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January: Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvilli sings the national anthem as it becomes clear he has won the country's presidential election on 5 January. Two weeks later, during his inauguration speech, he pledged to mend Georgia's tattered relationship with Russia.
© Reuters / David Mdzinarishvili
February: Kosovo celebrates as it finally declares independence on 17 February. The new country has been recognised by over 50 countries around the world. But these do not include Serbia or several NATO members.
March: The United Nations reveals findings showing that the world's glaciers are melting at more than double the previous rate. Between 1980 and 1999, glaciers melted an average of 30cm. In 2006, the figure was 1.5 metres. Also in March, EU leaders agreed to cut greenhouse gases by 20 percent, following a report by EU High Representative Javier Solana which identified global warming as a potential security threat.
© Reporters / UPP
April: At its last Summit before its 60th birthday, and the last for US President Bush, NATO members congregated in Bucharest in April. Several crucial issues, including a potential NATO membership of Ukraine and Georgia, were discussed. Although there were no final decisions on this matter at the Summit, the outcome was a clear 'not if, but when' message.
© NATO
May: On 7 May, Dmitry Medvedev became Russia's new President. He had won the election with over 70 percent of the votes cast. Although officially the end of the Putin era, the change did not bring a clean break from the past, as Medvedev was Putin's chosen candidate. Medvedev appointed Putin as Prime Minister on 8 May.
© AFP/Belga/VPM
June: Iran was made a new offer of incentives to halt its enrichment of uranium. The offer was taken to Tehran by EU High Representative Javier Solana on behalf of the US, Russia, China and the three EU countries of France, Germany and the UK. It was rejected by Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
© AP / Reporters
July: After 13 years on the run, a barely recognisable Radovan Karadzic was arrested by Serbian policemen in July. He had been posing as an alternative medicine doctor. Accused of war crimes, Karadzic was soon transported to the Hague, where he now faces trial.
© Reporters / Darko Vojinovic
August: As the world prepared to enjoy the Olympic Games in China, a very different type of contest erupted in the Caucasus. In Georgia's northern province of South Ossetia, a brief but bloody war took place involving not just Georgian and separatist South Ossetian forces, but also Russian ones from over the border. Western countries qualified Russia's response as 'disproportionate'.
© Reuters / Sergei Karpukhin
September: Reports strengthened that the health of North Korea's elusive leader, Kim Jong-il, was suffering. Following a drop in the number of news reports about North Korea's 'Dear Leader' speculation mounted that he had had a stroke. This increased following the release of several photos of Kim Jong-il by the country's government, none of which were dated and some of whose legitimacy were questioned by experts.
October: Governments start giving a response to what has since become recognised as a major potential security issue: the global financial crisis. The US Senate approved a $700 billion 'bail out' to help stabilise financial corporations and markets. Germany, the UK and other countries also brought out recovery plans as bourses around the world hit record one day drops.
© Reuters / Lee Jae Won
November: A historic election was won by Barack Obama. The first African American to reach the White House, Obama had beaten Hillary Clinton to reach the Democratic Party nomination and then beat John McCain in the presidential election. He later made Hillary Clinton his Secretary of State and emphasised that his number one foreign policy goal would be to tackle the war in Afghanistan.
© Reuters / Carlos Barria
December: negotiations remained ongoing with the pirates who hijacked the Saudi-owned oil tanker, Sirius Star. It was the most audacious pirate attack yet, taken with around $20 million worth of oil onboard and captured over 800 kilometres off the Somali coast. The increasingly daring exploits of pirates in 2008 also included capturing a shipment of Ukrainian tanks and even attempting to take over a US cruise ship.
© Van Parys Media / US Navy
January: Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvilli sings the national anthem as it becomes clear he has won the country's presidential election on 5 January. Two weeks later, during his inauguration speech, he pledged to mend Georgia's tattered relationship with Russia.
© Reuters / David Mdzinarishvili
February: Kosovo celebrates as it finally declares independence on 17 February. The new country has been recognised by over 50 countries around the world. But these do not include Serbia or several NATO members.
March: The United Nations reveals findings showing that the world's glaciers are melting at more than double the previous rate. Between 1980 and 1999, glaciers melted an average of 30cm. In 2006, the figure was 1.5 metres. Also in March, EU leaders agreed to cut greenhouse gases by 20 percent, following a report by EU High Representative Javier Solana which identified global warming as a potential security threat.
© Reporters / UPP
April: At its last Summit before its 60th birthday, and the last for US President Bush, NATO members congregated in Bucharest in April. Several crucial issues, including a potential NATO membership of Ukraine and Georgia, were discussed. Although there were no final decisions on this matter at the Summit, the outcome was a clear 'not if, but when' message.
© NATO
May: On 7 May, Dmitry Medvedev became Russia's new President. He had won the election with over 70 percent of the votes cast. Although officially the end of the Putin era, the change did not bring a clean break from the past, as Medvedev was Putin's chosen candidate. Medvedev appointed Putin as Prime Minister on 8 May.
© AFP/Belga/VPM
June: Iran was made a new offer of incentives to halt its enrichment of uranium. The offer was taken to Tehran by EU High Representative Javier Solana on behalf of the US, Russia, China and the three EU countries of France, Germany and the UK. It was rejected by Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
© AP / Reporters
July: After 13 years on the run, a barely recognisable Radovan Karadzic was arrested by Serbian policemen in July. He had been posing as an alternative medicine doctor. Accused of war crimes, Karadzic was soon transported to the Hague, where he now faces trial.
© Reporters / Darko Vojinovic
August: As the world prepared to enjoy the Olympic Games in China, a very different type of contest erupted in the Caucasus. In Georgia's northern province of South Ossetia, a brief but bloody war took place involving not just Georgian and separatist South Ossetian forces, but also Russian ones from over the border. Western countries qualified Russia's response as 'disproportionate'.
© Reuters / Sergei Karpukhin
September: Reports strengthened that the health of North Korea's elusive leader, Kim Jong-il, was suffering. Following a drop in the number of news reports about North Korea's 'Dear Leader' speculation mounted that he had had a stroke. This increased following the release of several photos of Kim Jong-il by the country's government, none of which were dated and some of whose legitimacy were questioned by experts.
October: Governments start giving a response to what has since become recognised as a major potential security issue: the global financial crisis. The US Senate approved a $700 billion 'bail out' to help stabilise financial corporations and markets. Germany, the UK and other countries also brought out recovery plans as bourses around the world hit record one day drops.
© Reuters / Lee Jae Won
November: A historic election was won by Barack Obama. The first African American to reach the White House, Obama had beaten Hillary Clinton to reach the Democratic Party nomination and then beat John McCain in the presidential election. He later made Hillary Clinton his Secretary of State and emphasised that his number one foreign policy goal would be to tackle the war in Afghanistan.
© Reuters / Carlos Barria
December: negotiations remained ongoing with the pirates who hijacked the Saudi-owned oil tanker, Sirius Star. It was the most audacious pirate attack yet, taken with around $20 million worth of oil onboard and captured over 800 kilometres off the Somali coast. The increasingly daring exploits of pirates in 2008 also included capturing a shipment of Ukrainian tanks and even attempting to take over a US cruise ship.
© Van Parys Media / US Navy
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