with the aid of North Korea. The White House and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) later declared that American intelligence indicated the site was a nuclear facility with a military purpose, though Syria denies this. The Doomsday Clock, the symbolic representation of the threat of nuclear annihilation, moved four minutes closer to midnight: two minutes in 2002 and two minutes in 2007 to 5 minutes to midnight. Decolonization and independence East Timor regains independence from Indonesia in 2002. Portugal granted independence to East Timor in 1975, but it was soon after invaded by Indonesia, which only recognized East Timorese independence in 2002. Montenegro gains independence from Serbia in 2006, ending the 88-year-old Yugoslavia. Kosovo declares independence from Serbia in 2008, though its independence still remains unrecognized by many countries. On August 23, 2005, Israel's unilateral disengagement from 25 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and West Bank ends. On August 26, 2008, Russia formally recognises the disputed Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. The vast majority of United Nations member states maintain that the areas belong to Georgia. Political trends Democracy During this decade, the peaceful transfer of power through elections first occurred in Mexico, Indonesia, Taiwan, Colombia, and several other countries. (See below.) Prominent political events The prominent political events of the decade include: North America Canada Paul Martin replaces Jean Chrétien as Prime Minister of Canada in 2003 by becoming the new leader of the Liberal Party. Stephen Harper was elected prime minister in 2006 following the defeat of Paul Martin's government in a motion of no confidence. Greenland Greenland was granted further Self-governance (or "self-rule") within the Kingdom of Denmark on June 21, 2009. Mexico Vicente Fox was elected President of Mexico in the 2000 presidential election, making him the first president elected from an opposition party in 71 years, defeating the then-dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). United States George W. Bush was sworn in succeeding Bill Clinton as the 43rd President of the United States on January 20, 2001, following a sharply contested election. On October 26, 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush signed the USA PATRIOT Act into law. On February 15, 2003, anti-war protests broke out around the world in opposition to the U.S. Invasion of Iraq, in what the Guinness Book of World Records called the largest anti-war rally in human history. In reaction, The New York Times writer Patrick