May 1 — Asia/Latin America: TAIWAN/ST. LUCIA
Taiwan restores diplomatic relations with St. Lucia, making this Caribbean island its 25th official ally. The agreement angers China, which has long denied Taiwan’s independence. Taiwan pledges to help St. Lucia with agriculture, education, business, and medical assistance. St. Lucia first established diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1984, before switching its recognition to China in 1997.
May 3 — Africa: CHAD/SUDAN
The presidents of Sudan and Chad agree to cooperate with the African Union (AU) and the United Nations to form a joint border force and deploy observers to the war-torn Darfur region. Both leaders also agree not to support each other’s rebels. The deal aims to stabilize Darfur and the bordering region in Chad.
May 3 — Middle East/North America: SYRIA/UNITED STATES
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem meet in Egypt to discuss the situation in Iraq. Both countries endorse a five-year International Compact for Iraq (ICI), according to which Iraq will implement reforms promoting national reconciliation and will receive financial assistance.
May 3 — South Asia: PAKISTAN
Several people are injured in Pakistan during violent demonstrations sparked by the dismissal of Chief Justice Iftakar Mohammed Chaudhry. President Pervez Musharraf dismissed Chaudhry in March, accusing him of corruption. Critics, however, say that the removal of the judge was political, aimed at weakening the courts in an election year.
May 7 — Europe: FRANCE
Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s former interior minister and leader of the ruling conservative Union for a Popular Majority party (UMP), defeats his Socialist opponent, Ségoléne Royal, and wins the second round of the presidential election with 53 percent of the vote. His victory is followed by a few riots across France by his opponents. The president-elect calls for unity and vows to implement economic and social reforms.
May 8 — Europe: UNITED KINGDOM
After many years of conflict, a new power-sharing government takes office in Northern Ireland, bringing together the Democratic Unionists’ Ian Paisley as first minister, with Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness as his deputy. The peace was mediated by Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair and Ireland’s Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. The new government’s priority is to rebuild Northern Ireland’s economy, which has been damaged by years of violence.
May 8 — International Organizations/Africa/East Asia/Europe: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL/SUDAN/CHINA/RUSSIA
Amnesty International issues a report claiming that China and Russia are defying a UN weapons embargo by supplying arms to the Sudanese government for use in Darfur. Both countries deny the accusation.
May 9 — North America: UNITED STATES
The Clinton Foundation and two Indian generic drug companies, Cipla Ltd. and Matrix Laboratories Ltd., agree to lower the price of HIV/AIDS drugs. The companies worked to reduce the cost of production by using cheaper materials and improved techniques. The drug will be available to sixty-six developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
May 9 — Africa: ZIMBABWE
In Zimbabwe, the government rations electricity, limiting households to four hours of electricity a day in order to help farmers who need power to irrigate their crops. Rampant inflation, which reached 2,200 percent in March, has led to widespread shortages of fuel and food.
May 12 — Europe/Former Soviet Republics: KAZAKHSTAN/RUSSIA/TURKMENISTAN
Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan agree to build a new natural gas pipeline from the Caspian Sea through Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to Russia. The deal is a setback for the United States, the European Union, and China, which hoped to bypass Russia and gain direct access to Turkmenistan’s gas.
May 13 — South Asia: AFGHANISTAN
The Taliban’s most notorious leader, Mullah Dadullah, is killed in a battle with U.S. forces in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. He represented an extreme element of the Taliban, supporting worldwide jihad and the founding of a new caliphate. He has been linked to many beheadings, kidnappings of Westerners, and dispatching suicide bombers. His death is a loss to the Afghan insurgency.
May 14 — Asia/Africa: CHINA/NIGERIA
China launches the Nigerian Communications Satellite NIGCOMSAT-1 that will offer broadcasting, telecommunications, and broadband Internet services for Africa for fifteen years. The event is the latest in the growing cooperation between China and Africa.
May 17 — Europe: RUSSIA
The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and the Russian Orthodox Church reunite after an eighty-year schism that followed the Bolshevik Revolution. The agreement, signed by Patriarch Alexy II and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, Metropolitan Lavry, is a product of numerous reunification talks since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Some clergy abroad, however, remain skeptical, claiming that many priests in Russia collaborated with the communist regime.
May 18 — Former Soviet Republics: KAZAKHSTAN
Kazakhstan’s parliament approves a bill that allows the current president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, to run for office for an unlimited number of terms. Nazarbayev has been in power since 1989.
May 22 — Middle East: IRAQ
A car bomb explodes on a crowded market in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, killing twenty-five people and wounding sixty. In other instances, twelve students are killed during two attacks on Baghdad University and Mustansiriyah University. The United States military in Iraq says it has killed nine suspected insurgents and freed twelve Iraqi hostages during a raid on a house in Baghdad.
May 24 — Africa
According to a report by Doctors Without Borders, the lack of doctors and nurses in southern Africa increases deaths from HIV/AIDS. Medical professionals, who are underpaid, overworked, and disillusioned, often leave the region, resulting in a very small doctor-to-patient ratio. Some of the solutions include improving working conditions and giving nurses the power to prescribe drugs.
May 25 — North America: UNITED STATES
Both houses of the U.S. Congress approve a bill funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with no timetable for U.S. troops to withdraw. The bill reflects a compromise between Republican and Democratic parties. However, opinion polls suggest that a majority of Americans think that the war is going badly, and that there should be a timetable for troop withdrawal from Iraq.
May 29 — Latin America: VENEZUELA
The Venezuelan government shuts down Venezuela’s oldest private broadcaster Radio Caracas TV (RCTV) and replaces it with a state-sponsored broadcaster, Televisora Venezuelan Social (TVES). It also accuses a local television station, Globovision, and the U.S. CNN station of threatening President Hugo Chávez. The RCTV staff, its supporters, and other critics accuse the government of undermining democracy and press freedom.
May 29 — Africa/North America: SUDAN/UNITED STATES
The United States toughens its sanctions against Sudan, protesting the government’s alleged involvement in killings in the region of Darfur. More Sudanese companies and individuals involved in the violence will be barred from trading or banking with the United States. Sudan, however, can still rely on major commercial partners such as China.
May 30 — International Organizations/North America: WORLD BANK/UNITED STATES
The United States President George W. Bush nominates Robert Zoellick, former deputy secretary of state, to be the new president of the World Bank. He will replace Paul Wolfowitz, who is stepping down after a scandal over his role in securing a promotion and pay raise for his girlfriend. Zoellick was the United States’ Trade Representative from 2001 to 2005.
May 30 — Middle East: LEBANON
The Lebanese government charges twenty people linked to the 11-day unrest in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp with terrorism and the deaths of many soldiers and civilians. They are also accused of being members of the radical Islamist group Fatah al-Islam. The unrest began in the camp after Lebanese security forces raided a building while searching for suspects in a bank robbery. Fatah al-Islam militants attacked Lebanese army posts in retaliation.