May 2 — South Asia/North America: PAKISTAN/UNITED STATES
Osama bin Laden, the founder of the militant Islamist group al-Qaeda and the world’s most wanted man, is killed in his private residential compound in a Pakistani city of Abbottabad by the U.S. Special Forces in a covert operation ordered by U.S. President Barack Obama. Bin Laden is believed to be responsible for the September 11 attacks in New York, which killed more than 3,000 people, as well as other terrorist attacks, such as bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya that killed hundreds of people and the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000.
May 3 — Latin America: HONDURAS
Honduras drops corruption charges against former President Manuel Zelaya who was deposed and sent into exile in June 2009. The repeal paves the way for Zelaya to come back to Honduras. It also fulfills a condition for Honduras to be readmitted to the Organization of American States (OAS).
May 4 — Europe/International Organizations: PORTUGAL/EUROPEAN UNION/INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
The European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approve $116 billion bailout for Portugal. Under the deal, Portugal has agreed to cut its deficit to 3 percent by 2013 and implement severe austerity measures, including spending cuts and increase in sales tax on some items. Portugal is the third country after Greece and Ireland to ask the EU and IMF for help to deal with its budget deficit.
May 16 — East Asia: JAPAN
Amid continued struggle to take control over the Fukushima nuclear power plan damaged in the last month’s earthquake and tsunami and new fears of a highly radioactive material leak, the Japanese government widens the evacuation zone to a radius of 19 miles. About 5,000 people are moved from the area.
May 25 — Europe: SWITZERLAND/GERMANY
Switzerland decides to phase out its nuclear power due to the strong public opposition to the industry following the tragic events of the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan. Currently, about 40 percent of the country’s energy depends on nuclear power. (May 30): Germany is the next European country announcing its plan to phase out its nuclear power plants by 2022. Instead, Germany is planning on investing heavily in renewable energy.
May 26 — Europe/International Organizations: SERBIA/ICC
A former Bosnian Serb military leader, General Ratko Mladic, who has been accused of committing war crimes during the Yugoslav war in 1990s, is arrested in northern Serbia, where he was hiding for the last 16 years. Mladic faces charges over the Srebrenica massacre, in which more than 7,500 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed. He is expected to be extradited to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. The Mladic arrest removes one of the conditions for Serbia to obtain candidate status in the European Union.
May 30 — Africa: LIBYA
Eight senior Libyan officers, including five generals, defect from Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s army and encourage soldiers to desert and join the rebels. Since the beginning of the revolt, many army officers, government dignitaries, and soldiers have abandoned Gaddafi, including former Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgam, former Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, and Oil Minister and former Prime Minister Shukri Ghanem.
May 31 — South Asia/International Organizations: AFGHANISTAN/NATO
Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemns the NATO air strike in southern Helmand province that targeted insurgents but instead killed a couple dozens of civilians. NATO apologizes for the strike, but it says these strikes are coordinated with the Afghan forces.