Asif Ali Zardari, widower of the assassinated Benazir Bhutto, is elected president of Pakistan

Israel completes a military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, nearly three weeks after launching its invasion of the territory

Iran launches a satellite into orbit on an Iranian-built rocket

The long civil war in Sri Lanka ends with the conclusive defeat of the Tamil Tigers by government forces

North Korea announces that it has carried out a second successful nuclear test

Iran's declaration that its presidential election has been a landslide victory for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad brings vast crowds of protesters onto the streets

Iran's Guardian Council decrees that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election was valid, amid increasingly strong crackdown on any sign of dissent

Riots break out in Urumchi, in northwest China, in hostilities between ethnic Uighurs and Han Chinese

Global stock markets fall when Dubai seems in danger of being unable to service its massive $80 billion of debt

Abu Dhabi provides Dubai with $10 billion of debt relief, reducing the threat of a new major financial crisis

The Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai is inaugurated, entering the record books as the world tallest building at 828 m (2717 ft)

Violent riots break out in Kyrgyzstan, causing the president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, to flee from the capital, Bishek

President Bakyev of Kyrgyzstan resigns and escapes into exile in Belarus

Israeli soldiers board an aid flotilla headed for Gaza and in the resulting violence kill nine Turkish activists on the Mavi Marmara

Ethnic violence against the Uzbek minority erupts in the Jalal-Abad region of Kyrgyzstan, lasting several days and resulting in more than 200 deaths

Disastrous monsoon floods strike northwest Pakistan, killing more than 1600 people, displacing as many as 20 million and ruining crops

Aung San Suu Kyi is released from house arrest in Rangoon under certain conditions

North Korea shells the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, causing four deaths and a dangerous deterioration in relations with South Korea

Anti-gpovernment protests begin in Jordan, soon causing King Abdullah to form a new cabinet with the brief to introduce reform

Protests begin in Syria, rising over the following months to the level of an uprising as demands for Bashar al-Assad to resign are met with increasing brutality

A major demonstration is held in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen, demanding the resignation of the president, Ali Abdullah Saleh

Police in Bahrain make a night raid on peaceful protesters encamped in the capital city's Pearl Roundabout, killing three

The demands of protesters in Bahrain extend to include the overthrow of the monarchy, after a second day of government forces using live rounds

A massive earthquake off the northeast coast of Japan causes a huge tsunami resulting in massive devastation for miles inland

The Japanese tsunami results in a nuclear crisis and massive evacuation because of meltdowns in three reactors at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant