Yearbook 2008 Russian Federation. There were hopes in the outside world that the presidential shift in the Russian Federation would bring some liberalization inward and relaxed relations outward. But 2008 was the year when democracy was crushed even more, the Russian Federation went to war with a neighboring country and the relationship with the West…
Author: payhelpcenter
Romania 2008
Yearbook 2008 Romania. In January, the Constitutional Court ruled that the investigations of Romania’s communist past violated the Constitution, as the Investigative Council acted as prosecutor, judge and appellate body at the same time. Tens of thousands of investigations had been conducted to test people for public service, and hundreds of people had been revealed…
Republic of the Congo 2008
Yearbook 2008 Congo. Yet many years after the civil war that plagued Republic of the Congo in the years 1997–2003, the country has not healed the wounds. Only in 2008 did the Army begin the arduous task of collecting and destroying the quantities of abandoned weapons and scarce ammunition still scattered on the old battlefields….
Qatar 2008
Yearbook 2008 Qatar. The first church in Qatar opened on March 14. The Roman Catholic St. Mary’s Church in the capital Doha is primarily aimed at the country’s guest workers from the Philippines and other southern Asian countries. A new law was voted on in June to protect guest working maids. Under the new law,…
Portugal 2008
Yearbook 2008 Portugal. The leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD), Luís Filipe Menezes, resigned in April after failing to resolve the internal conflicts that the party suffered in the wake of a corruption scandal in 2007. Several high-ranking PSD politicians were involved in the scandal, among other Lisbon mayors. In the same month,…
Poland 2008
Yearbook 2008 Poland. Following the change of government at the end of 2007, Poland’s relations with the outside world improved in 2008. Neighboring German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a so-called friendship visit and met Prime Minister Donald Tusk in his hometown of Gdańsk. French President Nicolas Sarkozy also visited Poland, among other things, with the…
Philippines 2008
Yearbook 2008 Philippines. The House Speaker, Jose de Venecia, was dismissed in February after a majority of the House members voted for it. The measure was seen as a way for President Gloria Arroyo to protect himself from corruption charges. Jose de Venecia had been in the post for twelve years and was previously an…
Peru 2008
Yearbook 2008 Peru. The Maoist guerrilla group Sendero Luminoso, who was most active in the 1980s, still exists and carried out attacks in the department of Ayacucho in October and November, killing a total of 16 government soldiers. The direct reason for the attacks was probably the meeting held by the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation)…
Paraguay 2008
Yearbook 2008 Paraguay. In a historic victory, former Catholic Bishop Fernando Lugo won the presidential election in Paraguay on April 20, setting the point for the Colorado Party’s 61-year-long power, taking office August 15. Lugo won with 41 percent of the cast, against 31 percent for the Colorado Party candidate Blanca Ovelar and 22 percent…
Papua New Guinea 2008
Yearbook 2008 Papua New Guinea. With satellite imagery as the basis, an international research group presented a report during the year on the rapid calving of Papua New Guinea’s rainforests over the past 30 years. In total, the country has lost five million hectares of forest, and according to the researchers, current safeguards are insufficient….