Democratic Republic of Congo

The army, supported by UN peacekeepers, conducted an operation in Ituri province against fighters of the Ugandan Allied Democratic Forces/National Army for the Liberation of Uganda militia (Reuters).

Australia

Around the middle of the month there was an outbreak of violence in Cronulla and other beachside suburbs of Sydney between white and Lebanese and Muslim youths. Police quickly restored order using powers granted by an emergency session of parliament (Reuters).

3 DECEMBER 2005

China, Hong Kong

There was a pro-democracy demonstration which organizers said drew 250,000 people but which police said drew about 63,000. The administration has said it is moving gradually toward universal suffrage, but opposition lawmakers say it is moving too slowly (AP).

4 DECEMBER 2005

Ivory Coast

African mediators named Charles Konan Banny, governor of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), interim prime minister (Reuters).

Venezuela, politics

Elections were held for the 167-seat National Assembly. They were boycotted by opposition parties including Democratic Action (AD), Venezuela Project (PV) and the Social Christian Party (COPEI) who expressed concern about bias in the electoral system. These three parties had won 45 seats in the July 2000 elections. In this election, President Hugo Chavez's Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) won 114 seats, with the rest being won by his allies. Turnout was around 25% (IFES, www.rulers.org, AP).

Kazakhstan, politics

President Nursultan Nazarbayev was reelected with 91.2% of the vote; four other candidates split the rest. Turnout was 76.8%. The opposition and observers from the OSCE said the election was flawed by irregularities (Reuters, IFES, www.rulers.org).

5 DECEMBER 2005

Israel

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Netanya that killed five people (CNN.com).

6 DECEMBER 2005

Military affairs

The US and Romania signed an agreement giving the US control of several military installations in Romania including Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base (AP).

China

There was a deadly clash in Dongzhou, near Shanwei in Guangdong province, between police and people protesting government plans for local land use (AP).

7 DECEMBER 2005

Croatia

Former Croatian Gen. Ante Gotovina, wanted for war crimes in the Serbian region of Krajina in 1995, was arrested in Spain's Canary Islands (CNN.com).

8 DECEMBER 2005

Iraq

A suicide bomber killed 30 people on a bus in southern Baghdad (CNN.com).

Israel, Gaza Strip

An Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip killed Iyad Hassin Sa'ud Najar and two other militants from the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (CNN.com).

11 DECEMBER 2005

Chile, politics

In the first round of presidential elections, Michelle Bachelet of the Coalition of Parties for Democracy (Concertacion) won 46.0% of the vote, Sebastian Pinera of National Renewal (RN) won 25.4% and Joaquin Lavin of the Independent Democratic Union (UDI) won 23.2%. Bachelet and Pinera were scheduled for a runoff on 15 January 2006. All three had said they would maintain free market economic policies, work to reduce the eight percent unemployment rate and reduce rising crime rates in large cities.

In elections to the Chamber of Deputies, the Concertacion coalition won 65 of 120 seats, including 21 for the Party for Democracy (PPD), 20 for the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), and 15 for the Socialist Party (PSC, up from 10). The Alliance for Chile coalition won 54 seats, including 33 for UDI and 19 for RN. Partial elections for the Senate resulted in Concertacion possessing 20 seats in the 48-seat body and the Alliance controlling 17 (www.rulers.org, IFES, AP).

12-14 DECEMBER 2005

Lebanon

A powerful car bomb killed anti-Syrian member of parliament and journalist Gebran Tueni and three others in eastern Beirut on the 12th. The same day, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora called an emergency session of his Cabinet at which he reportedly called for an investigation “with an international character”, prompting five pro-Syrian ministers to suspend their participation in the government. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the US would “remain steadfast in its support of the Lebanese people”, and French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said, "The international community is united and determined in standing by the side of Lebanon in this crucial period for its future."

On the 14th, tens of thousands attended Tueni's funeral procession in Beirut, and a general strike was widely respected (CNN.com).

14 DECEMBER 2005

Tanzania, politics

In a presidential election, foreign minister Jakaya Kikwete, from the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, defeated the Civic United Front's Ibrahim Lipumba with 80.2% of the vote versus 11.6%. The CCM also took 206 of the 232 elected parliamentary seats. There were some opposition charges of vote fraud (Reuters).

15 DECEMBER 2005

Iraq, politics

Elections were held for the 275-seat Council of Representatives. The Shiite-dominated United Iraqi Alliance won 128 seats, the Kurdistan alliance won 53, the Sunni-dominated Iraqi Accord Front won 44, and the Iraqi National List won 25. Turnout appeared to be strong in all parts of the country, with officials estimating it at around two-thirds of eligible voters (www.rulers.org, CNN.com).

Diplomatic affairs, Ivory Coast

The UN Security Council passed a resolution calling on members to “take the necessary measures to prevent the import of all rough diamonds from Ivory Coast to their territory” (Reuters).

18 DECEMBER 2005

Democratic Republic of Congo

A new constitution was approved in a referendum. It decentralizes authority, dividing the country into 25 semi-autonomous provinces drawn along ethnic and cultural lines. It also reduces the minimum age for presidential candidates from 35 to 30, making possible the reelection of 34-year-old President Joseph Kabila. According to the election commission, 84% voted for the constitution and turnout was about 60%.

Presidential and parliamentary elections are expected in March (AP).

Bolivia, politics

In a presidential election, Evo Morales of the Movement toward Socialism (MAS) defeated Jorge Quiroga of Democratic and Social Power (PODEMOS) with 53.7% of the vote to 28.6%. Turnout was 84.5%.

In the 130-seat Chamber of Deputies, MAS won 72 seats, up from 27 in the June 2002 elections, and PODEMOS won 43. The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement won only seven, down from 36. New Republican Force was swept out, losing all 27 of its seats. In the Senate, PODEMOS won 13 seats and the MAS won 12, up from eight. MNR's seats were reduced from 11 to one.

Morales has advocated land reform, expansion of Indian rights and allowing some coca leaf cultivation. He has said that natural resources, including natural gas reserves, should be place under state ownership and that current exploration contracts must be renegotiated, but that Bolivia would not take over foreign oil and gas companies operating in the country. Following his election he promised to create a climate favorable for investment and jobs and to not "expropriate or confiscate any assets." He also promised the east a referendum on its demands for greater regional autonomy (CNN.com, AP, www.rulers.org, IFES).

Chad

The Rally for Democracy and Liberty (RDL) rebels attacked Adre, near the Sudanese border. Chad said its army repelled the attack, pursued RDL forces into Sudan and destroyed RDL bases there. It accused Sudan of supporting the RDL. The RDL has said it seeks to overthrow President Idriss Deby. It includes army deserters and former Deby supporters who helped bring him to power in 1990 (Reuters).

19 DECEMBER 2005

Diplomatic affairs, Democratic Republic of Congo

The International Court of Justice ruled that Uganda “violated the sovereignty and also the territorial integrity" of the DRC during the late 1990s and that "the unlawful military intervention by Uganda was of such magnitude and duration that the Court considers it to be a grave violation" of international law. The DRC had gone to the Court in 1999 to complain that Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda had illegally invaded its territory. Foreign forces withdrew from the DRC in 2003. (Reuters).

24 DECEMBER 2005

Chad, foreign policy

The government released a statement saying, "Chad is today in a state of belligerence with Sudan.” Referring to the RDL attack on Adre on the 18th, it called “on the Chadian people to mobilize against this Sudanese aggression” (Reuters).

Egypt, civil affairs

Opposition politician Ayman Nour was convicted of forging petition signatures and sentenced to five years imprisonment (AP).

27 DECEMBER 2005

Saudi Arabia

Police captured Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Mohammed al-Suwailmi in Buraydah. He was reportedly involved in recruitment and propaganda for Islamic militant groups in the country. With his capture, the government has now killed or captured eight of 15 militants on a most-wanted list issued in June who are still in the country. Some 21 others are believed to be outside the country. From an initial most-wanted list of 26 militants issued in December 2003, all but one have been killed or captured (AP).

28 DECEMBER 2005

Ivory Coast

The new cabinet chosen by interim Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny was announced. Rebel leader Guillaume Soro is minister of reconstruction, the second-highest position after Banny. Antoine Bohoun Bouabrae, a top ally of President Laurent Gbagbo, is minister of planning and development. The minister of defense is Rene Kwasi Aphing, who belongs to neither side in the country's civil war (AP).

31 DECEMBER 2005

Indonesia

A bomb attack in Palu, on Sulawesi island, killed at least eight people (AP).