US forces are in control of Baghdad and an excited crowd topples from its plinth a massive statue of Saddam Hussein

President Bush prematurely celebrates his Iraq achievement with a speech on a US aircraft carrier in front of a banner declaring 'Mission Accomplished'

UK scientist David Kelly commits suicide, apparently for reasons linked with the Iraq War

Following local and international pressure after the death of Rafik Hariri, Syria withdraws the last of its troops from Lebanon

North Korea test-fires seven missiles, of varying ranges and with varying success

Hezbollah takes two Israeli soldiers hostage, provoking the renewal of air and rocket warfare on the Israel-Lebanon border

A UN-sponsored cease-fire comes into effect in the conflict between Israeli and Hezbollah forces in south Lebanon

North Korea announces that it has tested a nuclear weapon

The Republicans lose control of both houses of the US Congress in an electoral backlash against the Iraq War

Georgian armed forces enter the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia, provoking a powerful armed response from Russia

Israel begins an intense series of airstrikes against targets in the Gaza Strip, in response to rockets launched by Hamas

Israel escalates its war against Hamas by launching a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip

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

The civil war in Ivory Coast is perhaps ended by the capture of former president, and recently defeated presidential candidate, Laurent Gbagbo

The USA formally declares an end to the Iraq War

2,100 Palestinians and 71 Israelis are killed in seven weeks of fighting

The Sinjar massacre is the beginning of ISIS attacks resulting in the massacre of over 4,000 Yazidis in Iraq's Sinjar District.

Ex-Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić is sentenced to 40 years in prison after being found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the Bosnian War