December 20, 2006. Copyright 2006, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Review of the Year 2006
By Julie Mullins

LONDON, December 20, Graphic News:  Captions accompany graphic GN20xxx

January
4. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke
15/22. Michelle Bachelet was elected as the first female president of Chile, while in Bolivia Evo Morales was sworn in as the first indigenous head of state
25. Hamas, the militant Islamist party, won a landslide victory in the Palestinian election
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February
3. Violence spread in Islamic countries in response to publication in a Danish newspaper of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad
10. The Winter Olympics began in Torino, Italy. Germany headed the final medal table
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March
10. NASAÕs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter entered orbit around the red planet to look for evidence of water and identify landing sites for future missions
11. Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was found dead in his cell at the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague
22. The Basque separatist group ETA declared an end to its 30-year armed campaign for independence from Spain
28. Kadima, the party founded by Ariel Sharon but now led by Ehud Olmert, won IsraelÕs election
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April
5. Amnesty International claimed it had further evidence that secret CIA flights carried terror suspects for interrogation in Òblack siteÓ prisons in eastern Europe
9. Centre-left economist Romano Prodi won power in Italy by a razor-thin margin
21. Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 80th birthday
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May
17. The Da Vinci Code, the movie of the blockbuster novel which has sold over 43 million copies worldwide, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival
20. Construction of the Three Gorges Dam in China, the worldÕs largest hydroelectric project, was completed nine months ahead of schedule
21. Montenegro voted in a referendum to terminate its union with Serbia
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June
7. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, was killed in a U.S. airstrike on an isolated safe house near Baquba
9. The FIFA World Cup in Germany got underway, with Italy emerging as the eventual winner
9. King Bhumibol of Thailand, the worldÕs longest-serving head of state, marked the 60th anniversary of his accession
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July
3. The first train from Beijing to Tibet arrived in Lhasa after a 48-hour journey across the worldÕs highest railway
11. Seven coordinated bombings on packed rush-hour commuter trains in IndiaÕs financial capital, Mumbai, killed 209 people
12. Israel bombarded Lebanon from land, sea and air after Hezbollah forces killed eight soldiers and captured two more. The war lasted a month, with significant casualties on both sides
23. American Floyd Landis won the Tour de France, but then tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone
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August
1. Cuban dictator President Fidel Castro underwent intestinal surgery, having temporarily transferred power to his brother Raul
9. Airline passengers were banned from carrying all but essential hand luggage after anti-terrorist officers uncovered a plot to blow up planes flying from Britain to the U.S.
28. Tennis greats Andre Agassi and Martina Navratilova took their final bows at the U.S. Open in New York
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September
4. Ebullient Australian naturalist Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray barb to the heart during a diving expedition on the Great Barrier Reef
19. Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a bloodless military coup
22. Europe scored a stunning victory over the U.S. at the 36th Ryder Cup, held for the first time in Ireland
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October
5. NATO assumed responsibility for security across all of Afghanistan, where conflict deaths rose four-fold over the year
9. South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon was chosen to be the next UN Secretary-General
9. North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test, attracting widespread international condemnation
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November
5. Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death over the 1982 Dujail killings. He remained on trial for the genocide of thousands of Kurds
7. President Bush suffered a thumping defeat in the crucial U.S. mid-term elections, with Democrats winning control of both Houses of Congress
21. Pierre Gemayel, a leading anti-Syrian Lebanese cabinet minister, was assassinated in Beirut
23. Former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko died in London from radiation poisoning by polonium-210
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December
1. Typhoon Durian killed over 1,000 people in the Philippines and up to 100 in Vietnam
5. A military coup was declared in Fiji
10. Chile's former military dictator General Augusto Pinochet died at 91
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