July 4 — Latin America: HONDURAS
The Organization of American States (OAS) suspends Honduras after the military coup that ousted the country’s President Manuel Zelaya. (July 20): Two days of negotiations between the international mediators and the Honduran interim government to make Zelaya a leader of a unity government end with no agreement. As a result, the European Union suspends $90 million of aid to Honduras.
July 7 — East Asia: CHINA
Almost 200 people are killed and 1,700 injured in several-day long riots in the northwestern Chinese province of Xinjiang sparked by the deaths of two ethnic Uighurs in clashes with ethnically Han Chinese at a factory last June. Sporadic violence has been erupting in Xinjiang, where Uighurs, who are Turkic Muslims, feel their culture is being weakened by the waves of the Han Chinese transplanted by the government.
July 8 — East Asia: INDONESIA
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is reelected with 61 percent of the vote. The Indonesian people see him as a president who improved the country’s economy and made Indonesia more secure and stable.
July 10 — International Organizations: G8
Leaders of the G-8 developed countries conclude a three-day annual summit in L’Aquila, Italy. This year, the summit’s agenda included climate change, development in Africa and dialog with emerging countries. The G-8 states, Great Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States, have created a $20 billion initiative to help developing countries boost their agricultural sector. They have also agreed to cut emissions by 80 percent by 2050. They failed, however, to convince the developing nations to cut their emissions by 50 percent by the same date.
July 13 — Europe
Five European countries, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Turkey, sign an agreement to build the long-awaited Nabucco natural gas pipeline. The 2,050 mile-long pipeline will bring natural gas from the Caspian Sea across the Turkish territory to Europe. The Nabucco pipeline is an attempt to reduce dependence on Russian gas supplies.
July 14 — Europe: EUROPEAN UNION
The newly elected European Parliament chooses Former Prime Minister of Poland, Jerzy Buzek, to be its next president. This is the first time that this position goes to a politician from the former communist countries. Buzek headed a conservative coalition government in Poland between 1997 and 2001.
July 15 — Europe: RUSSIA
Russian human rights activist, Natalia Estemirova, is kidnapped and killed in the Russian North Caucasus Republic of Chechnya. Her body was found in the neighboring Republic of Ingushetia. She investigated human rights abuses, including kidnappings and killings by Russian troops and Chechen militias. Although in April Russia declared the end of counter-terrorist operations in Chechnya, recent violence that left dozens killed and spread to neighboring Dagestan and Ingushetia, shows that the Islamist insurgency has not been defeated.
July 19 — Africa: MAURITANIA
Mauretania’s military leader, General Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, who seized power in a coup last year, wins 52 percent of the vote in the presidential election. The opposition claims the election has been fixed in order to legitimize Abdelaziz’s rule. However, international observers say the vote was largely fair and free.
July 20 — Europe/International Organizations: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA/INTERNATIONAL WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL
The International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague finds Bosnian Serb cousins Milan and Sredoje Lukic guilty of war crimes and ethnic cleansing of Muslims during the war in Bosnia between 1992 and 1994 and gives them extensive jail sentences. As members of a paramilitary group, the Lukic cousins committed atrocities, including burning Muslim men, women, and children alive.
July 22 — Africa/International Organizations: SUDAN/PERMANENT COURT OF ARBITRATION
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague sets new borders for Sudan’s disputed oil-rich Abyei region, awarding greater territorial control to the government of Sudan. Both North and South Sudan accept the ruling; however, it will have to be approved in the referendum on independence of South Sudan in 2011.
July 23 — Europe: ICELAND/EU
Iceland officially applies for the European Union’s membership. Iceland is already part of the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Schengen Area, and after last year’s economic crisis, it saw it beneficial to become a part of the EU. Before it can happen, however, the country will have to approve the move in a referendum in 2012.
July 29 — East Asia: CHINA
China says it is planning to reduce its number of executions. China has been criticized for being a leading country in capital punishment, accounting for 72 percent of all executions around the world. Amnesty International says that China executed more than 1,700 inmates in 2008.
July 29 — Europe: SPAIN
A car bomb explodes in the city of Burgos in northern Spain, damaging the Civil Guard barracks and injuring dozens of people. A day later, a car bomb explodes in Majorca, killing two Civil Guard officers. The militant Basque organization ETA is blamed for both attacks. Although ETA has been weakened in recent years and lost much of its popular support among the Basque minority, the recent attacks prove that it is still a dangerous organization.
July 29 — Latin America: VENEZUELA/COLOMBIA
Venezuela breaks diplomatic relations with Colombia after Colombia accused it of supplying weapons to Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the Colombian rebel organization. After raiding one of the FARC camps, Colombian troops recovered weapons which serial numbers indicated they had been sold by Sweden to Venezuela.