May 4 — Latin America: PANAMA
Conservative businessman Ricardo Martinelli wins Panama’s presidential election with 61 percent of the vote, defeating the ruling party candidate, Balbina Herrera. Matinelli, who succeeds Martin Torrijos, will oversee a $5 billion expansion of the Panama Canal.
May 4 — South Asia: NEPAL
Former Nepali Maoist-leader-turned-Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, known as Prachanda, resigns after President Ram Baran Yadav opposed his demand to dismiss the army chief. The Maoists want about 19,000 of their former rebels to be incorporated into the Nepalese army, which is being opposed by the army. (May 23): Nepal’s parliament elects the leader of the Communist Party of Nepal, Madhav Kumar Nepal, to the post of prime minister. The Maoists, the largest party in the parliament, do not put forward their candidate and boycott the vote. They also vow to continue protesting against new prime minister.
May 4 — Latin America/International Organizations: ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES
The Organization of American States (OAS) votes to readmit Cuba after an absence of more than four decades. Cuba’s membership was suspended in 1962 after it became a communist state. However, Cuba says it does not plan to rejoin the organization.
May 6 —Former Soviet Republics/Europe/International Organizations: GEORGIA/RUSSIA/NATO
Georgia is hosting the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military exercises at the Vaziani military base outside Tbilisi. More than 1,000 soldiers from 13 countries arrive for the training. Russia is protesting the exercises, calling the event “an overt provocation.”
May 7 — South Asia: PAKISTAN
Pakistan launches a full-scale military operation to defeat insurgency and eliminate about 5,000 militants in the Swat Valley and neighboring Dir and Buner districts by the Afghan border, the area torn by tensions for months. The government signed a peace agreement with the Taliban last February, allowing it to establish Islamic courts based on the Sharia law in the controlled territories. But the militants have violated their part of the agreement by refusing to disarm and attacking Pakistani checkpoints and bases in recent weeks. (May 18): The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports that hundreds of people have been killed and about 1.5 million have fled the fighting between the government and militants in north-western Pakistan, most of them into camps in the neighboring North-West Frontier Province.
May 11 — Latin America: MEXICO
Mexico eases swine flu restrictions and reopens schools that have been closed since April. Fifty-six people have died in Mexico from the virus. Worldwide, there have been 4,700 confirmed cases of swine flu.
May 12 — North America/International Organizations: UNITED STATES/UNHRC
United Nations General Assembly elects the United States and 18 other countries to the 47-seat Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Members of the UNHRC are elected to three-year terms. This is a significant reversal of the U.S. policy from the George W. Bush administration, which boycotted the UNHRC. The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the UN responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe.
May 12 — Europe/East Asia: RUSSIA/JAPAN
Russia and Japan sign a nuclear agreement that will provide Russia with Japanese technology and Japan with nuclear fuel. Both sides also vow to work on resolving the territorial dispute of islands called the Northern Territories by Japan and the Southern Kurils by Russia.
May 13 — South Asia: INDIA
India concludes the five-phase general elections that started on April 16. India has 714 million eligible voters. (May 16): After counting all the votes, the ruling Congress Party and its allies emerge as strong winners with 262 seats in parliament followed by the BJP-led alliance that wins 158 seats. The Congress’s decisive victory brings hope for a strong and stable government. (May 19): The Congress Party unanimously elects Manmohan Singh its leader in parliament, paving the way for his second term as India’s prime minister.
May 17 — East Asia: TAIWAN
Led by Taiwan’s opposition Democratic Progressive Party, thousands of demonstrators march to the presidential office in Taipei to protest President Ma Ying-jeou’s policy of engagement with China, saying it undermines the country’s autonomy. Under Ma’s presidency, relations between Taiwan and China significantly improved.
May 17 — Middle East: KUWAIT
Three women in Kuwait win seats in parliament in general elections for the first time in the country’s history. Kuwait does not have political parties; candidates for the 50-seat assembly nominate themselves and run independently.
May 19 — South Asia: SRI LANKA
The founder of the Tamil Tiger rebel organization (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam, or LTTE) and its main leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is killed by the Sri Lankan military together with two of his commanders. The Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse declares victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels and an end to the 26-year civil war. He also reaches to the Tamil minority, promising to give the province more political power.
May 25 — East Asia: NORTH KOREA
North Korea carries out an underground nuclear test and fires three short-range missiles, provoking condemnation from the international community and prompting the United Nations to toughen sanctions against it. China and Russia call for the return to six-party disarmament talks that stalled last year. (May 26): North Korea fires another two short-range missiles, saying it is ready to rebuff the United States preemptive attacks.
May 26 — Former Soviet Republics: GEORGIA
On Georgia’s independence day, more than 50,000 supporters of the opposition gather in the country’s capital, Tbilisi, demanding President Mikhail Saakashvili’s resignation. His former ally, Nino Burjanadze, who now leads an opposition Democratic Movement-United Georgia, has led daily protests since April, accusing Saakasvhili of mismanaging the last year’s war with Russia and hampering democracy.
May 26 — North America: UNITED STATES
United States President Barack Obama nominates Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court, the first Hispanic in this position. She will replace retiring Justice David Souter. Since she is also, like Souter, a liberal, her nomination is expected to keep the political balance of the country’s highest court unchanged.
May 26 — Europe/Middle East: FRANCE/UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
France opens a military base in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which will house 500 troops and contain a navy and air base as well as a training camp. For France, the base is important because of its strategic location in the Gulf. For the UAE and its Arab neighbors concerned about nuclear threat from Iran, the French base provides regional stability.
May 29 — North America/Middle East: UNITED STATES/ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
After meetings with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, and earlier this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, United States President Barack Obama says that he strongly believes that a two-state option is the best solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He also appeals to Israel to freeze all settlement activity, including natural growth. He also calls on the Palestinians to crack down on militants who attack Israel.