United States, foreign policy

President Bush visited the Middle East around mid-month. On the 10th, while in Israel, he called on Israelis and Palestinians to make concessions in peace talks; he said, "There should be an end to the occupation that began in 1967," and that "No agreement and no Palestinian state will be born of terror."

On the 13th, while in the United Arab Emirates, Bush spoke of Iran and its support of terrorists, its rhetoric and its nuclear program. "Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere," he said. "So the United States is strengthening our long-standing security commitments with our friends in the Gulf, and rallying friends around the world to confront this danger before it is too late." (CNN.com)

Iraq

Operation Iron Harvest began in Nineveh, Salaheddin, Diyala and Tameem provinces. As of mid-February, according to US forces, the operation had captured or killed more than 70 high-value insurgents and hundreds of "enemy fighters" in those provinces, and many other fighters had fled from cities to the desert or to Syria or Saudi Arabia.

According to the Interior Ministry 466 civilians were killed this month. (CNN.com)

1 JANUARY 2008

Iraq

A suicide bomber killed 36 people in eastern Baghdad. (CNN.com)

5 JANUARY 2008

Georgia, politics

In a snap election, President Mikheil Saakashvili was reelected with 53.5% of the vote; Levan Gachechiladze received 26.7%. (IFES, CNN.com)

8 JANUARY 2008

Colombia

Carlos Marin Guarin, a.k.a. "Pablito," a senior commander in the rebel National Liberation Army (ELN), was captured in Bogota. (CNN.com)

12 JANUARY 2008

Taiwan, politics

The Kuomintang Party (KMT) won a decisive victory in elections for the 113-seat Legislative Yuan, taking 81 seats versus just 27 for President Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). (IFES)

14 JANUARY 2008

Pakistan

A bomb attack in Karachi killed ten people. (CNN.com)

14-16 JANUARY 2008

Asia and the Pacific, diplomatic affairs

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited China. (AP)

16 JANUARY 2008

Israel, West Bank

Walid Obeidi, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad, was killed in a gun battle with Israeli forces in the northern West Bank. (CNN.com)

20 JANUARY-3 FEBRUARY 2008

Serbia, politics

A presidential election was held on 20 January; Serbian Radical Party (SRS) leader Tomislav Nikolic and President Boris Tadic were the two biggest vote-getters with 40.8% and 36.1% respectively. In the runoff on 3 February Tadic edged out Nikolic 50.5% to 47.9%. Both are opposed to independence for Kosovo, but Tadic supports eventual membership in the EU and is unwilling to hold off on that for the sake of Serbia's claims to Kosovo. (CNN.com)

23 JANUARY 2008

Iraq

A bomb attack in Mosul killed 34 people. (CNN.com)

24 JANUARY 2008

Italy, politics

Prime Minister Romano Prodi resigned after narrowly losing a confidence vote in the Senate. (www.rulers.org)

31 JANUARY 2008

Pakistan

There were reports that Abu Laith al-Libi, a senior leader in al Qaeda, had in recent days been killed by a US strike. It was unclear exactly when, where or by who he was killed. Al-Libi was thought to have moved into al Qaeda's inner circle in recent years, helping fill the void left by the killing or capture of other senior leaders. (CNN.com)