January 1 – Africa: KENYA/TANZANIA/UGANDA
Three east African countries, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, launch a regional free-trade agreement after six years of negotiations. The union is an attempt to revive the East African community founded in 1967, which collapsed a decade after it was set up. The member states hope the new union will lead to a common market, a common currency, and eventually a political union.
January 3 – Europe/Former Soviet Republics: UKRAINE/TURKMENISTAN
Ukraine agrees to pay 30 percent more for natural gas from Turkmenistan after Turkmenistan cuts off its supplies to Ukraine, threatening its economy and forcing it to end the price dispute. Turkmenistan, which is the second-largest natural-gas producer in the world, supplies 45 percent of Ukraine’s gas imports.
January 4 – Africa: BURUNDI
Burundi’s President Domitien Ndayizeye signs two laws, setting up the new army and the new police force. The Burundi Armed Forces will now be known as the National Defense Force, which comprises of all but one of the Hutu rebel groups and the Tutsi-dominated government army.
January 4 – Europe: GERMANY
Germany marks its highest unemployment rate since 1990, which has reached 10.8 percent. Labor Office Chief Frank-Juergen Weise says that although the three years of stagnation in the German economy ended in 2004, the recovery has yet to boost the labor market. A strong and lasting turnaround is not expected before 2006.
January 5 – Latin America: CHILE
Chile’s former military ruler, General Augusto Pinochet, is put under house arrest after the Supreme Court rules he is fit to stand trial. Pinochet faces charges of murder and kidnapping during his 17 years of rule in Chile.
January 9 – Africa: SUDAN
Sudan’s government and southern rebels sign a historic peace deal ending the 20-year-long civil war. According to the agreement, the Christian south will be autonomous for six years, and then will hold a referendum on independence. Also, the country’s oil wealth is to be split equally between north and south. The peace deal does not cover the conflict in Darfur.
January 9 – East Asia: PHILIPPINES
About 200 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) separatists attack the Philippine army on the southern island of Mindanao. The fighting is the worst since a truce was concluded 17 months ago. The clashes come a month before planned peace talks between both sides in Malaysia.
January 11 – Latin America: VENEZUELA
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez signs a decree on land reform aiming to reduce the size of the massive estates and distributing the land among the rural poor. Chavez insists the government wants to negotiate with the individual owners. The decree establishes a new presidential commission to review land ownership and land use throughout Venezuela.
January 12 – Middle East: IRAQ
U.S. intelligence officials confirm that the United States has stopped searching for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq. The existence of WMD was the justification for the United States to invade Iraq two years ago.
January 12 – North America: UNITED STATES
U.S. intelligence officials confirm that the United States has stopped searching for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq. The existence of WMD was the justification for the United States to invade Iraq two years ago.
January 12 – Former Soviet Republics: GEORGIA
The Central Election Commission in Abkhazia, Georgia’s breakaway republic, announces that Sergei Bagapsh has won the January 12th repeat presidential election, defeating his sole competitor, Yakub Lakoba. Lakoba calls the election “a circus” and complains that hundreds of thousands of voters were disenfranchised and candidates were not granted equal access to the media.
January 14 – East Asia/International Organizations: SINGAPORE/MALAYSIA/INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE LAW OF THE SEA
With the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea acting as the arbitrator, Malaysia and Singapore reach an agreement in a dispute over Singapore’s land reclamation project in the Johor Straits. Under the agreement, Singapore will continue its reclamation works, but it will cooperate with Malaysia to ensure navigational safety and environmental protection of the water passage. Singapore embarked on the project in order to accommodate its expanding population.
January 17 – South Asia: INDIA
Two left-wing rebel groups, the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-M) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML), break off the peace agreement with the government of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, accusing the police of killing their members, thus failing to honor the cease-fire agreement. The rebels have been fighting since 1980 for the creation of a communist state consisting of the tribal areas in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Bihar, and Chhattisgarh.
January 19 – North America: UNITED STATES
The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee approves Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state after two days of tough questioning about the first Bush administration’s record over the Iraq war. Rice is the first black female secretary of state.
January 20 – North America: UNITED STATES
A U.S. judge dismisses a case brought by seven prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detainee center who challenged the legality of their detention. He also upholds the Bush administration’s decision that foreign nationals captured and detained outside the U.S. have no constitutional rights.
January 20 – North America: UNITED STATES
President George W. Bush and vice president Dick Cheney are sworn in for a second term. The security level around Capitol Hill and the White House is unprecedented, with about 6,000 police and 7,000 military personnel put on alert during inauguration.
January 21 – East Asia: CHINA
China announces that it has reestablished diplomatic relations with Grenada during a meeting between the foreign ministers of both countries. Grenada was one of 27 countries, mainly from Africa and Latin America, which maintained relations with Taiwan. Taiwan accuses China of paying millions of dollars in aid to countries that switch their allegiances from Taipei to Beijing.
January 21 – Latin America/East Asia: GRENADA/CHINA
China announces that it has reestablished diplomatic relations with Grenada during a meeting between the foreign ministers of both countries. Grenada was one of 27 countries, mainly from Africa and Latin America, which maintained relations with Taiwan. Taiwan accuses China of paying millions of dollars in aid to countries that switch their allegiances from Taipei to Beijing.
January 24 – South Asia: MALDIVES
During parliamentary elections in the Maldives, independent candidates win four seats in a country where political parties are banned. The candidates were backed by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which is based in Sri Lanka. President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom announces that the Maldives will become a multiparty democracy within a year, but sets no timetable.
January 25 – Middle East: ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
Israel resumes construction of the most controversial part of the wall in the West Bank near the Ariel settlement after the Israeli attorney general approves the work. The Ariel section is controversial because it encroaches inside the West Bank by 12 miles. The Palestinians accuse Israel of bad faith by resuming the construction during cease-fire talks.
January 26 – East Asia: INDONESIA
About 130 schools reopen in Indonesian Aceh province in an effort to bring normality to the region devastated in the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004. An estimated 1,700 elementary school teachers and 35 percent of school-age children are dead or missing in the region.
January 26 – Europe/Former Soviet Republics: RUSSIA/UKRAINE
Russian officials say they will pursue a criminal case against Yulia Tymoshenko, the Ukrainian parliamentarian and recently nominated prime minister in the newly elected Yushchenko government. Tymoshenko is accused of attempting to bribe Russian officials in Russia’s defense ministry in 1996 when she ran a Ukrainian gas trading company.
January 27 – Middle East/South Asia: IRAN/AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan and Iran open a major $60 million highway linking the Dogharun region in Iran with Herat in Afghanistan. Called a modern-day silk route, the road was built by Iranian experts as part of Tehran’s assistance for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, and is hoped to boost trade with Afghanistan.
January 29 – East Asia: CHINA/TAIWAN
China and Taiwan resume direct commercial flights for the first time in 55 years amid the political tensions between the two sides. Direct flights will ease the travel of at least 300,000 Taiwanese who live and work on the mainland. Taiwan banned flights to China half a century ago for security reasons.
January 30 – Africa/North America: LIBYA/UNITED STATES
U.S. oil companies, including Occidental and Chevron Texaco, win most contracts for oil exploration in Libya at its first open license auction. Libya has the largest oil reserves in Africa and is seeking massive foreign investment. Libya wants to raise its oil output to 2.1 million barrels a day by the end of the decade.
January 31 – International Organizations/Africa: UNITED NATIONS/SUDAN
After investigating reports about crimes committed by the Janjaweed militias in Sudan’s western region of Darfur, a United Nations five-man panel led by Italian judge Antonio Cassese issues a statement ruling out genocide. More than 70,000 people have been killed and two million displaced from their homes in Darfur. If the panel found the crimes to be genocide, the UN would be legally obliged to take action.
January 31 – Middle East: IRAQ
Iraq is holding its first parliamentary elections, which interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi describes as a “victory over terrorism.” The United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), which comprises the Shia Muslim groups, wins 48 percent and will need to form a coalition government. The Kurdistan Alliance comes in second, winning 29 percent, and is seen as a potential partner for a coalition. Prime Minister Allawi’s list wins 14 percent of the votes. Sunni candidates win only a handful of seats in the new parliament, because of an election boycott and intimidation.