disability to include epilepsy, diabetes, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and other illnesses. The Senate had already unanimously passed the legislation, which overturns recent Supreme Court decisions that narrowed the definition of disability and made it difficult for workers to prove discrimination.
• Presidential Candidates Face Off in First Debate (Sep. 26): At the end of a tumultuous week in which the country’s financial system teetered on the brink of collapse, Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama agree that the government should intervene in the crisis, but conditions and safeguards must be included in any bailout package. Obama blames the Bush adminstration’s failed economic policy for the turmoil. On foreign policy, the candidates attack each other over the war in Iraq. McCain lashes out at Obama for not supporting the surge of troops that has led to a decrease in violence in Iraq. The debate, which takes place at the University of Mississippi, was up in the air until midday, as McCain had said that he would not participate in the debate in order to deal with the financial situation.
• House Approves Nuclear Deal with India (Sep. 27): Votes, 298 to 117, to end the ban on trading nuclear fuel with India. Congressional approval is necessary for the implementation of a pact that will allow India to buy nuclear fuel on the world market for its reactors as long as it uses the fuel for civilian purposes only. The ban was imposed by the U.S. in 1974 after India tested a nuclear weapon.
• Investigation Finds Political Motiviation Was Behind Prosecutor Dismissals (Sep. 29): An internal inquiry by the Justice Department’s inspector general and its Office of Professional Responsibility reports “significant evidence that political partisan considerations were an important factor in the removal of several of the U.S. attorneys.” Nine federal prosecutors were fired in 2006. The report is highly critical of former attorney general Alberto Gonzales, who resigned in the scandal, saying he was “remarkably unengaged” throughout the dismissal process and faulted his “extraordinary lack of recollection about the entire removal process” in his testimony to Congress. It also says the Bush administration’s unwillingness to cooperate with the investigation led to an incomplete understanding of the scandal. Attorney General Michael Mukasey requests that federal prosecutor Nora Dannehy continue the investigation to determine if anyone involved should face criminal charges.

Business/Science/Society

• New Orleans Spared Another Catastrophic Hurricane (Sep. 1): Hurricane Gustav, which was on a path toward New Orleans as a Category 5 storm, makes landfall in rural Louisiana, southwest of New Orleans, as a Category 2 storm. About two million people evacuated New Orleans in anticipation of a devastating storm. At least seven people die in the storm and more than one million homes are left without power.
• China Admits Shoddy Construction of May Have Caused Schools to Collapse in Earthquakes (Sep. 4): For the first time, the Chinese government acknowledges that poor construction of hastily built schools possibly contributed to their collapse in the May 12 earthquake that killed 70,000 people, including 10,000 students.
• U.S. Financial Markets Roiled by Turmoil (Sep. 7): The U.S. government places Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, companies that together hold more than half of the country’s mortgages, under government conservatorship, which is akin to bankruptcy reorganization. U.S. treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., says the move was crucial to avoid turmoil in the national and international economies. “This turmoil would directly and negatively impact household wealth: from family budgets, to home values, to savings for college and retirement,” he says. “A failure would affect the ability of Americans to get home loans, auto loans and other consumer credit and business finance. And a failure would be harmful to economic growth and job creation.” (Sep. 14): Merrill Lynch agrees to be acquired by Bank of America for $50 billion, and Lehman Brothers prepares to declare bankruptcy when it fails to find a buyer. Merrill Lynch was valued at more than $100 billion in the past year. (Sep. 15): The Dow Jones industrial average drops more than 500 points, or 4.4%, amid concerns over a financial crisis. It is the worst one-day loss since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In addition, Lehman Brothers goes ahead and declares bankruptcy. (Sep. 16): The Federal Reserve agrees to a $85 billion rescue of the American International Group, an enormous insurance company that covers financial institutions. (Sep. 20): The Bush administration seeks authority from Congress to allow the Treasury Department to buy up to $700 billion in bad mortgage assets from private investment companies. If approved, the deal will be the largest bailout in U.S. history. The Treasury would hire outside investment experts to manage the securities. (Sep. 22): Congres begins debating the bailout package, with Democrats insisting that any plan include relief for Americans burdened by mortgages they can’t afford. In addition, many lawmakers, skeptical of the authority the plan gives to the Treasury Department, demand strict oversight of the program. (Sep. 26): Federal regulators seize Washington Mutual, the nation’s largest savings and loan. Almost immediately after, JP Morgan Chase buys Washington Mutual. (Sep. 28): Congressional negotiators and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson agree on a $700 billion bailout plan that gives the Treasury unprecedented authority to buy a wide range of troubled financial assets, limits executive pay, gives the government an equity stake in companies that participate in the plan, and gives the federal government the ability to recoup losses from the financial industry after five years, which is considered a major concession. (Sep. 29): In a stunning move that leaves the financial world in disarray, the House rejects the bailout plan, 228 to 205. Only 65 Republicans vote in favor of the bill, despite strong pleas by President Bush; 140 Democrats support the measure. The Dow Jones Industrial Average drops 778 points.
• Unemployment Rate Reaches Highest Level in Five Years (Sep. 5): The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the jobless rate in the U.S. hits 6.1%, the highest point since 2003. Some 84,000 people lost jobs in August.
• Hundreds Die in Storm in Haiti (Sep. 5): Tropical Storm Hanna strikes the port city of Gonaives, killing at least 500 people and leaving many more injured or missing.
• Hurricane Leaves a Path of Devastation (Sep. 7-8): At least 61 people die in Haiti, four more are killed in Cuba, and 80% of homes are destroyed on Turks and Caicos islands when category 2 Hurricane Ike strikes the Caribbean. (Sep. 13-14): Hurricane Ike continues its damage when it hits Texas and causes at least 30 deaths, thousands more to evacuate their homes, and millions to lose power in Houston alone. Ike hits the island city of Galveston Bay the hardest, knocking out water, power, and sewer lines. Despite requests to evacuate, at least 15,000 people remained in Galveston amid worsening sanitary conditions.
• More Than Two Dozen Die in Train Crash (Sep. 12): At least 25 people die when a commuter train crashes head-on with a freight train in Chatsworth, California. The commuter train’s engineer, who dies in the accident, fails to stop for a red signal.
• Several Are Killed in School Shooting in Finland (Sep. 23): A 20-year-old male student shoots and kills at least nine students and himself at a vocational college in Kauhajok, 330km (205 miles) north of the capital, Helsinki.
• Chinese Astronaut Makes First Spacewalk (Sep. 27): Zhai Zhigang steps out of the Shenzhou VII spacecraft and enters outer space, performing the first spacewalk by a Chinese astronaut.

 

 Source: http://www.infoplease.com/world/events/2008/sep.html

The world in August 2008

World

• Policemen Are Killed in Terrorist Attack in China (Aug. 4): Chinese officials say two members of the East Turkestan Independence Movement, a Muslim group based in western China, drive a truck into a group of police officers who were jogging, then throw explosives and stab them. Sixteen police officers die and another 16 are wounded. The attack raises concerns about the upcoming Summer Games.
• Military Officers Stage a Coup in Mauritania (Aug. 6): The top four military leaders depose Prime Minister Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar and President Sidi Ould Sheik Abdellahi in a bloodless coup. Some of the same military leaders were involved in the 2005 coup that brought Abdellahi to power. In recent months, the country’s legislature has criticized Abdellahi’s handling of rising food prices and accused the government of corruption.
• Iraqi Parliament Fails to Pass Election Law (Aug. 6): The failure to pass a the law will likely force the postponement of provisional elections that were schedule for October. Hopes dim that provincial elections will be held in 2008. The elections are seen as vital to moving Iraqi’s rival ethnic groups toward reconciliation. Kurds dominate the city, which also has a large population of Turkmens and Arabs, and have resisted any attempts to dilute their power through a power-sharing plan.
• Suspect Convicted in First Military Trial at Guantánamo (Aug. 6): Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who was Osama bin Laden’s driver, is convicted of providing material support for terrorism. He’s acquitted, however, of the more serious charge of conspiracy to kill Americans. It is the first military trial held at Guantánamo. (Aug. 7): Hamdan is sentenced to 66 months in prison. He may, however, spend more time in jail, as the Bush administration has the authority to imprison detainees during the war on terror.
• Violence Breaks Out in Breakaway Region in Georgia (Aug. 7): Fighting breaks out after Georgian soldiers attack South Ossetia, a breakaway enclave in Georgia that won de facto independence in the early 1990s. Separatists in South Ossetia retaliate, and about a dozen troops and civilians die in the battles. Fighting between the two sides has been sporadic since Mikheil Saakashvili was elected president of Georgia in 2004 and sought to resume control over the region. (Aug. 8): Russia enters the fray, with troops and tanks pouring into South Ossetia to support the region. (Aug. 9 and 10): Russia intensifies its involvement, moving troops into Abkhazia, another breakaway region, and launching airstrikes at Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. In addition, Russian airstrikes in Gori, Georgia, kill about 1,500 civilians. The fighting prompts thousands of people in South Ossetia to flee their homes. (Aug. 11): Russian troops enter Georgian territory and briefly take control of a military base in Senaki. (Aug. 12): Russian president Medvedev orders an end to military action in Georgia, although sporadic fighting continues. Saakashvili also says he will withdraw Georgian troops. Leaders of EU nations, the United States, and NATO have warned Russia to end the conflict in Georgia. (Aug. 13): France brokers a deal between Russia and Georgia that calls on both sides to end the fighting and use of force, open routes in the battle areas for the flow of humanitarian aid, and withdraw troops to the positions they held before the conflict. Later in the day, President Bush sends U.S. troops on a humanitarian mission to Georgia. He also warns Russia that if it doesn’t observe the cease-fire, the country risks its standing in “the diplomatic, political, economic, and security structures of the 21st century.” In addition, Russian tanks occupy Gori, a strategic town 40 miles from Tbilisi, and hundreds of Russian soldiers cross the border into South Ossetia. (Aug. 14): Poland, after months of stalling, agrees to allow the United States to install an anti-missile system on its soil. The move by Poland is seen as a strategic one intended to defend itself from the threat of a similar incursion by Russia and to establish closer ties with the West. Russia says that Poland now risks retaliation. (Aug. 16): Russian president Dmitri Medvedev signs a revised cease-fire, but Russian troops remain in Georgia. Georgia demanded that a provision in the original agreement be amended to allow only those Russian peacekeepers who were in Georgia before the hostilities began to remain. The deal is tentative at best. (Aug. 19): Russian troops slowly begin to withdraw from Georgia. (Aug. 20): U.S. Secretary of State Condelezza Rice and Poland’s Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski sign the deal in Warsaw. Rice stresses that the missile system, which is scheduled to be in operation by 2012, is “defensive and aimed at no one.” (Aug. 25): Russian president Medvedev unilaterally recognizes South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent regions. The U.S. and its allies denounce the decision. (Aug. 29): Russia and Georgia severe diplomatic ties from each other. It is the first time Russia has done so with one of its former republics, which gained independence in 1991.
• Pakistan Government Seek to Impeach Musharraf (Aug. 7): The governing coalition, led by Asif Ali Zardari, of the Pakistan Peoples Party, and Nawaz Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, says it will “immediately initiate impeachment proceedings” against President Pervez Musharraf on charges of violating the constitution and misconduct. The charges stem from his actions in November 2007, when he suspended the country’s constitution and fired Chief Justice Iflikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and the other judges on the Supreme Court. (Aug. 18): Musharraf resigns as president. “Not a single charge can be proved against me,” he says, adding that he was stepping down to put the country’s interests above “personal bravado.” Muhammad Mian Soomro, the chairman of the Senate, is named acting president. (Aug. 25): Nawaz Sharif withdraws his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N, from the governing coalition, saying he could no longer work with Asif Ali Zardari. He says Zardari went back on pledges to restore Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to his role as chief justice of the Supreme Court and to work with Sharif to select a presidential candidate. Instead, Zardari says he will run.
• Bolivian President Survives Recall Referendum (Aug. 11): Evo Morales wins 63.5% of the vote, which was an attempt by Podemos, an opposition party, to remove him from office. Morales has garnered criticism from some lowland provinces for his policies, including the acceptance of financing from Venezuela.
• Al-Qaeda Increases Its Strength and Threat (Aug.12 ): Ted Gistaro, the U.S. government’s senior terrorism analyst, says that by forging closer ties to Pakistani militants, al-Qaeda is more capable of launching an attack in the United States than it was a year ago. The Pakistani militants have given al-Qaeda leaders safe haven in remote areas to train recruits.
• Several Lebanese Soldiers Are Killed in Bombing (Aug. 13): A bomb left on the street explodes and tears through a bus carrying Lebanese troops, killing 15 people, nine of them soldiers. No one claims responsibility for the attack, but in 2007, the army fought an al-Qaeda linked Islamist group in Tripoli.
• Shiite Pilgrims Are Targeted in Several Attacks (Aug. 14-16): About two dozen worshippers are killed in three separate attacks as they make their way toward Karbala to celebrate the birthday of 9th-century imam Muhammad al-Mahdi. Iraqi officials blame al-Qaeda in Iraq for the attacks.
• Nepal Elects Maoist Prime Minister (Aug. 15): Nepali’s Constituent Assembly elects Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, known as Prachanda, over Sher Bahadur Deuba, a member of the Nepali Congress Party who served as prime minister three times. In a compromise, the Maoists say they will not hold posts in the party’s armed faction and will return private property it seized from opponents.
• Taliban Launches Major Attack in Afghanistan (Aug. 18 and 19): As many as 15 suicide bombers backed by about 30 militants attack a U.S. military base, Camp Salerno, in Bamiyan. Fighting between U.S. troops and members of the Taliban rages overnight. No U.S. troops are killed. In another brazen attack, 10 French paratroopers are killed and more than 20 are wounded in an ambush by about 100 militants about 30 miles east of Kabul.
• Dozens Die in Blasts in Algeria (Aug. 19): At least 43 people are killed when a suicide bomber drives an explosives-laden car into a police academy in Issers, a town in northern Algeria. (Aug. 20): Two car bombs explode at a military command and a hotel in Bouira, killing a dozen people. No group takes responsibility for either attack, Algerian officials say they suspect Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is behind the bombings.
• Taliban Launches Double Suicide Bombing in Pakistan (Aug. 21): More than 60 people are killed in a twin suicide bombing at the Pakistan’ Ordnance Factories, a complex of 16 buildings in the town of Wah that employs 20,000. The Taliban says the attack is in retaliation for the military’s recent campaign against militants in the region of Bajaur.
• Iraq and the U.S. Agrees on Timeframe for Troop Pullout (Aug. 22): The U.S. says it will withdraw combat troops from Iraqi cities by June 2009, followed by the removal of all combat troops by the end of 2011 as long as Iraq is stable and secure. The deal is part of a security pact that governs U.S. involvement in Iraq.
• Coalition Airstrike Kills Dozens of Civilians in Afghanistan (Aug. 22): As many as 90 Afghan civilians, 60 of them children, die in an attack in the western village of Azizabad. It is one of the deadliest airstrikes since the war began in 2001, and the deadliest on civilians. The U.S. military refutes the figures, however, which were confirmed by the UN, claiming that the airstrike, in response to an attack by militants, killed five civilians and as many as 25 members of the Taliban.
• Zimbabwe Opposition Leader Elected Speaker of Parliament (Aug. 25): Lovemore Moyo, of the Movement for Democratic Change, is elected to the powerful post of speaker of Parliament, 110 to 98, prevailing over the candidate of President Robert Mugabe’s party, ZANU-PF.
• North Korea Announces It Has Stopped Disabling Nuclear Reactor (Aug. 26): The country says that it will also resume work at the complex in Yongbyon unless the United States remove North Korea from its list of nations sponsoring terrorism. The U.S. says that North Korea will remain on the list until it gives inspectors access to locations suspected of being nuclear sites.
• China and Iraq Sign Oil Contract (Aug. 28): As part of the $3 million deal, the China National Petroleum Corporation will provide Iraq technical advisers, workers, and equipment to develop the Ahdab oil field. If approved by Iraq’s cabinet, it will be the first foreign oil contract implemented by Iraq since 2003. China will not share in profits derived from production of oil from the field.

USA

• Edwards Admits to Having an Affair (Aug. 8): Former senator John Edwards, a Democrat from North Carolina who ran for president in 2004 and dropped out of the 2008 race in January, says he had an affair in 2006 with Rielle Hunter, a videographer who worked on his campaign. He denies, however, that he is the father of her child, who was born in February 2008. For months, the tabloid newspapers had been reporting the affair.
• Leading Arkansas Democrat Is Killed (Aug. 13): Bill Gwatney, the chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party, is murdered in his office.
• Obama Picks Biden as Running Mate (Aug. 23): In a text message delivered to his supporters at 3 a.m., presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama announces that he has selected Delaware senator Joe Biden as his pick for vice president. Biden himself ran for president in 1988 and in 2008. He brings to the ticket years of foreign policy experience, which Obama lacks.
• The Democratic National Convention Opens in Denver (Aug. 25): Michelle Obama, the wife of Sen. Barack Obama, delivers a speech about family, values, a solid work ethic, and her working-class background. By all accounts, the speech is successful in portraying her as a wife and mother rather than a high-powered lawyer. Sen. Ted Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, received a rousing ovation throughout his speech. “I have come here tonight to stand with you to change America, to restore its future, to rise to our best ideals and elect Barack Obama president of the United States,” he says. (Aug. 26): In her speech to the convention, Sen. Hillary Clinton attempts to unify the Democratic Party, calling on her supporters to rally behind Obama. “Whether you voted for me, or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose,” she says. “And you haven’t worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership. No way, no how, no McCain.” (Aug. 27): Sen. Barack Obama is formally elected the Democratic presidential nominee. In a symbolic move, Sen. Hillary Clinton moves to end the roll call and nominate Obama by acclamation. Before the nomination, President Bill Clinton addresses the convention and strongly endorses Obama’s run for the presidency. “I say to you: Barack Obama is ready to lead America and restore American leadership in the world,” the former president says. “Barack Obama is ready to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States.” Vice Presidential nominee, Sen. Joe Biden, also speaks at the convention, recalling his working-class background and delivering barbs at the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain. (Aug. 28): Obama accepts the Democratic presidential nomination, becoming the first African American to be selected by a major party as its nominee for president. He delivers an impassioned speech that attacks John McCain on several fronts, including national security and his support for many of the policies of the Bush administration, and outlines his plans for the economy, the environment, and health care. Calling McCain out of touch with the economic woes of working-class America, Obama says, “It’s not because John McCain doesn’t care. It’s because John McCain doesn’t get it.” Obama gives his acceptance speech to some 83,000 people at Invesco Field rather than the convention hall in Denver.

• Census Bureau Releases Data on Income and Health Insurance (Aug. 26): The number of uninsured dropped from about 47 million people in 2006 to 45.7 million in 2007. As a percent, this translates to a drop to 15.3% of the population, from 15.8% in 2006. However, the number of people covered under private plans declined from 67.9% in 2006 to 67.5% in 2007, and the number of those with government-sponsored coverage increased to 27.8%, up from 2006′s figure of 27%. Median income increased by 1.3% in 2007, to $50,233, and the poverty rate remained at 12.5%.
• McCain Chooses Outsider as Running Mate (Aug. 29): The day after Sen. Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination for president, Republican John McCain picks Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, as his pick for vice president. The selection comes as a surprise and is an apparent attempt to woo women voters and those who are concerned that a McCain administration will be a continuation of the Bush years.

Business/Science/Society

• Several Climbers Die on K2 (Aug. 1): Eleven mountain climbers are killed when a large mass of ice breaks and causes an avalanche on the world’s second-highest mountain. It is the deadliest accident climbing accident on K2 since 1986.
• Dozens Are Killed in a Stampede in India (Aug. 3): Nearly 150 people, many children, die when rumors of a landslide cause pilgrims to stampede during a festival celebrating the Hindu mother goddess at Naina Devi temple in northern India.
• The Summer Games Open with a Spectacular Ceremony and Tragedy (Aug. 8): The Games open in Beijing with 14,000 performers and 91,000 spectators in the National Stadium. Dancing, music, and fireworks entertain 840 million television viewers worldwide. A Chinese man stabs an American couple midday on the second floor of an ancient tower in Beijing, killing the husband and injuring the wife. The victim, Todd Bachman, was the father-in-law of Hugh McCutcheon, the head indoor men’s volleyball coach. (Aug. 13): U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps wins his 11th career gold medal, becoming the first athlete in Olympic history to do so. (Aug. 17): Michael Phelps wins his eighth gold medal, breaking the record set by Mark Spitz in the 1972 Games. Phelps also sets the record for the most golds in a single Olympics.
• New Orleans Residents Prepare for Hurricane (Aug. 30): One day after the third anniversary of the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin orders residents to begin leaving the city as Hurricane Gustav makes its way toward Louisiana. (Aug. 31): As many as two million people comply with Mayor Nagin’s order and leave New Orleans in one of the biggest evacuations in U.S. history.
• Flood Devastates Part of India (Aug. 28): A breach in a dam in Nepal causes the Kosi River in the state of Bihar to flood. At least 75 people die, more than two million are displaced, and some 500,000 are stranded.

 

Source:  http://www.infoplease.com/world/events/2008/aug.html