February 2 — East Asia/Africa: CHINA/SUDAN

Chinese President Hu Jintao pays an official visit to Sudan, where he signs several economic agreements relating to the construction of schools, roads, and a new presidential palace. China currently purchases 400,000 barrels of Sudan’s oil a day, 80 percent of the country’s oil exports. In the past, China financed a 1,000 mile-long pipeline that delivers oil from southern Sudan to Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

February 2 — Europe: SERBIA

Serbian President Boris Tadic rejects a UN proposal concerning the future of Serbia’s Kosovo region, saying that the plan paves the way for the region’s independence. The UN plan advocates Kosovo’s semi-independence and is a compromise between the goals of Kosovo’s Albanian majority and Serbian minority. Serbia, which considers Kosovo the cradle of its civilization, wants to keep it as part of its territory, while Kosovo’s Albanians demand full independence for Kosovo.

February 6 — Africa: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga of the Democratic Republic of Congo forms a new government consisting mostly of President Joseph Kabila’s supporters. Kabila was reelected president in October 2006 in the country’s first democratic election. His supporters claim that his victory gives him a mandate to govern without including former rebel leaders.

February 9 — South Asia: NEPAL

Leaders of the Madheshi ethnic minority in southern Nepal suspend protests after the government promises them more representation in the country’s parliament. The Madheshi, who constitute up to 45 percent of Nepal’s population, also demand autonomy for their region.

February 9 — Latin America: VENEZUELA

The Venezuelan government purchases Electricidad de Caracas, the country’s main privately owned power company, a move that advances its nationalization program. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez plans to nationalize all key industries, saying this will allow more efficient distribution of the country’s wealth to all of its people. The nationalization program worries foreign investors.

February 13 — East Asia: NORTH KOREA

After more than three years of negotiations, North Korea agrees to dismantle its nuclear program. The first step will be shutting down the main nuclear reactor at Yongbyon. In exchange, the country will receive energy aid and other benefits to be supplied by the five countries involved in the nuclear negotiations — the U.S., China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia. North Korea also agrees to invite representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to monitor the agreement, and to begin talks to normalize its diplomatic relations with Japan and the United States.

February 14 — Former Soviet Republics: TURKMENISTAN

Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov is sworn in as Turkmenistan’s new president after winning nearly 90 percent of the vote in the December election. International election observers condemned the election as rigged because only members of the ruling party — the only party in Turkmenistan — were allowed to participate. The new president vows to continue his predecessor’s policies, but also promises to introduce some reforms.

February 17 — North America: UNITED STATES

The U.S. House of Representatives passes a resolution criticizing President George W. Bush’s plan to send more troops to Iraq. Although the resolution is non-binding, it sends a message to the President that his Iraq policy needs a new direction.

February 18 — Middle East: IRAQ

Three car-bomb explosions in predominantly Shia neighborhoods in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, kill more than sixty people and injure 131. The suicide bombings come two weeks after another suicide truck-bomb attack at a market in central Baghdad that killed 130 people and injured 305. The truck contained one ton of explosives.

February 21 — International Organizations/Africa: UNITED NATIONS/SOMALIA

The UN Security Council approves a resolution to send the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force to Somalia, where government troops and insurgents have been fighting since the withdrawal of Islamic militants last year. So far, however, only Uganda, Burundi, Nigeria, and Ghana have pledged to send soldiers to the mission.

February 22 — Middle East: IRAN

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issues a report stating that Iran has not stopped enriching uranium and has even expanded its production in defiance of UN sanctions. It also says that Iran installed new centrifuges at the enrichment facility in Natanz and is building a heavy water reactor and heavy water production plant. Iran’s refusal to suspend its uranium production may lead to further UN sanctions against the country.

February 26 — South Asia/Europe: AFGHANISTAN/UNITED KINGDOM

Great Britain announces that it will send an additional 1,400 troops to Afghanistan, bringing the total number of British forces in Afghanistan to 7,700. Most of these troops will be based in the southern province of Helmand, where they will fight Taliban insurgents.

February 26 — Europe/International Organizations: SERBIA/UNITED NATIONS

The International Court of Justice clears Serbia of charges of genocide during the war in Bosnia in 1990s, but blames it for failing to stop the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica. The case brought before the highest UN court by Bosnia-Herzegovina is the first in which a state has been charged with genocide.