The year of rise and rise of Obama

January

The US presidential election was already making it to the international headlines. The two major parties – Democratic and Republican – had started their primaries and focus was on Iowa, the first state to vote. Democrat Barack Obama swept the state while Mike Huckabee emerged winner among the Republicans.

In Malaysia, the health minister, Mr Chua Soi Lek, was forced to resign after admitting he was the man in widely circulated videos that showed him having sex with an unidentified woman.

February

The focus on the US primaries keeps hitting the headlines. Hillary Clinton and Mr Obama meet in a televised debate ahead of the February “Super Tuesday” contest.

The romantic note of the month was French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s marriage to supermodel Carla Bruni. The wedding came four months after the president had divorced his second wife Cecilia Ciganer.

In Chad, rebels assault the capital, N’Djamena, nearly toppling President Idriss Deby. It takes a determined response from his guards and French mercenaries to keep the rebels at bay.

Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete dissolves his cabinet following the resignation of Prime Minister Edward Lowassa. The cabinet dissolution came amid parliamentary investigations into an emergency power contract.

Spain issues arrest warrants for 40 Rwandan army officers for genocide, crimes against humanity and terrorism committed between 1994 and 2000.

And in Cuba, it was time to draw curtains on the Castro era. After 49 years at the helm of power, the communist leader declared he was relinquishing power. Mr Fidel Castro had not appeared in public for 19 months after undergoing stomach surgery. Raul Castro, 76, and brother to Fidel, takes over.

March

US Democratic primaries continue hitting headlines as Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton battle to clinch the presidential ticket. In primaries in Texas and Ohio, the candidates are in a dead heat.

In Congo, fighting between rebels and government forces in the eastern part of the country intensifies, leaving 22 people dead.

The tragedy that is Zimbabwe continues playing out. President Robert Mugabe approves legislation giving local owners the right to take majority share in foreign companies.

For Central Africa, it was time to make peace. After surviving a coup in February, Chadian president and his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir sign a truce in Senegal. Chad had accused Sudan of being behind the botched coup attempt while Sudan blamed Chad for aiding rebel groups in Darfur.

China accuses the Dalai Lama of plotting “terror” in Tibet and colluding with Uighur separatists in Xinjiang as it escalates a security and propaganda drive to stifle anti-Chinese unrest ahead of the Olympics. The protests against Chinese “dictatorship” in Tibet later took on a larger-than-life image as crowds took to streets in Europe as the Olympic torch was passed around.

April

The Zimbabwe question was not about to be settled. Elections are held but it takes the electoral commission over a month to announce results. When they do, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai is declared winner but falls short of the necessary 50 per cent to win the race in the first round.

Political bickering in Zimbabwe forces the postponement of the 13th Comesa Summit of Heads of State and Government.

In the US, focus was on Mrs Clinton. Even after she suffers successive defeats in several primaries, she decides she will stick in the race and demands that delegates from Michigan and Florida be seated at the convention in August. The two states were stripped of their voting rights after they decided to hold early primaries.

Mrs Clinton also asks President George W Bush to boycott the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in August because of China’s crackdown in Tibet and other human-rights abuses.

May

Troubled Zimbabwe has started rationing the stable maize meal amid worsening relations with neighbouring countries, which have in the past helped stave off famine in Africa’s former bread basket. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council takes interest in Zimbabwe’s election standoff for the first time, asking an envoy to visit the crisis-stricken southern African country.

^In the US, it was crisis time for Mr Obama. His pastor, Jeremiah Wright is accused of supporting the 9/11 attacks on the US in his sermons that are widely spread over the internet. Mr Obama tries to ignore the remarks but when it looks like the crisis will bring down his campaign, he gives a well-received speech on racism in America.

^US war planes kill an Islamist rebel said to be al Qaeda’s leader in Somalia and at least a dozen other people in Washington’s biggest success in efforts to contain an insurgency raging since 2007. Later, at least 1,000 Somalis protest the US strike in the central Somali town of Dusamareb.

June

Xenophobia reared its ugly head in South Africa. Waves of attacks on Africans who are not natives of South Africa sweep through several states but mostly in Johannesburg. Blaming the non-indigenous of “taking away their jobs”, the mainly jobless South Africans kill about 42 foreigners, mainly Zimbabweans and Somalis.

UK’s lower house of parliament approved legislation allowing scientists to create animal-human embryos.

The UN summit in Rome targets the worsening global food crisis. The summit is seen as important step in tackling the food crisis, which is spiralling as a result of increased demand in China and Asia and failure of cereal crop in Brazil and the heightened demand for bio-fuels which use corn as a raw material.

With relations strained between France and Rwanda, the tiny Central African state seeks a new identity. In this month, the Commonwealth, a grouping of former British colonies, scrutinises Kigali’s eligibility to join the voluntary association of the 53 independent nations

It is election run-off time in Zimbabwe. First, with the list of political detainees growing, the government contemplates releasing common criminals from jails to create room for the political captives. Then, accusing NGOs of undermining his government, President Mugabe bans them. A few days to the polls, citing unending violence against its supporters, opposition MDC pulls out. Mr Mugabe is declared winner in the one-man contest.

July

US Congress apologises for slavery. A resolution passed by voice vote “apologises to African-Americans on behalf of the people of the US, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery”. Lawmakers also said they were committed to rectifying “the lingering consequence of slavery and segregation.”

In Canterbury, controversial gay bishop Gene Robinson shows up for the Lambeth Conference, even after the Archbishop excluded him from the invitation list. Robinson, whose consecration has threatened unity of the 77-million Anglican community, worked on the sidelines as the other bishops strode across the University of Kent toward discussion and prayer. The conference was boycotted by over 200 bishops, many from Africa.

Mr Obama holds a mass rally in Berlin, Germany, urging Europe to stand by the US in stabilising Afghanistan. Over 200,000 people attend the rally at the Victory Column in the Global Tiergarten Park. It was part of his wider tour that took him to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Zimbabwe rivals have the first set of talks in Pretoria, South Africa brokered by then South African president Thabo Mbeki. Both sides agree to a media black-out during the talks.

Most wanted Bosnian war crimes suspect Rodovan Karadzic is captured after 13 years on the run. Karadzic, 63, described as the “Osama bin Laden of Europe”, was immediately arraigned before the War Crimes Court in Belgrade. ^Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid struggle leader and first post-apartheid leader of South Africa celebrates his 90th birthday.

A man who was born a woman but underwent surgery to change his gender produces a baby. Thomas Beatie gave birth to a baby girl named Tracy in Oregon, US.

August

Mr Obama is finally endorsed as candidate for the US presidency during the Democratic National Convention held in Denver. This comes days after naming Senator Joe Biden as his running mate.

In Pakistan, it was curtains down for President Pervez Musharraf. Faced by an impeachment motion, the former army leader and US ally calls it quits. He was to face censure for violating the constitution and misconduct. He is later replaced by husband to slain politician Benazir Bhutto, Zardari.

The Olympic games held in China
The UN Security Council extends the mandate for peacekeepers in Darfur, Sudan for another year. The move had been complicated by the ICC move to indict Sudan president Omar Bashir. In granting extension, the council quotes an AU request to stay the ICC indictments.

September

Chinese dairy products are discovered to have melamine toxins. What follows is a near global uproar, compelling most countries to recall the products. In China, the contaminated products kill four children and leave about 53,000 others ill.

In South Africa, the ruling ANC party is rocked with crisis after President Thabo Mbeki is forced to “step aside” following a ruling by a High Court judge that he could have influenced the charging of rival Jacob Zuma with corruption. In the ensuing chaos, 11 ministers resign; including the respected finance Chief Manuel Trevor, who however, returned to the docket after new president Kgalema Montlanthe, re-appointed him.

A massive bomb hits the luxurious Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing 60 people. Al Qaeda is suspected to be behind the attack.

Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai sign a power-sharing agreement. The deal followed weeks of tense negotiations. In the deal, signed after two controversial rounds of election, Mr Mugabe says he is willing to cede some powers to Tsvangirai, who should become prime minister.

October

Two held over plot to kill Obama. The white supremacists, Daniel Cowart, 20, and Paul Schlesselman, 18, were arrested in Tennessee.

Five kidnapped Chinese oil workers are shot dead in Darfur. The five, working for the China National Petroleum Corporation, had been abducted in Kordofan, outside Darfur. Their abductors claimed to be from the Justice and Equality Movement, but Jem denies. China is the biggest buyer of Sudanese oil and has been faulted for failing to come down hard on the Khartoum regime over the genocide in Darfur.

In Zambia, polls are held to replace fallen President Levy Mwanawasa, who died in August in a French hospital. Ruppiah Banda, who was Mwanawasa’s deputy, is voted president in a tight contest where he beats perennial opposition leader Michael Sata.

India successfully launches its first lunar mission, marking a major boost for the country’s space programme. The orbiting spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 was launched with an Indian-built rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

The two US presidential candidates hold their final TV debate, with just 20 days left to the poll. The debate brought to prominence “Joe the plumber” and McCain tried to disentangle himself from George Bush by telling his rival, “Senator Obama.

Botswana’s Festus Mogae wins the second Mo Ibrahim award. He was recognised “for ensuring stability and prosperity” in Botswana. For his efforts, he wins $5 million.

Former Finland President Martti Ahtisaari is declared winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. In announcing Mr Ahtisaari, who has worked to end conflicts in troubled spots around the world for more than three decades, as the winner, the Norwegian Nobel Committee called him “an outstanding international mediator”.

And the weirdest of the month came from London. A man was discovered making kebabs near a corpse and court banned him from managing food business and he was fined 3,800 pounds. Iaswinder Singh, 45, was found by police making kebabs at Pappu Sweet Centre in Wolverhampton, where a dead man was lying on the sofa.

November

After months of campaigns, Americans go to the polls. On November 4, Americans overwhelmingly back Mr Obama for president.

The piracy fever in Somalia waters is at an all-time high. By November, pirates have been paid $150 million in ransoms, and maritime groups appeal to the UN to mount an international naval blockade. The biggest prey for the pirates so far is the Saudi owned Sirius Star (which is the size of three soccer fields) loaded with fuel worth $100 million.

The Zimbabwe crisis continues. The highlight this month in this never-ending tale of misery and a failed state is the barring of the Group of Elders from entering Zimbabwe. The Group comprising former US president Jimmy Carter, former UN secretary general Kofi Annan and wife to Nelson Mandela, Graca Machel, are stopped from accessing Zimbabwe to assess the humanitarian situation there.

For Rwanda, it was a sad reminder about its past. An aide to President Kagame, Lt. Rose Kabuye is arrested in Germany ahead of Kagame’s visit to that country. She is held in connection with the 1994 assassination of President Juvenile Habyarimana, whose death sparked off the genocide. She is repatriated to France and charged with “complicity in murder in relation to terrorism”.

Mumbai, the Indian commercial city, comes under siege. Gunmen storm two a train station and hotels, including the prestigious Taj Mahal, killing 170 people.

In Thailand, protesters block the country’s main Bangkok Airport, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Somchan Wongsawat, whom they accuse of corruption. What the protesters fail to achieve through picketing, is gained through a High Court order. A judge throws out the prime minister in graft charges and bars him from elective politics for five years.

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo meets DR Congo rebel leader renegade General Laurent Nkunda at Jomba, North Kivu. Gen. Nkunda agrees to a ceasefire, promises to open a humanitarian corridor and support the UN peace initiative. He asks Mr Obasanjo to tell President Kabila to respect the cessation of hostilities. The conflict in eastern Congo has forced thousands of its citizens to flee to Uganda.

December

The pressure to kick out Mr Mugabe mounts. Archbishop of York, Ugandan born John Sentamu in an article in the UK Guardian, writes, “The time has come for Mugabe to answer for his crimes against humanity against his countrymen and women and justice to be done.” Others who add their voices to the call are UK premier Gordon Brown, Elders Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter and Graca Machel, Kenyan premier Raila Odinga, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the EU. The renewed calls for Mugabe’s departure come amid a cholera outbreak that leaves over 700 Zimbabweans dead. But in a twist of events, AU chairman and Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete comes to the dictator’s defence, saying Mugabe should not be forced out.

The dream team; is that how to describe Obama’s cabinet? This month, Obama’s cabinet takes shape. He individually announces the people he will work with. Notable are Hillary Clinton who takes the Secretary of State docket, Tom Daschle (health), Bill Richardson (commerce), Robert Gates (defence), Susan Rice (ambassador to UN),

The governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich finds himself in hot soup after he attempts to trade the senate seat vacated by President-elect Barrack Obama.

On a trip to Baghdad, US President George Bush is forced to tap from his flexibility when he dodges a shoe hurled at him by a reporter.

Ghana goes to the polls to elect a successor to President John Kufour who steps down after serving the mandated two terms. Governing party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo won 49.13 per cent of the vote, against 47.92 per cent for his rival, John Atta Mills, but neither reached the 50 per cent threshold needed for an outright win and a run-off is held on December 28.