August 1 — Africa: ZIMBABWE
Zimbabwe introduces a 200,000 Zimbabwe dollar note in order to address the country’s uncontrollable inflation. At the official exchange rate, the new note is worth 13 US dollars, but is worth only 1 US dollar on the black market. The note buys 2.2 pounds of sugar. Inflation in Zimbabwe is the highest in the world, reaching an annual rate of 4,500 percent.
August 1 — International Organizations/Africa: UNITED NATIONS/SUDAN
The UN Security Council approves a resolution authorizing a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force for Darfur known as the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). Under a joint UN and African Union (AU) mandate, the mission will provide security for civilians and aid workers, and is expected to cost up to $2 billion a year. The first peacekeepers will arrive in Darfur in October. Sudan says it will cooperate with UNAMID.
August 2 — Europe/North America: RUSSIA/DENMARK/NORWAY/CANADA/UNITED STATES
Russia plants its flag on the seabed 14,000 feet below the North Pole, staking claim to a large part of the Arctic territory. Other countries bordering the Arctic — the United States, Canada, Denmark, and Norway — challenge Russia’s claim. According to current laws, countries bordering the Arctic are granted 200-nautical-mile economic zones beyond their land borders.
August 3 — Europe/Africa/Middle East: FRANCE/LIBYA
Libya signs a $405 million arms agreement with France to purchase anti-tank missiles and radio communications equipment. It is Libya’s first deal with a Western country since the European Union lifted its embargo on Libya in 2004. France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, is accused of using the deal to secure the release of six Bulgarian medics imprisoned in Libya. In response to these accusations, France’s opposition leader calls for a parliamentary inquiry into the negotiations between the two countries.
August 5 — Latin America/Middle East: NICARAGUA/IRAN
Nicaragua and Iran sign a trade deal enhancing the relations between the two countries. According to the agreement, Nicaragua will export coffee, meat, and bananas to Iran. In return, Iran will finance the building of four hydroelectric plants, five milk processing plants, two piers in the port of Corinto, and 10,000 houses. The United States has warned Nicaragua that closer relations with Iran might harm its relations with the United States.
August 6 — Middle East: IRAQ
Five Iraqi Sunni ministers announce their boycott of government meetings, which leaves the unity government without any Sunni representation, and further deepens Iraq’s political crisis. A week earlier, the country’s largest Sunni Arab bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front, withdrew from the cabinet. So far this year, seventeen Sunni ministers have either boycotted or quit the government.
August 6 — Europe/South Asia: RUSSIA/AFGHANISTAN
Russia cancels 90 percent of Afghanistan’s $10 billion debt, which dates back to the Soviet period. Russia is Afghanistan’s biggest creditor, mostly for weapons sales. This debt forgiveness gives Afghanistan a significant boost in its struggle towards economic recovery.
August 14 — Middle East: IRAQ
In Iraq, a coordinated multiple bomb attack against the minority Yazidi community in the northwestern region kills at least 344 people and injures 400. About 600 people are left homeless. It is the single deadliest attack in Iraq since the beginning of the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq in 2003.
August 15 — Middle East/East Asia/North America: PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES/JAPAN/UNITED STATES
Japan gives the Palestinian Authority $20 million in aid and humanitarian assistance in order to boost economic relations between Israel and the Palestinian Territories and revive the peace process. Earlier in the month, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed an aid deal granting the Palestinian Authority $80 million to reform its security services and strengthen the Fatah leadership.
August 16 — Middle East/North America: ISRAEL/UNITED STATES
The United States signs a military aid agreement with Israel, providing Israel with $30 billion over the next 10 years. Israel is allowed to spend 26 percent of the aid money on military equipment from local companies. The rest, however, has to be spent on US arms. The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says the aid will help preserve Israel’s military advantage among the countries in the Middle East.
August 17 — Europe: RUSSIA
Russia announces that it has resumed the Cold War practice of sending its strategic bombers on long-range patrol flights far beyond its borders. Russian President Vladimir Putin says the suspension of bomber missions affected Russia’s security, because other countries have not stopped the practice. Recently, the Russian bombers flew near the U.S. Pacific island of Guam and over the North Pole.
August 24 — South Asia: BANGLADESH
Bangladeshi military-backed authorities detain several senior academics after violent clashes between students and riot police on university campuses across the country. Students in cities such as Dhaka, Chittagong, and Kushtia have protested against the military-backed government that has run the country for the past six months. More than 100 people have been injured during the protests, in which demonstrators have demanded a return to democracy.
August 24 — Middle East: IRAQ
Mohammed Ali al-Hasani, the Shia governor of Iraq’s Muthana province, is killed by a roadside bomb. Earlier in the month, a roadside bomb killed the governor of a Diwaniya province, Khalil Jalil Hamza. Both men were members of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), a rival Shia organization to the Mahdi Army (MA) loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The killings highlight rising tensions among Shia political factions.
August 24 — East Asia/International Organizations: NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA/UNITED NATIONS/RED CROSS
South Korea approves a $40 million aid package to North Korea to help it recover from devastating floods. Also, the United Nations World Food Programme announces plans to provide food aid to North Korea while the Red Cross launches a global appeal to raise $5.5 million. At least 300 people died and 300,000 were left homeless in the recent floods, which damaged large parts of the country’s infrastructure and farms, and destroyed 11 percent of the annual grain harvest.
August 26 — Middle East/Europe: IRAQ/UNITED KINGDOM
British forces withdraw from an Iraqi base in Basra they shared with Iraqi police in a step to hand over the city of Basra to Iraqi forces. A small number of soldiers will stay in order to help train Iraqi police. In recent months, the United Kingdom has withdrawn hundreds of troops from Iraq, leaving a force of about 5,500 based mostly around Basra.
August 28 — Europe/Middle East: TURKEY
Turkey’s parliament elects Abdullah Gul as the country’s new president after months of controversy over his candidacy. His political background as an Islamist politician sparked opposition from the country’s secularists, especially the army, who fear that he will undermine the country’s secular principles. Abdullah Gul, however, has pledged to respect democracy and the secular republic.
August 29 — Latin America: GUATEMALA
Clara Luz Lopez, a Guatemalan politician running for a local council seat, is assassinated while on her way home after campaigning. More than 40 politicians, activists, and party workers have been killed in one of the most violent election campaigns in Guatemala since the end of the civil war in 1996. The country is preparing to vote in the run-up to the parliamentary and presidential elections on September 9.
August 30 — South Asia/East Asia: AFGHANISTAN/SOUTH KOREA
After intense negotiations between Afghanistan’s Taliban rebels and the South Korean government, the Taliban releases the last group of the twenty-three South Korean Christian missionaries kidnapped in May. As a result, South Korea agrees to pull its 200 troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year and to stop missionary work by South Korean citizens in the country. South Korea also says it will impose a travel ban on its citizens to Afghanistan.