News Timeline: February 2006

 

February 1 – North America: UNITED STATES

Conservative Judge Samuel Alito is sworn in as the United States Supreme Court Justice after being approved by the Senate. He replaces the swing voter, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who has retired. Democrats tried to block Alito’s nomination, arguing that he would swing the Court to the right. Alito is President George W. Bush’s second conservative nominee to enter the Supreme Court.

February 2 – Africa: LIBERIA

Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf fires the entire staff of the finance ministry in an effort to curb corruption. The sacked workers must reapply for their jobs, and those who succeed will receive extra training. Johnson-Sirleaf’s January election followed a peace deal ending fourteen years of civil war in Liberia.

February 2 – South Asia: INDIA

The Indian government launches one of the most ambitious antipoverty programs in its history. The National Rural Guarantee Scheme promises one hundred days of work a year to one member of each of India’s 60 million rural households. If no work is available, an unemployment allowance will be provided. Critics argue that the program is too expensive and the money would be better spent on investments in rural infrastructure, particularly in health care and education.

February 2 – South Asia: AFGHANISTAN

A suicide bomber in Afghanistan kills several people when a car filled with explosives blows up at a checkpoint in the southeastern province of Khost. The chief of security of Khost, Ghulam Nabi Salim, says that Taliban rebels and foreign fighters cross into Afghanistan’s three southeastern provinces from Pakistan. In 2005, 1,400 people were killed in suicide attacks, fueling fears that militants in Afghanistan try to copy tactics of Iraqi insurgents.

February 3 – Europe: RUSSIA

Stanislav Dmitriyevsky, chairman of a branch of the Russian Chechen Friendship Society, is given a two-year suspended sentence for inciting national hatred. As a newspaper editor, he published two appeals by the leaders of the Chechen insurgency, Aslan Maskhadov (now deceased) and Akhmad Zakayev, who strongly criticized the Russian government and called for a peaceful resolution to the Chechen conflict. Human rights organizations view the ruling as a further attack on freedom of speech and freedom of press in Russia.

February 6 – Latin America: CUBA

Cuban President Fidel Castro reveals a new monument in a ceremony dedicated to victims of alleged U.S.-sponsored violence against Cuba since the 1959 revolution. The monument is comprised of 138 black flags with a white star. The flags block an electronic board on the side of the U.S. mission in Havana, which scrolls electronic daily messages, including some about human rights. Castro condemned the messages and began building the monument soon after the display started in January.

February 8 – East Asia: JAPAN/NORTH KOREA

Japan and North Korea conclude high-level, five-day talks in China, failing to reach an agreement on any issues discussed. The abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s was the main issue that the two parties discussed. The two countries also talked about North Korea’s nuclear arms program and Japan’s colonial rule reparations for North Korea.

February 8 – Africa: NIGERIA

The deadly strain of the bird flu virus is found in poultry in the Nigerian state of Kaduna. Authorities are disinfecting the premises, imposing quarantine and restricting animal movements in order to suppress the outbreak. The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) says it is the first time the disease has been detected in Africa. Some fear that the disease will easily spread through the continent because of the lack of safeguards.

February 8 – South Asia: NEPAL

Voters shun Nepal’s local elections, with initial estimates of turnout at about 10 percent. Eligible voters have been deterred by an opposition boycott and a strike ordered by Maoist rebels. Both groups claim that the elections are a sham with the aim of entrenching King Gyanendra’s direct rule.

February 11 – Former Soviet Republics: ARMENIA/AZERBAIJAN

Two-day talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, held in Rambouillet, France, and mediated by France, the United States, and Russia, yield no agreement. Since the end of the war in 1994, most of Nagorno-Karabakh remains under Armenian military control.

February 12 – South Asia: BANGLADESH

Bangladesh’s main opposition Awami League returns to parliament, ending a year-long boycott. Nearly sixty legislators reenter the chamber, led by party leader Sheikh Hasina. Hasina ends the boycott in order to introduce electoral reform proposals, which she says are necessary to ensure that the next election is free and fair. The boycott began in December 2004, following the Awami League’s claims that it was not being allowed to speak in debates.

February 14 – International Organizations: UNITED NATIONS

Iran says it has resumed small-scale uranium enrichment in its Natanz facility. The move comes two weeks after the five permanent members of the UN Security Council agreed to request that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report Iran to the council over its nuclear program. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran’s nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.

February 16 – Latin America: HAITI

Rene Preval is declared the winner of Haiti’s February 7 presidential election after a week of confusion and violent protests sparked by allegations of vote tampering. Partial counts indicated that Preval had earned slightly less than 50 percent of the vote and would have to participate in a runoff vote. However, electoral officials reached a deal to throw out 80,000 blank votes, raising Preval’s total to 51 percent. Haiti has had an interim government since the exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004.

February 19 – Africa: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Democratic Republic of Congo officially adopts its new constitution approved in a December 2005 referendum. The document gives the country a new flag, limits the president to two five-year terms, and creates a new legal framework that includes an elected parliament and an independent judiciary. Although formally in force, most of the changes will not be implemented until after elections in June.

February 20 – Middle East: KUWAIT

Kuwait’s parliament unanimously confirms Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad as crown prince, completing the transition to a new leadership. Sheikh Nawaf is a brother of late Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad, who ruled Kuweit for twenty-eight years and died in January. Parliament removed his designated successor, Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah, after only ten days in power on health grounds.

February 21 – Africa: SOMALIA

At least fifteen people are dead as clashes continue in the Somali capital Mogadishu, in the heaviest fighting the city has seen for several years. The current conflict is between the Islamic courts’ militia and a new group called the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism. Clashes between armed factions have been common in Somalia since 1991, when former military leader Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown and rival warlords divided the country between themselves.

February 23 – Africa: UGANDA

Ugandans vote in the country’s first multiparty parliamentary and presidential elections in twenty-six years. Of the five presidential candidates, incumbent Yoweri Museveni and Kizza Besigye are the front-runners. Fears of violence have led to deployment of 12,000 army reserves to polling stations.

February 23 – Europe/Former Soviet Republics: GEORGIA/RUSSIA

Russia announces that it will stop issuing entry visas to Georgian citizens and postpones Georgia’s Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli’s visit to Moscow after Georgia’s parliament unanimously called for the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from the separatist republic of South Ossetia and replacing them with international forces. Georgia accuses Russia of siding with the separatist rebels and supplying them with weapons.

February 24 – Africa: CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC/CHAD

An armed rebellion against the Central African Republic government led by General François Bozize causes thousands of people to flee to Chad and other neighboring countries. These countries, which have already accepted hundreds of thousands of refugees from conflicts in Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan, are afraid that the new conflict will exacerbate the refugee problem.

February 26 – Africa: SOMALIA

Somalia’s parliament meets in the central town of Baidoa for the first time since its formation in Kenya over a year ago. The location is a compromise between the factions, who disagree over whether Mogadishu is safe enough to host the government. The meeting is the latest attempt to restore order after fifteen years of factional fighting.

February 26 – Latin America: JAMAICA

Portia Simpson Miller, minister in the local government, is elected president of the People’s National Party, which currently controls the Jamaican government. She will become Jamaica’s first female prime minister after current Prime Minister P. J. Patterson steps down within the next few weeks. A career politician, Simpson Miller has strong popular support, but critics argue that she is not qualified to run the country.

February 27 – Europe: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA/SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO

The International Court of Justice in The Hague (ICJ) begins the trial of Serbia and Montenegro for crimes of genocide during the Bosnian war in the 1990s. Bosnia-Herzegovina is seeking compensation for war crimes, which could amount to billions of dollars. Serbia denies that it was trying to intentionally wipe out the Muslim population in Bosnia.

February 27 – Europe: EUROPEAN UNION

The European Union (EU) offers the Palestinian Authority (PA) $140 million in emergency aid that will support the operation of its government for two months. The PA found itself in serious financial troubles after Israel cut off monthly tax revenue payments following the election of militant group, Hamas, in January.

February 27 – Middle East: PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

The European Union (EU) offers the Palestinian Authority (PA) $140 million in emergency aid that will support the operation of the authority’s government for two months. The PA found itself in serious financial troubles after Israel cut off monthly tax revenue payments following the election of militant Hamas in January. The EU has yet to decide whether it will continue to support Hamas.

February 27 – Former Soviet Republics: KAZAKHSTAN

Kazakh authorities officially announce that Erzhan Utembaev, chief of the Senate administration, ordered the kidnapping and killing of opposition leader Altynbek Sarsenbaev two weeks ago after five secret service members confess to the murder. Sarsenbaev, one of the leaders of the True Bright Path opposition party, is the second opposition figure killed in recent months. Another opposition member, Zamanbek Nurkadilov, who challenged President Nursultan Nazarbaev in his public speeches, was murdered in his home in November 2005. The opposition insists that both killings were politically motivated.

February 27 – International Organizations: INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

The International Court of Justice in The Hague (ICJ) begins the trial of Serbia and Montenegro for crimes of genocide during the Bosnian war in the 1990s. Bosnia-Herzegovina is seeking compensation for war crimes, which could amount to billions of dollars. Serbia denies that it was trying to intentionally wipe out the Muslim population in Bosnia.

February 28 – East Asia: CHINA/TAIWAN

China expresses its anger after Taiwan’s president, Chen Shui-bian, dissolves the National Unification Council and its guidelines, accusing him of pushing toward the island’s independence. The council was set up in 1990 to convince China that Taiwan was interested in reunification with mainland China. It also helped launch important talks between both sides at the beginning of the 1990s.

February 28 – Middle East: IRAQ

One day after Iraqi officials lifted a curfew to stop escalating violence, four bombings kill at least thirty-five people and injure many more. The attacks were coordinated and aimed at killing as many people as possible.