International Events in May 2002

May 2 Israeli military lifts the prolonged siege of the Palestinian Authority President, Yasser Arafat's Ramallah headquarters where he has been penned in since December. Full Story
May 3 In an unprecedented move, the European Union blocks the assets of 11 non-European terrorist organisations, including the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Kurdish separatists in Turkey. Nearly 500 people die after a ferry capsizes in Meghna river, Bangladesh. Full Story
May 4 A Nigerian BAC-11-500 airliner crashes into the residential district of Gwammaja killing 116 people, about 40 of them on the ground. Full Story
The NASA launches the Aqua satellite on a $952 million project to improve weather forecasts and track changes in the global climate from the Vandenberg Air Force base.
May 5 France's incumbent President, Jacques Chirac wins a landslide victory over his far right opponent, Jean Marie Le Pen to secure another five year term. Full Story
May 6 The Myanmar military junta "unconditionally" frees Aung San Sun Kyi, general secretary of the National League for Democracy after 19 months of house arrest. Full Story
French President Jacques Chirac appoints Jean Pierre Raffarin the new Prime Minister. Full Story
May 7 Pim Fortuyn, leader of Holland's right wing anti-immigration party, L.P.F. is shot dead shortly after a radio interview in Hilversum, 20 km from Amsterdam. Full Story
The U.S. pulls out of the International Criminal Court on war crimes Full Story
Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines sign an anti-terrorism pact in Putrajaya, Malaysia's new administrative capital. Full Story
May 8 All 112 passengers and crew aboard a China Northern Airlines flight die after the plane from Beijing to Dalian plunges into the Yellow Sea. Full Story
Fourteen persons, including 11 French nationals die after a suicide bomber blows up a mini-bus, in Karachi. Full Story
Over 100 Nepalese security personnel and 20 rebels die after a Maoist attack on an army post in Gam village of Rolpa district. Full Story
Let us not make children pay for out failures anymore, says the U.N. Secretary-General, Kofi Annan opening the first U.N. children's summit.
May 9 Thirty persons are killed as a powerful bomb explodes during Victory Day celebrations in Kaspiisk town in southern Russia. Full Story
Bahraini voters go to the polls for the first time in 29 years to elect the members of the five local bodies. Full Story
May 10 The 38-day-long siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is lifted and all the 126 people trapped inside head for different destinations. Full Story
More than 180 nations pledge to improve the health of the world's two billion children after a 30-hour final blitz, at the United Nations. (NA)
May 11 Diane Pretty whose right to die plea was rejected by the European Court of Human Rights, dies in a hospice near her home in Bedfordshire.
May 12 The Central Committee of the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud Party votes against the creation of a Palestinian state, at a meet in Tel Aviv.
May 13 Moscow reports a breakthrough in talks with the U.S. on new drastic cuts in their nuclear arsenal. Full Story
May 14 Russia, Kazakshtan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia and Belarus decide to set up a full-fledged military alliance, reminiscent of the Warsaw Pact, at a summit in Moscow. Full Story
May 15 The U.N. Security Council approves an overhaul of sanctions against Iraq. Full Story
NATO Foreign Ministers and Defence Ministers approve an agreement accepting Russia into the alliance at a summit in Reykjavik, Iceland. Full Story
The Christian Democrats Ousted from power eight years ago after 70 years of uninterrupted participation in government wins a record 43 seats in parliamentary polls in The Netherlands. Full Story
May 16 Jacques Chirac is sworn in as France's President for another five year mandate. Full Story
Tamae Watanabe (63), of Japan becomes the oldest woman to climb Mt. Everest.
May 19 The centre-right Fianna Fail of the Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern bags 43 per cent of the votes in general elections. Full Story
East Timor declares independence after 450 years of oppressive foreign rule. Xanana Gusmao, takes oath as President. It will be the 190th member of the U.N. Full Story
Vietnamese vote for a new National Assembly in landmark polls. Full Story
Ahmed Tejan Kabbah (70) is sworn in Sierra Leone's President again after winning the May 14 polls.
May 20 East Timor's President, Xanana Gusmao administers oath to the first sovereign government headed by Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri. Full Story
May 22 The Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE reiterate commitment to peace in their first direct meeting in seven years, at Killinochchi. Full Story
The Kyrgyzstan Government headed by the Prime Minister, Kurmanbek Bakiev quits.
The Nepali Premier, Sher Bahadur Deuba dissolves Parliament.
May 23 The Nepali Congress expels the Prime Minister, Sher Bahadur Deuba for three years for dissolving Parliament without consulting it. Full Story
May 24 The U.S. and Russia sign a landmark nuclear disarmament treaty (Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty) the first strategic arms reduction pact in nearly 10 years, in Moscow. Full Story
At least 75 people die as a ferry capsizes in river Boleshwar after a storm near Kachubaria ghat in Mathbaria near Khulna district, in Bangladesh. Full Story
May 25 225 persons die after a Chinese Boeing 747-200 en route from Taiwan to Hong Kong crashes into the sea off Penghu islands, also known as the Pescadores. Full Story
117 persons are killed and 400 injured in a train accident near Tenga town, 40 km from the Mozambique capital, Maputo. Full Story
May 27 Alvaro Uribe, a former Governor and Mayor of Medellin, wins Colombia's presidential polls. Full Story
French director, Roman Polanski, wins the Golden Palm Award for his holocaust drama, "The Pianist" at the Cannes film festival Full Story
May 28 Russia joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, at a landmark summit in Rome. Full Story
Over 100 Maoists are killed during an attack on an army post in Rolpa district, about 300 km west of Kathmandu. Full Story
May 29 Paul Boateng, a Ghanaian by descent becomes the U.K.'s first black Cabinet Minister following his appointment as Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Full Story
May 30 The European Union grants Russia free market status. Full Story
Algeria's National Liberation Front wins absolute majority in parliamentary polls.
The U.S. West Asia envoy, William Burns, unveils a "three track" strategy to review peace talks with Israel. Full Story
Oxana Fedorova (24) of Russia wins the Miss Universe 2002 crown during the pageant in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Full Story
Events 2002