Portal:Current events/May 2007

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rules that U.S. Representative Jim McDermott must pay damages for leaking a copy of a tape of an illegally intercepted telephone call. (New York Times)
Iraq War:
- On the fourth anniversary of his "Mission Accomplished" speech, President George W. Bush, citing the provisions setting a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, vetoes an Iraq War funding measure that also improves resting, training and equipping standards for combat troops before their deployment, and sets binding benchmarks for the Iraqi government. (CNN) (AP via Denver Post)
- Brigadier-General Abdul Kareem Khalaf of the Iraqi Interior Ministry claims that Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, has been killed in a battle between insurgents. The claim is later denied by insurgents. (Reuters via News Limited) (BBC)
Rupert Murdoch, the CEO of News Corporation, announces a $5 billion offer to take over Dow Jones, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal. (International Herald Tribune)
Turkish presidential election, 2007: The Constitutional Court of Turkey annuls last Friday's presidential vote in the Grand National Assembly after a challenge by opposition parties. (BBC)
At least three people die after an explosion in an apartment building in Palencia, Spain. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
Police arrest 30 alleged animal rights extremists in raids in the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands. (BBC)
Deutsche Börse AG, operator of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, agrees to buy International Securities Exchange the second biggest United States options market for $2.8 billion creating the largest transatlantic derivatives market. (Bloomberg via the Boston Globe)
Nigerian opposition and civil society groups join trade unions in May Day rallies against the recent presidential election which saw Umaru Yar'Adua elected as the President of Nigeria. (BBC)
Eitan Cabel, a member of the Israeli Cabinet resigns in protest of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's handling of the 2006 Lebanon War. (FOX)
Two men are charged in Melbourne, Victoria with being members of the Tamil Tigers and providing funding to the organisation. (Sydney Morning Herald)
Thousands of Macau residents demonstrate against the government's labour policy and corruption on May Day, resulting in a clash with police. One bystander was injured. (AP via International Herald Tribute) (BBC)
Digg users participate in the "Digg Revolt" of posting the pirated HD-DVD/AACS hex code, considered by sources to be a pivotal moment in internet free-speech. [1]

May 2, 2007 (Wednesday)

Gunmen in Afghanistan kill Abdul Sabur Farid, a member of the House of Elders and former Prime Minister. (BBC)
Voters in The Bahamas go to the polls in elections for the House of Assembly (AP via CNN), ousting the governing Progressive Liberal Party in favour of the opposition Free National Movement. (BBC)
Antonio Villaraigosa, the Mayor of Los Angeles, California, orders an inquiry into a clash that occurred at a May Day Rally between the Los Angeles Police Department and pro-immigration demonstrators. (Reuters via CNN)
The International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Sudanese humanitarian affairs minister Ahmed Haroun and Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb on charges of war crimes committed during the Darfur conflict. (BBC)
Iraq War: U.S. President George W. Bush meets with Democratic Party officials in Congress to try find ways to fund the Iraq War. (BBC)
French presidential election, 2007: Candidates Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal participate in a televised debate. (CNN) (BBC) (Reuters via CNN)
All six members of the Bali Nine on death row have the appeal against their sentence heard in Bali and Jakarta. (ABC News Australia)
Avigdor Yitzhaki, the chairman and co-founder of Ehud Olmert's Kadima party, calls on Olmert to resign as the Prime Minister of Israel over his handling of the 2006 Lebanon War. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni later joined calls for Olmert's resignation. (BBC) (AustBC)
Four people are killed in a helicopter crash in Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom. (Sky News)
A train carrying solid-fuel booster segments for the space shuttle programme is involved in a bridge collapse in Alabama, injuring six people, two seriously. (Spaceflight Now)

May 3, 2007 (Thursday)

Tens of thousands of Israeli protesters at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv call for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his government to resign over their mishandling of the 2006 Lebanon war. (BBC)
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom begins a tour of Virginia with a speech to the General Assembly of Virginia in Richmond in honour of the 400th anniversary of the first permanent English settlement in Jamestown, Virginia. She also meets with victims of the Virginia Tech Massacre before departing for Colonial Williamsburg. Radio New Zealand (ABC News Australia) London Free Press
United States presidential election, 2008: Republican presidential candidates debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. (MSNBC)
The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence announces plans to release their UFO files to the public, seven weeks after France's space agency CNES opened its UFO files to the public. (The Register)
The Ulster Volunteer Force, a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland, renounces the use of force. (Sky News) (RTÉ)
Polling stations open for the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales general elections, and for local council elections in Scotland and parts of England. (BBC)
Madeleine McCann disappears from her hotel room in Praia da Luz, Portugal. ^{[citation needed]}

May 4, 2007 (Friday)

Greensburg, Kansas Tornado Outbreak: A massive tornado kills nine people in Kansas including 8 people in Greensburg, Kansas with the town suffering widespread damage. (AFP/Reuters via ABC Online)
Three U.S. Republican legislators from Alaska are charged with accepting bribes to support legislation favorable to oil services company Veco Corp. (AP via Forbes)
A heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket blasts off from French Guiana putting into orbit two telecommunications satellites, Astra 1L and Galaxy 17. (Reuters)
The Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong visits Washington D.C. for talks with the President of the United States George W. Bush about South East Asia. (BBC)
The Labour Party performs poorly in local and regional elections in the UK, with the Scottish National Party winning the most seats in the Scottish Parliament and the Conservatives performing well in English local government elections. (New York Times) (BBC)
Airline Partners Australia Ltd. nearly issues a bid for Qantas Airways until its investors rejected it. (Reuters) (The Age) (Bloomberg.com: Asia) (Sydney Morning Herald) (CNN)
Mali's opposition Front for Democracy and the Republic calls on the Constitutional Court to annul last Sunday's presidential election. (BBC)
Convicted terrorist Carlos the Jackal will face charges in France relating to alleged involvement in deadly bombings in 1982 and 1983. (AP via IHT)
International delegates reach agreement at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on the summary report on mitigating climate change despite some concerns raised by China. (AP via CNN)
Major world and Middle East powers discuss the future of Iraq on the second day of an International Compact for Iraq conference in Egypt. (BBC)
A boat carrying nearly 150 Haitian migrants capsizes in the Atlantic Ocean 1 km off the coast of one of the Turks and Caicos Islands, killing at least twenty, requiring the rescue of at least seventy-three and leaving at least fifty-eight unaccounted for. (CBS)
Two Cuban military deserters hijack a bus and reroute it to Havana Airport, before attempting to steal an empty passenger jet with the occupants of the bus as hostages. The plan is ultimately foiled but one hostage is killed before the men are captured. [2]

May 5, 2007 (Saturday)

Footage showing seventeen-year-old Kurdish girl Du’a Khalil Aswad being stoned to death for having a relationship with a Sunni boy is posted on YouTube. (FOX)
More than 20 countries including the People's Republic of China, the United States, France, Japan, Chile and South Korea agree to work together to end bottom sea trawling. (BBC via ABC News Australia)
Kenya Airways states that it has lost contact with Kenya Airways Flight 507, a Boeing 737-800 with 115 passengers and crew aboard flying between Douala, Cameroon and Nairobi. Kenyan state radio later claims that it crashed in southern Cameroon near the town of Niete. (BBC) (AP via USA Today)
Five people are killed in attacks by Islamic rebels in the south of Thailand. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
A third mass rally in support of secularism in Turkey is held in Çanakkale, protesting against the Justice and Development Party (AKP) regarding the presidential election. (Hürriyet) (Turkish Press)
Lightning is determined to be the cause of "the Bugaboo fire" in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia which eventually spread to Florida charring hundreds of thousands of acres. (Orlando Sentinel)
Street Sense wins the 133rd Kentucky Derby. (MSNBC)
Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeats Oscar De La Hoya in the highest grossing boxing match in history. (ESPN)

May 6, 2007 (Sunday)

Palestinian extremists bomb a United Nations-run Gaza elementary school in the continuing Palestinian factional violence, killing at least one and wounding at least seven. (FOX)
HaMoked Center for the Defense of the Individual and B'Tselem, Israeli human rights organizations, accuse the Israeli Defense Ministry of abusing Palestinian detainees in 73 cases. The Justice Ministry said the report was "fraught with mistakes, groundless claims and inaccuracies." (BBC)
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül withdraws his candidacy from the 2007 Turkish presidential election after failing to win the support of secular lawmakers. (New York Times)
A car bomb kills at least 20 people and injures 80 more in the Baiyaa neighbourhood of Baghdad. (AP via CNN)
Tens of thousands of Pakistanis greet suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry in Lahore. (Reuters via CNN)
More than 125,000 people are homeless and 16 killed following recent floods in Sri Lanka. (AFP via ABC Online)
Eight Afghan police are killed in Farah Province in a clash with the Taliban in which at least 17 insurgents are killed or injured. (Reuters Alertnet)
Voters in France go to the polls for the second round of the French presidential election with socialist Ségolène Royal and conservative Nicolas Sarkozy as the two contenders. Exit polls indicate that Nicolas Sarkozy has won the runoff poll in the election with 53% of the vote, beating Ségolène Royal who has 47% of the vote. She later concedes defeat. (BBC) (BBC)
A former World No. 1 ranked tennis player from Belgium, Kim Clijsters, announces her retirement effective immediately. (BBC)

May 7, 2007 (Monday)

Discovery is announced of the Kerguelen Plateau, an Antarctic sunken large island formerly joined to India, from the icebreaker Polarstern at its homeport of Bremerhaven, Germany, after a 19-month research voyage to Antarctica. (Times of India)
Kenya Airways Flight 507:
- Search officials confirm that there were no survivors. (AP via CNN)
- The flight data recorder is retrieved from a mangrove swamp where the plane crashed. (BBC)
NASA announces that the Chandra X-ray Observatory and ground-based telescopes have discovered a massive supernova designated SN 2006gy, the largest ever recorded, and possibly a new type that has been predicted but never observed. (BBC) (Space.com)
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel survives three motions of no confidence in Knesset, in the latest backlash over his handling of the 2006 Lebanon war. (BBC)
A senior officer of the Los Angeles Police Department is demoted and 61 other officers reassigned after an inquiry into the handling of a May Day protest. (BBC)
At least 21 people die in a bus crash in northwest Pakistan. (AP via Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
More than 18,000 Mexicans pose naked for U.S. photographer Spencer Tunick at the Zócalo Plaza in Mexico City. (AP via CNN)

May 8, 2007 (Tuesday)

U.S. police arrest six Islamic men from the Republic of Macedonia and the Middle East based on a tip from a Mount Laurel, NJ resident who discovered their plot to attack Fort Dix, New Jersey, and "kill as many soldiers as possible." (New York Times) (BBC) (AP via Trentonian.com)
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton announces a deal with drug companies to lower the price of anti-AIDS drugs in Third World countries. (AP via Fox News)
André Boisclair resigns as the leader of Canada's Parti Québécois. (International Herald Tribune)
The Treasurer of Australia Peter Costello delivers his twelfth budget with significant tax cuts and increases in government spending on education and health. (Sydney Morning Herald)
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta blows up three oil pipelines in the Niger delta in the south of Nigeria. (Reuters Alertnet)
Home rule returns to Northern Ireland. DUP leader Ian Paisley and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness take office as First Minister and Deputy First Minister, respectively. (BBC)
War in Iraq:
- A suicide bomber kills at least 10 people and injures many more in an attack on the Shi'ite city of Kufa in Iraq. (BBC) (Reuters)
The U.S. Department of Defense announces plans to deploy 35,000 troops in Iraq starting from August 2007. (Washington Post)
Tomislav Nikolić, the temporary leader of the Serbian Radical Party, is elected as the Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia. (AP via CTV) (BBC)
Former Prime Minister of Australia Gough Whitlam gives evidence to the coronial inquest into the death of the Balibo Five in Balibo, East Timor in October 1975. (Sydney Morning Herald with AAP)
Scotland's John Higgins beats England's Mark Selby in the World Snooker Championship 2007 final by 18-13 frames. (BBC Sport)
Hebrew University archaeologist Ehud Netzer claims to have discovered the tomb of Herod the Great in Herodium. (CNN)

May 9, 2007 (Wednesday)

The Times and Phoenix TV reports that Huang Ju, Executive Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China and a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, has died in Beijing. However, the State Council of the People's Republic of China denies these reports.(Stratfor) (IOL)

At least nine Colombian policeman are killed and six others injured from a bomb planted by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia in Santander Department. (BBC)
The Shanghai Composite Index of the Shanghai Stock Exchange reaches a record high 4,000 points. (New York Times)
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf is re-elected as the Mayor of Tehran, Iran. (BBC)
Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Brazil on his first visit to Latin America to reaffirm Catholicism in the region. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
The first named storm of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season, Subtropical Storm Andrea, forms off the southeastern United States. (CNN)
Four people in the United Kingdom are arrested in connection with the 7 July 2005 London bombings. (BBC)
Iraq War:
- Dick Cheney, the Vice President of the United States, travels to Baghdad to encourage reconciliation amongst factions. (AP via Houston Chronicle)
- At least 12 people die as a truck bomb explodes in Arbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq. (Reuters via Sydney Morning Herald)
People in East Timor finish voting in the second round of the country's first presidential election since it gained independence from Indonesia in 2002. (BBC)
The United Kingdom Home Office is restructured with a new Ministry of Justice being formed to handle prisons, probation and the sentencing of offenders. (UK Home Office) (BBC)
An international genetic research program identifies a group of genes which may cause bipolar disorder. (Daily Telegraph)

May 10, 2007 (Thursday)

The United States House of Representatives passes a $96 billion war spending measure which sets benchmarks for achievements in the War in Iraq in return for funding. (CNN)
Pope Benedict XVI urges tens of thousands of young Brazilian Catholics packing the Pacaembu stadium in São Paulo to resist the temptations of wealth, power and other "snares of evil," and tells them to promote life from "its beginning to natural end." (CNN)
Military officers from North Korea and South Korea agree on the first cross-border rail link over their heavily fortified border since the Korean War. (BBC)
President Bashar al-Assad states that Syria will not cooperate with a United Nations tribunal to try suspects in the suspected assassination of former Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafiq al-Hariri. (The Guardian)
The Grand National Assembly of Turkey votes overwhelmingly in favour of a proposal for the direct election of the President of Turkey. (AP via CNN)
Syrian dissident Kamal Labwani is jailed for 12 years for allegedly undermining national security by visiting the United States. (BBC)
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair announces he will step down on June 27, once the Labour Party has elected a successor. (BBC)

May 11, 2007 (Friday)

Samoa's Head of State Malietoa Tanumafili II dies at the age of 94. (AP via IHT)
The United States and European Union nations circulate a United Nations resolution on independence for Kosovo with international supervision. (CNN)
Pope Benedict XVI canonizes Brazil's first native-born saint, Frei Galvão, an 18th century Franciscan monk. (CNN)
Officials begin to evacuate Santa Catalina Island, California, as wildfires on the island south of Los Angeles burn out of control. (CNN)
The Singapore Grand Prix has been confirmed for the Formula One 2008 season, with a planned 4.8km (3.0 miles) long street circuit around the downtown area. It is planned to be the event's first night race when safety and logistical concerns are addressed. (CNA)
Two Serbian reformist parties; the Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Serbia, agree to form a coalition government. (BBC)
Tony Blair formally endorses Gordon Brown as his successor, the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. (AP via Fox News)
East Timorese presidential election, 2007: it is announced that Prime Minister José Ramos-Horta won the election against Francisco Guterres of Fretilin by 69% to 31%. (Xinhua)
At least 20 people die in a bus crash near Patna, the capital of Bihar state in India. (Fox News).

May 12, 2007 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Guinean soldiers riot in the capital Conakry after the President of Guinea Lansana Conté fails to attend a meeting to discuss grievances over their pay and conditions. (BBC)
A bomb placed on a bicycle was detonated in a bazaar in İzmir, Turkey wounding fifteen people just a day before the scheduled "republic protest" in the city. One of the wounded was in a critical condition and later died in the hospital while most of the others were lightly wounded and were released from the hospital the same day. (Hürriyet)
At least 33 people are killed and 120 are injured in violent protests organized by the political organization Muttahida Qaumi Movement (led by exiled Altaf Hussain) in the Pakistani city of Karachi. (BBC) (CNN)

Arts and culture

The final of the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Helsinki, Finland. Serbia wins with its debut entry Molitva. (BBC)

Politics and elections

Su Tseng-Chang resigns as the Premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan) following a loss in a primary election to be the Democratic Progressive Party candidate in the 2008 Taiwanese presidential election. (Bloomberg) (BBC)
Voters in Armenia go to the polls to elect a new National Assembly of Armenia. (BBC)

May 13, 2007 (Sunday)

Team Canada wins the 2007 IIHF World Hockey Championship after a 4-2 win over Finland in the gold medal game in Moscow, Russia. (Toronto Star)
Two cargo ships collide in heavy fog near Dalian, China. 16 sailors are missing. (AP via Washington Post) (Xinhua)
At least one million people gather in İzmir, Turkey for the fifth mass rally to demand their country remain a secular state, stepping up pressure on the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) government before July elections. (Swissinfo)
Iraq War:
- At least 40 people die in a truck bomb attack on the offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq in Makhmur. (BBC)
- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini confirms his country will hold talks with the United States regarding the security situation in Iraq. (Reuters)
NATO confirms that Mullah Dadullah, the foremost military leader of the Taliban, has been killed in battle. (AP via IHT)
President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visits the United Arab Emirates for the first official visit since 1979. (BBC)
Prime Minister of Australia John Howard writes to Cricket Australia telling it to call off a tour of Zimbabwe due to concern over human rights abuses in that country. (ABC News Australia)

May 14, 2007 (Monday)

Legislative and local elections are being held currently in the Philippines. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Jorge Daniel Castro, the head of the Colombian National Police force and Guillermo Chavez, the intelligence chief, resign over an illegal wiretapping scandal. (BBC)
A death threat was mailed by PKK to CHP, MHP, DYP and AKP to withdraw their Van and Hakkâri candidates to the 2007 general election in Turkey. (Hürriyet)
United States Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty will resign, two Justice Department officials tell The Associated Press. (AP via Yahoo! News)
Top Palestinian Security Official, Hani Kawasmeh, quits in protest on Monday as Sunday's ceasefire is broken, with fighting across Gaza between Hamas and Fatah killing 8 and wounding 40. Fighting began as both sides set up security checkpoints and kidnapped rivals as bargaining chips. (Washington Post)
President George W. Bush orders United States government agencies to take regulatory steps to reduce automobile emissions. (Bloomberg)
The U.S. military is to block troops from using YouTube and MySpace and 11 other popular websites for sharing photos, video clips and messages. (BBC)
2007 Pakistan unrest: A strike in Pakistan closes shops and clears transport from the roads after two days of violence in Karachi left 41 people dead. (BBC)
The House of Councillors passes rules for revising the pacifist Constitution of Japan, a central goal of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (Bloomberg)
Ten people die in an explosion and fire in a cafe in Orsk, Russia. (AP via Houston Chronicle)
The President of the Republic of China Chen Shui-bian names Chang Chun-hsiung of the Democratic Progressive Party as the new Premier of the Republic of China. (BBC)
Nominations open for the leadership of the United Kingdom Labour Party with Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown as the favourite. (BBC)
An ethics panel of the World Bank Group finds that its President Paul Wolfowitz was guilty of violating his contract when arranging a compensation package for Shaha Ali Riza with whom he had a relationship. (CNN) (Bloomberg)
A new species of hummingbird is discovered in Colombia. (ABC News)
DaimlerChrysler announces it has sold 80.1% of its stake in the Chrysler Group to Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity firm for $7.4 Billion. It is announced that the corporate names are to be changed to Daimler AG and Chrysler Holding LLC. (WDIV-TV)
The Alaskan cruise ship Empress of the North strikes an underwater rock on day two of a seven-day tour, and evacuates all 281 passengers on board. (CTV News)
Twenty four members of a marriage party killed and 30 more injured when their van collides with a truck in the district of Adilabad, in Andhra Pradesh, India. (Saisat)

May 15, 2007 (Tuesday)

Space Shuttle Atlantis rolls out to launchpad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in preparation for the STS-117 mission to the International Space Station. The rollout is the second for the mission, as Atlantis's External Tank was damaged during a hailstorm on February 26, leading to the shuttle being rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs. (NASAspaceflight.com)
Danish protesters clash with police in Copenhagen with the Little Mermaid being doused with red paint. The clashes followed the demolition of a building in the Freetown Christiania district. (CNN)
Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute has been chosen to be President Bush's "war czar," overseeing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (ABC News)
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin resigns. (The Globe and Mail)
Palestinian factional violence claims 8 more lives as violence erupts on the Israeli border with Fatah and Hamas fighting for dominance at the Karni cargo crossing in Gaza, ending Monday night's ceasefire agreement. (USA Today)
The United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets with the President of Russia Vladimir Putin. (Boston Globe)
Canadian publisher The Thomson Corporation agrees to buy Reuters for £8.7 billion creating the world's biggest financial news and data group. (Reuters via CNN)
The death toll for violence associated with the Philippine general election rises to 126. (AFP via News Limited)
A bomb attack on a hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan, kills at least 24 people. (Reuters) (BBC)
David Bain, who was convicted for murder in one of New Zealand's most controversial trials, is released on bail while awaiting a retrial following an appeal to the Privy Council in March. (The Press via stuff.co.nz)

May 16, 2007 (Wednesday)

Tony Blair, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, meets with the President of the United States George W. Bush for the final time before his departure from politics. (CNN)
Alex Salmond, the leader of the Scottish National Party, is elected as the first non-Labour First Minister of Scotland. (BBC)
Nicolas Sarkozy succeeds Jacques Chirac as President of the French Republic after prevailing over Ségolène Royal in the 2007 French presidential election. (CNN)
Fifteen people die in fighting between Hamas and Fatah forces on the Gaza Strip with Hamas killing five people at the house of a Fatah security chief Rashid Abu Shbak in Gaza City. (AP via CNN)
Over 18 people have been wounded by approximately thirty Qassam rockets being fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel. Hamas has claimed responsibility and sources believe the rocket attacks are an attempt to lure Israel into the ongoing internal conflict between Hamas and Fatah. (JPost)
A flare dropped from a New Jersey National Guard F-16 Fighting Falcon is believed to be the cause of a wildfire that has burned 20 square miles (52 km²) at the edge of Pinelands National Reserve, New Jersey, burning three homes and causing the evacuation of 2,500 other homes. (CNN)
The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence announces that HRH Prince Harry of the British Royal Family will not be deployed to Iraq as originally planned, due to the security risks to both himself and his regiment the Blues and Royals. (BBC)

May 17, 2007 (Thursday)

Jaak Aaviksoo, the Estonian Defence Minister, states that the Russian Government may be behind recent hacking on Estonian government and commercial web sites following the moving of the Bronze Soldier. (Sydney Morning Herald)
Paul Wolfowitz announces his resignation effective June 30 as president of the World Bank Group after protracted discussions over alleged ethics violations. (MSNBC)
United States Senate Democratic Party officials seek a vote of no confidence on Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales. (CBS)
Gordon Brown is confirmed as the next leader of the British Labour Party, taking effect on 24 June. Brown will succeed Tony Blair as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom when he kisses the hand of Queen Elizabeth II on 27 June. (BBC)
2007 Israel-Gaza conflict: An Israeli aircraft bombs a building of the Hamas-run Executive Force in Gaza, killing at least one person and injuring about 45 others. (BBC)
Trains travel between North Korea and South Korea for the first time since the Korean War. (ITV)
Voters in Algeria go to the polls to elect a new People's National Assembly with tight security arrangements after recent bomb attacks. (BBC)
French President Sarkozy appoints François Fillon as his Prime Minister. (Élysée Palace)
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission announces that all over-the-air TV broadcasts must be digital by August 31, 2011. (The Globe and Mail)
Hong Kong media regulator receives more than a thousand complaints about the bible being too sexual, in what seems to be a response to a recent ruling condemning a sex survey in a student newspaper. (Daily Mail)

May 18, 2007 (Friday)

A bomb in a market place in Juliaca in southern Peru kills 6 people and injures about 50. (BBC)
Black Swan Project: Deep sea explorers retrieve 17 tons of colonial era silver and gold coins with an estimated value of US$500 million. (CNN)
Two ABC News employees are killed by unknown assailants in Baghdad. (Reuters via the Australian)
9 people are killed in a bomb blast at the Mecca Masjid mosque in the Indian city of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. [3]
The Parliament of Kazakhstan votes to allow the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev to stand for an unlimited number of terms. (BBC)
A home-made bomb explodes in a bus terminal in Cotabato in the southern Philippines, killing 3 people and injuring 15. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
Rioting breaks out in Guangxi province, China, in protest at the government imposing fines for breaches of its strict one-child policy. (BBC)

May 19, 2007 (Saturday)

Three people are killed and two wounded in a sniper attack in Moscow, Idaho, United States. (BBC)
Chelsea F.C. wins the FA Cup Final 2007, defeating Manchester United 1–0 through a goal by Didier Drogba in extra time. It was the first final played at a rebuilt Wembley Stadium. (BBC) (CNN)
The Bulls become the first South African team to the win the Super 14 rugby union championship, defeating the Sharks by one point in the final. (Reuters via stuff.co.nz)
Former Samoan head of state Malietoa Tanumafili II is buried in Apia. (AP via International Herald Tribune)
Three German soldiers are killed with four civilians in a suicide bombing in Kunduz in northern Afghanistan. (Reuters via Malaysian Star)
Romanian voters go to the polls to vote on the impeachment of the President of Romania, Traian Băsescu. (BBC)
Colombian President Álvaro Uribe has ordered the national army to rescue several hostages from FARC rebels, including Íngrid Betancourt, a former senator and presidential candidate. (Brunei Times)
Curlin wins the Preakness Stakes, extending the Triple Crown drought to 29 years. (MSNBC)
Starcraft II is announced by Blizzard Entertainment, probably one of the largest announcements to come from them in years. (IGN)

May 20, 2007 (Sunday)

Alltel, a mobile phone provider in the United States, is acquired by TPG Capital, L.P. and Goldman Sachs leveraged-buyout unit. (Bloomberg)
A suicide bomber kills at least 10 people and injures 32 people in Gardez, the capital of Afghanistan's Paktia Province. (New York Times)
2007 Israel-Gaza conflict: An IAF plane fires a missile at house of Hamas lawmaker Khalil al-Haya, killing eight people and wounding many others; Al-Haya was not at his house at the time of the strike. (Ynet) (Reuters)
The main landing gear of an Air Canada Jazz plane flight # AC8911 collapsed while on a runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada with 37 passengers and 3 crew members who were not injured. (CTV Toronto)
Bulgaria elects Members of the European Parliament for the first time, the three top parties each possibly receiving five deputies. The narrow winner of the elections is the opposition Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria.(Reuters)
Tens of thousands of Venezuelans march in protest in support of Radio Caracas Televisión and in opposition to President Hugo Chávez, who has vowed not to renew its licence. (AP via Guardian)
Thousands gather in Samsun, Turkey to protest against the government. (CNN)
Battle of Nahr al-Bared: Fighting breaks out between Fatah al-Islam militants and Lebanese soldiers at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in Tripoli, Lebanon. (BBC)
David Hicks returns from Guantánamo Bay to his home state of South Australia. He will serve the remaining seven months of his sentence for providing material support for terrorism at Yatala Labour Prison. (Sydney Morning Herald)
Romário scores his 1000th goal for Vasco da Gama by penalty kick against Sport Recife. He is only the second player in the history of professional soccer to achieve this, the first being Pelé in 1969. (Uol)

May 21, 2007 (Monday)

2007 Israel-Gaza conflict: Palestinian militants from Gaza fire 13 Qassam rockets into Israel, killing one woman and injuring others. (YnetNews)
United States Presidential Election, 2008: Bill Richardson, the Democratic Governor of New Mexico, officially declares his candidacy for president in Los Angeles, California. (Los Angeles Times)
The Battle of Nahr al-Bared continues at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in Tripoli, Lebanon for a second successive day. (CNN)
The historic tea clipper Cutty Sark, the last surviving preserved vessel of its kind, catches fire in a drydock in Greenwich, London. Arson is being considered as a possible cause. (BBC)

May 22, 2007 (Tuesday)

Premier Gary Doer of the Canadian province of Manitoba secures a third straight NDP majority government in the general election. (CTV)
Silas Rondeau, the Energy Minister of Brazil, resigns over allegations of corruption in a public works project. (BBC)
2007 Israel-Gaza conflict: A total of seven rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip and landed in western Negev. Another rocket landed in Sderot and killed an Israeli woman. In response, the IAF also fired missiles in an air strike at a munitions base, and secondary explosions were reported after the strike. The air strike wounded seven people in the attack on Jabaliya, Gaza City, according to local residents and hospital officials.(Reuters) (Ynet)
Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of the Anglican community, declines to invite gay Bishop of New Hampshire Gene Robinson and unrecognized conservative Bishop Martyn Minns of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America to the 2008 Lambeth Conference. (Reuters)
Skybus Airlines, a new U.S.-based ultra-low-cost carrier airline, launches inaugural flights to and from Columbus, Ohio, with $10 tickets enabled by on-plane advertising and charging people for baggage, pillows, boarding priority, and refreshments. (bizjournal via MSN Money) (AP via Signonsandiego.com)
A suicide attack occurs at a shopping centre in the Ulus district of Ankara, the capital of Turkey. Authorities say there were six fatalities, and 79 injuries. (Reuters) (Hürriyet)
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issues its forecast for an above-normal 2007 Atlantic hurricane season with 13 to 17 named storms, 7 to 10 hurricanes and 3 to 5 major hurricanes. (NOAA)
The UK Crown Prosecution Service announces that Andrei Lugovoi, an ex-KGB agent, will be charged in connection with the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, also a former KGB agent. (Press Association via the Guardian)
Iraq War: A car bomb kills 25 people and injures at least 60 in a commercial area in southwestern Baghdad. (Reuters Alertnet)

May 23, 2007 (Wednesday)

AC Milan defeats Liverpool F.C. 2-1 in the UEFA Champions League final. (Bloomberg)
One of three captured US soldiers in Iraq is found dead, during an extensive manhunt which occupied nearly 3% of US troops. (BBC)
Venezuela's Supreme Court rules that Radio Caracas Televisión must close on Monday, May 28, after the station's appeal against a decision by the Venezuelan Government failed. (CNN)
Lebanon's Defence Minister Elias Murr issues an ultimatum to Fatah al-Islam militants in the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in Tripoli, Lebanon. (AP via CNN)
At least 27 people die as a wall collapses in a bar in Tirupur in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. (BBC)
2007 Israel-Gaza conflict: Militants in the Gaza Strip fire eight rockets at the southern Israeli cities of Sderot and Kibbutz Nir Am. The IAF makes an air strike on the Gaza Strip, in which they destroy two buildings. (Ynet) (Reuters)
The British Government announce a carbon emissions trading scheme, the Carbon Reduction Commitment, that will apply to hotel chains, supermarkets, banks, and other large organisations. (DEFRA)
A Serbian court finds 12 men, including Milorad Ulemek, guilty of the 2003 assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić. (BBC) (Sky) (Reuters AlertNet) (Radio Televizija Vojvodine)
A Thai gunman opens fire with an AK-47 in a market in Pathum Thani Province, north of Bangkok, killing a villager, a security guard and a police officer and critically injuring another six before he was shot dead by the police. (AFP via Channelnewsasia.com)
Gwen Stefani performs in front of a record-breaking crowd at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, MA.

May 24, 2007 (Thursday)

The United States House of Representatives approves a $US100 billion bill to fund the US war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan without a timetable for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
2007 Israel-Gaza conflict:
- Israeli soldiers arrest 33 Hamas figures in Nablus, West Bank, including one cabinet member, Palestinian Education Minister Naser al-Shaer. (AFP via ABC Australia)
- Palestinians fire eight Qassam rockets from the Gaza Strip towards the western Negev. (Reuters)
- The IAF makes two air strikes in the Gaza Strip, destroying housing used by the Hamas Executive Force and another post in Deir al-Balah. (Ynet)
38 Siberian miners are killed and 7 injured by a methane explosion in the Yubileinaya coal mine in the Kemerovo Oblast in Russia. (Xinhua)
Voting is underway in the Republic of Ireland for a general election after a closely fought campaign. (RTÉ) (BBC)

May 25, 2007 (Friday)

It is announced that the Paul VI Audience Hall in the Vatican is to be fitted with over 1,000 photovoltaic panels to supply all its annual electricity requirements. (Catholic News Service)
A United States Department of Defense report warns of the growing power of the Chinese military. (CNN)
The widow of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 10th Earl of Shaftesbury, and her brother, are found guilty of the murder of her husband. (BBC)
Six foreign oil workers (two British, three American and one South African) have been kidnapped in Nigeria. (Sky News)
Japanese sources tell the Kyodo news agency that North Korea has test-fired several missiles towards the Sea of Japan. (BBC)
Ukraine's political crisis worsens after the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko fires the prosecutor general Svyatoslav Piskun. Piskun has defied the order and his supporters have occupied government buildings. (BBC)
NASDAQ agrees to buy OMX AB which runs several stock exchanges in Scandinavia and the Baltic States for 25.1 billion Swedish kronor (USD$3.7 billion). (Bloomberg)
Exit polls indicate that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's Fianna Fáil leads in the Irish General Election. (RTÉ) (BBC)
2007 Israel-Gaza conflict
- The IAF carried out an air strike near the residence of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. The IDF said that the air strike was not targeting the Prime Minister, and was on a structure used by Hamas, located in the Shati refugee camp. Local residents said that an IAF missile hit a vehicle patrolling Haniyeh's home in Gaza, and that the attack wounded one person. (Reuters)
The Ostankino Tower has once again caught fire. The BBC reports that the fire is believed to be not as serious as that in 2000 and was isolated to a platform on the outside of the tower. The fire was successfully extinguished, with no casualties. (BBC)

May 26, 2007 (Saturday)

A thousand Czech protesters gather in Wenceslas Square in the centre of Prague to protest against Czech participation in the United States missile defence system. (Xinhua)
Iran claims to have uncovered an espionage network run by the United States and its allies. (BBC), (CNN)
Fianna Fáil performs strongly in the Irish general election, putting it in a strong position to retain government. (RTÉ) (AP via the Philadelphia Daily News)
Germany celebrates the 175th anniversary of the Hambacher Fest. (SWR)
Several thousand Ukrainian Interior Ministry troops head for Kiev in defiance of orders to support President Viktor Yushchenko. (BBC)
At least 21 people die in western China in landslides caused by heavy rain. (BBC)
2007 Israel-Gaza conflict:
- Hamas militants are considering lighter ceasefire terms offered by Fatah, specifically Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. They are giving Israel until May 27 to respond to this agreement, that would only end Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip. Hamas has said, however, that they are not completely committed to their offer.
- Israeli attack helicopters launch missile strikes on a various facilities, including a security facility near Palestinian Prime Minister Haniyeh's home. At least three people are injured by the air strikes. (Reuters)
- Israel seizes Palestinian Cabinet Minister of State Wasfi Kabha in a raid conducted by the IDF in his village near Jenin. (Reuters via ABC News Online)
- The IAF bombs Hamas Executive Force housing in Gaza City. At least five Executive Force members are killed and 30 other people are wounded. (Reuters)

May 27, 2007 (Sunday)

Gay rights in Russia: Russian gay rights leaders and foreign dignitaries are beaten and arrested in Moscow. Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov had denied permission for a gay pride parade.(The Guardian)
Nepalese police clash with Bhutanese asylum seekers at a United Nations resulting in one 16-year-old boy being killed and a dozen people being injured. (Reuters Alertnet)
Auto racing: Scotland's Dario Franchitti wins the rain-shortened 91st Indianapolis 500. (Bloomberg)
Iraq War: United States forces rescue 42 Iraqis from an al-Qaeda hideout northeast of Baghdad with some captives showing signs of torture. (AP via Nine MSN)
China claims all gold and silver medals in the Table Tennis World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia. (Xinhua)
2007 Israel-Gaza conflict:
- Two Qassam rockets land in Israel with at least two casualties in Sderot.
- The IAF strikes two Hamas posts in the Gaza Strip, with no casualties reported. (Reuters) (Ynet)
President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine agree to a compromise, with early parliamentary elections to be held on September 30. (AFP via The Australian)
Spanish voters go to the polls in local and regional elections. (BBC)
Venezuelan TV station Radio Caracas Television is shut down by the Hugo Chávez administration. (BBC)
Romanian film 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days by Cristian Mungiu gets the Palme d'Or at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. (Forbes)
Japanese band Zard vocalist Izumi Sakai dies of cerebral contusion in Keio University hospital, Shinjuku, Tokyo. (Breitbart)

May 28, 2007 (Monday)

Al-Azhar University suspends the lecturer who issued the Breastfeeding fatwa. (BBC)
The Foreign Office of the British Government submits a formal request to the Russian Government for the extradition of ex-KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi to face charges over the murder of his former colleague Alexander Litvinenko in London. (BBC)

Aid workers claim that at least 17 people have been killed and others abducted by Hutu rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (BBC)
Iraqi insurgency: At least 19 people die after a car bomb detonates in Baghdad. (BBC)
Officials from Iran and the United States hold their first talks since 1980 with the topic being the future of Iraq. (ITV)
Japan:
- Minister of Agriculture Toshikatsu Matsuoka commits suicide, apparently over a financial scandal. (AP via CNN) (BBC)
- Dance instructor Riyo Mori becomes Miss Universe 2007 in Mexico City, the second Japanese to do so after Akiko Kojima. (Forbes)
Venezuela:
- Government-owned TV Station TVes begins broadcasting in place of Radio Caracas Television. (Bloomberg)
- Thousands protest in Caracas in the hours following the closure of Radio Caracas Television. Four people are injured, including one police officer. Police and the National Guard use tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. (The Guardian)
Canada: Voters in Prince Edward Island go to the polls for provincial elections. (CTV)

May 29, 2007 (Tuesday)

US President George W. Bush nominates former deputy secretary of state Robert Zoellick as President of the World Bank. (BBC)
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg takes the rare step of reading aloud her dissent in Ledbetter v. Goodyear. (Washington Post)
Heavy fighting resumes between the Lebanese army and al Qaeda linked militants at the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp. (AP via CNN)
United States health officials quarantine a man who may have exposed passengers on two transatlantic flights to extensively drug resistant tuberculosis. (BBC)
Russia successfully tests its new RS-24 ICBM, purportedly designed to defeat present and future anti-missile systems. (RIA Novosti) (Interfax-AVN) (The Guardian)
Iraqi insurgency:
- At least 22 people die in a car bombing in central Baghdad. (CNN)
- Five British nationals are kidnapped from a Finance Ministry building in central Baghdad. (BBC) (Reuters)
Bashar al-Assad is re-elected as President of Syria in an election in which he was the only candidate. (BBC)
Zheng Xiaoyu, former head of the China's State Food and Drug Administration, is sentenced to death for taking bribes to approve untested medicines as Chinese authorities introduce a recall system for unsafe food products. (AP via Houston Chronicle) (BBC)
Ehud Barak, former Prime Minister of Israel, wins the first round of the Israeli Labor Party leadership election and faces a runoff against former secret service chief Ami Ayalon. (Reuters Alertnet)
Adam Air announces a deal which will ensure the recovery of the black boxes from Adam Air Flight 574. (Aero-News)
Umaru Yar'Adua assumes office as the President of Nigeria. (AP via International Herald Tribune)

May 30, 2007 (Wednesday)

A CH-47 Chinook helicopter on a NATO mission in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, is shot down killing all seven service personnel (5 American, 1 Canadian and 1 British) aboard. Taliban fighters claim responsibility for the attack. (CNN) (BBC)
The United Nations Security Council establishes an international tribunal to try suspects in the killings of Lebanese political figures including the former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. (The Washington Times)
Thailand's Constitutional Court clears the Democrat Party of electoral fraud, but finds former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's Thai Rak Thai party guilty of bribery and rules it must be disbanded. (BBC) (Reuters)
The army is deployed in the Indian state of Rajasthan after 14 people are killed in violent clashes over the government's affirmative action plans. (BBC)

May 31, 2007 (Thursday)