May 1: A major bomb scare rattles New York’s Times Square.
May 2: The European Union and the IMF approve a $146 billion package to rescue debt-ridden Greece.
The Maoists launch an indefinite general strike in Nepal seeking the formation of a national government led by them.
May 3: Sri Lankan journalist J. S. Tissainayagam is pardoned by the President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Court martial hearing against former General Sarath Fonseka is suspended.
Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistan-born U.S. citizen is arrested in connection with Times Square Car bomb incident, after authorities recall a flight soon after takeoff from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
May 5: Mauritians cast ballots in general elections.
Nigerian President Umaru Yar’ Adua passes away after a long illness.
May 6: Britons cast ballots in a closely contested general election in a generation.
Goodluck Jonathan is sworn in Nigerian President.
The three-party alliance of Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam wins 41 of the 60 seats in the Mauritius National Parliament.
Researchers announce sequencing of the genetic blueprint of Neanderthals from bones found in Vindija, Croatia.
May 7: The British election throws up a hung parliament and the Labour Party handed down defeat after 13 years in Power. Shahabana Mahmood and Yasmin Qureshi become Britain’s first women Muslim MPs.
Myanmar’s National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi ceases to exist.
World Wide Web launches Arabic URLs, Egypt begins registering names under the .misr domain.
A massive peace assembly is held in Nepal capital Kathmandu. Maoists withdraw indefinite general strike.
May 9: The European Union announces a €750 billion special European fund to bailout failing euro zone economies.
May 10: At least 66 people are killed and 146 wounded as terrorists unleash a wave of violence in Iraq.
Filipinos cast votes in general elections.
May 11: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown resigns.
May 12: Conservative leader David Cameron assumes office as Britain’s Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg takes over as Deputy Prime Minister. William Hague is the new Foreign Secretary and George Osborne the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
At least 103 people among them 70 Dutch nationals are killed as a Libyan Airbus jet crashes while trying to land at Tripoli Airport.
The Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva cancels a proposed November 14 election and calls off talks with anti-government protesters.
May 13: Social activist Ela Bhatt receives the Niwano Peace Prize for 2010 for her contribution to the uplift of poor women in India.
May 15: Australian schoolgirl sailor Jessica Watson sails into history becoming the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo, non-stop and without help.
May 16: A number of major airports across the U.K. are closed due to renewed threat from Icelandic volcanic ash.
Rima Fakih, a Lebanese immigrant is crowned Miss USA in Los Vegas making her the first ever Arab-American to win the title.
May 17: Iran signs nuclear fuel swap deal with Brazil and Turkey after 18 hours of negotiations in Tehran.
The U.S. President Barack Obama signs the Daniel Pearl Freedom of Press Act into law.
May 18: The Obama administration announces deal with major powers to impose new sanctions on Iran.
May 19: U.S. geneticist Craig Venter creates synthetic life by building the genome of a bacterium from scratch and incorporating it into a cell.
Thailand’s security forces crush a two-month protest by Red Shirts after storming a barricaded campsite in Ratchaprasong in Bangkok’s commercial district. At least six persons, including a foreign journalist are killed.
The French Cabinet approves a draft law to ban burqa from public spaces.
Anglo-Irish writer J. G. Farrell is posthumously awarded a special one-off “lost” Booker Prize for his novel Troubles published in 1970.
May 22: Arjun Vajpai (16), a schoolboy from New Delhi becomes the youngest Indian to successfully climb Mount Everest. Apa Sherpa climbs peak for a record 20th time.
Jordan Romero (13), from Big Bear, California becomes the youngest person in the world to conquer Mt. Everest.
May 23: Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul wins the Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival for a surreal reincarnation tale Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. Javier Bardem and Elio Germano share best actor award.
France’s Juliette Binoche is named best actress.
British screenwriter Simon Monjack, husband of late actor Brittany Murphy is found dead at his Hollywood Hills home in Los Angeles.
May 24: South Korea announces “far-reaching trade restrictions” against North Korea.
May 25: Argentina turns 200.
The Pakistan Supreme Court upholds Lahore High Court’s decision to free Jama’at-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed from house arrest.
May 26: Shuttle Atlantis wraps up a 25-year career, including 32 missions covering 120 million miles and lands at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
May 27: President Pratibha Patil seeks China’s backing for a permanent UNSC seat for India during the summit meeting with President Hu Jintao.
North Korea scraps pact with South Korea on the prevention of naval clashes between them.
Reducing Emissions for Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+), an international programme to protect forests, gets nod at a meeting in Oslo.
May 28: Ninety-five people are killed and 70 injured in terrorist attacks on two mosques in Lahore, Pakistan.
Nepal parties agree to extend the term of the Constituent Assembly by a year. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal to step down.
Ready for a “new starting point”, top Chinese leaders tell President Pratibha Patil. An Indian-style temple is dedicated to the people of China in Luoyang Henan province.
May 30: David Laws, Britain’s Chief Secretary to the Treasury resigns over charges of abuse of parliamentary expenses rules.
Colombians cast ballots in presidential polls.
May 31: Nine persons are killed after Israeli commandos attack a high-profile Gaza-bound six-ship aid flotilla, trying to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip by Tel Aviv since June 2007.
The German President Horst Koehler resigns following criticism of his comments about the nation’s mission in Afghanistan.
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