May 2005 was the fifth month of that year. It began on a Sunday and ended after 31 days, on a Tuesday.
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Events
- Data withheld from an annual report on terrorism by the U.S. State Department show a sharp increase in attacks in 2004. (BBC)
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
- Following an Israeli raid on the Palestinian city of Tulkarm, one Israeli soldier and one Islamic Jihad leader are killed. The soldier was killed in a gunfight with 3 members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The three were suspected to have been part of the cell which was involved in Tel Aviv "Stage" club bombing in February 2005. Shafiq Abdul Rani, the leader of the Jihad cell in Tulkarm was killed and another militant was arrested. (Haaretz)
- Palestinian militants fired 3 Qassam rockets on the Israeli town of Sderot. There were no casualties. (Haaretz)
- Israeli Minister of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Natan Sharansky resigned from the government as a protest against Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan. (Haaretz), (BBC)
- Dozens of people reportedly die after a large explosion in a munitions dump in Pagja, Afghanistan 50 miles north of Kabul. (Seattle Times)
- Guardsman Anthony John Wakefield, from Newcastle upon Tyne, has been killed in Iraq after being injured in hostile action in the southern town of Al Amarah, bringing the total of UK servicemen killed in the Iraq conflict to 87. (BBC)
- Europe's largest sporting goods maker Adidas-Salomon sold its Salomon division for 485 million euros to Finnish company Amer Sports (which owns Wilson Sporting Goods). CNN News
- The government of Nepal ends the house arrest of two parliamentarian communist leaders, Madhav Kumar Nepal and Amrit Bohara. (BBC)
- In Togo, opposition party Union of Forces for Change refuses to join a new government, accusing Faure Gnassingbé of electoral fraud. About 12,000 people have fled the violence to Ghana and Benin. ECOWAS tries to mediate. (BBC) (Reuters AlertNet) (GhanaWeb) (ABC)
- Foreign ministers gather in New York to review the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. (Wired) (BBC) (Reuters AlertNet)
- Cairo terrorism: Following Saturday's terrorist incidents in Cairo, some 200 people are brought in for questioning by Egyptian police. Ten people were injured in the attacks, and three militants were killed. (BBC)
- In Germany, prosecutors demand 8-year sentence to neo-nazi leader Martin Weise and three others. (Reuters AlertNet)
- Former Haitian prime minister Yvon Neptune demands that the current government drops its claim that he organized a massacre in February 2004. Neptune has been on a hunger strike for 15 days and refuses treatment. (Haiti Action Committee) (BBC) (Reuters AlertNet)
- A gas cylinder explosion in Lahore, Pakistan causes collapse of three buildings - at least 16 people dead. (BBC) (Reuters)
- British rocket Skylark makes its last launch. (Independent) (BBC)
- United Nations chief prosecutor of Sierra Leone's war crimes court David Crane (prosecutor) claims that Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia, is still plotting to kill Guinean leader Lansana Conté. Conté has been in a hospital since he survived an assassination attempt in January. (Reuters AlertNet) (UN Regional Information) (World Peace Herald) (BBC)
- Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Irineos is dismissed following a controversy over the leasing of church-owned lands to groups eager to increase the Jewish presence in the Old City of Jerusalem. (BBC)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An Israeli commander is suspended, pending a full inquiry, from his position following the deaths of two teenage cousins in Beit Lakia, near Ramallah, on May 4. (BBC)
- British polls open in the 2005 general election. Voters will elect 645 of the 646 members of the House of Commons. Most expect Tony Blair and his Labour Party to win, but both Michael Howard and the Conservative Party along with Charles Kennedy and the Liberal Democrats are expected to make major gains in Parliament. (Wikinews) (BBC) (CNN)
- An explosion outside the United Kingdom consulate in New York City occurs at 07:35 GMT. There were no reported injuries. Police say they have found fragments of an explosive device. (Wikinews) (BBC) (Reuters)
- The Indian Space Research Organization launches a mapping satellite, CARTOSAT-1 and an Amateur Radio satellite HAMSAT, into Earth orbit (Tribune) (Space.Com) (Hindustan Times) (Reuters)
- A Hong Kong court overturns convictions of 8 members of Falun Gong. (Standard) (IHT) (Law & Order, HK) (BBC)
- The government of Kazakhstan closes the pro-opposition paper Respublica. (Reuters) (PolitInfo)
- The Ugandan parliament votes in favour of holding a referendum on the return of multi-party democracy. Political opposition intends to boycott the referendum because they think that president Yoweri Museveni would use it stay in power. (Reuters AlertNet) (AllAfrica) (BBC)
- In Niger, anti-slavery activist Ilguilas Weila is charged with attempted fraud. (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
- The Kansas evolution hearings, a six-day courtroom-style debate over how the origin of life should be taught in the state's public schools, open in Topeka. (CNN)
(Deccan Herald) (Reuters) (BBC)
- Point guard Steve Nash of the NBA's Phoenix Suns makes history by becoming the first Canadian to win the NBA's MVP award. Nash edges out Shaquille O'Neal of the Miami Heat by seven votes to win the award. (CBC)
- Worldwide celebrations commemorate the 60th anniversary of V-E Day, the official end of World War II in Europe with the capitulation of Germany under Karl Dönitz. In several German cities, Germans also mourn today the millions of people massacred under the National Socialist (Nazi) regime in the 1930s and 1940s. (Wikinews)
- Abu Faraj al-Libbi, the al-Qaeda suspect captured in Pakistan on May 2 and thought to be third-in-command in al-Qaeda, turns out to be a mid-level member in the organization. Officials describe the mistake as a case of "mistaken identity". (TimesOnline)
- Exiled Christian army general Michel Aoun returns to Lebanon from France. His supporters in the Free Patriotic Movement call for his election as a new president. (Al-Jazeerah) (BBC) (Daily Star) (Reuters AlertNet)
- In Belgium, two Rwandan men, Etienne Nzabonimana and Samuel Ndashyikirwa, are put into trial accused of involvement with the Rwandan genocide. (IOL) (Reuters AlertNet)
- People in the Central African Republic vote in the second round of presidential election. Incumbent president François Bozizé, who took over in a coup in 2003, is in favorable position. (Reuters AlertNet)
- Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika demands that France admits its part in Sétif massacre, the killing of 45,000 Algerians who demonstrated for independence on May 8, 1945 when Europe celebrated the defeat of Nazi Germany. (ABC) (Reuters AlertNet)
- 6000 anti-Nazi demonstrators force cancellation of a National Democratic Party march in Berlin, Germany. (Deutsche Welle) (Reuters)
- The Spanish Royal Palace announces that princess Letizia is three months pregnant. (Reuters) (BBC)
- Seven Nepalese opposition parties join forces against King Gyanendra. (BBC)
- Iran admits to having converted thirty-seven tons of raw uranium into a gas, a key step in uranium enrichment. (The Guardian)
- 88 members of U.S. Congress led by John Conyers write an open letter to the White House asking for answers concerning the new documents leaked which apparently reveal the secret U.S/U.K. agreement to attack Iraq in 2002. (The Times) (The Raw Story) (Scoop) (uruknet)
- The Sellafield nuclear plant's Thorp reprocessing facility in Cumbria, England, is closed down due to a 20 tonne leak through a fractured pipe of water contaminated with radioactive uranium and plutonium. (The Guardian)
- More than 50 heads of state, including Vladimir Putin, George W. Bush and German chancellor Gerhard Schröder, are among the guests attending the official celebrations commemorating the end of World War II in Moscow, Russia. It is the first time a German chancellor has attended a world-wide commemoration for the victims of the Third Reich. (Wikinews) (The Hindu) (CNN) (Scotsman)
- Re-examination of old images taken by the Mars Global Surveyor several years ago may have led to the identification of the crash site of the Mars Polar Lander, which failed in December 1999. Using insights and techniques developed for analyzing images of the Mars Exploration Rovers, Malin Space Science Systems may have spotted the rocket blast zone, Mars Polar Lander and the parachute. (Spaceflight Now) (Space.com)
- Peter Friederich, former Swiss ambassador to Luxembourg, goes on trial for money laundering. (Swissinfo)
- Former Indonesian president Suharto is hospitalized; there are conflicting reports about his condition. (Jakarta Post) (Laksamana) (BBC) (Forbes)
- The death toll continues to rise due to flooding in Somalia and the Somalia Region of Ethiopia. In April 2005, heavy rains generated widespread flooding and caused the Shebelle River to burst its banks. As of May 5, the flooding in Somali Region alone has caused over 100 confirmed deaths and widespread property damage affecting over 100,000 persons. The floods have also destroyed shelters housing 25,000 Somali refugees in Kenya. (UN IRIN) (UN News)
- Twelve South American and 22 Arab countries begin a summit in Brazil. (Agencia Estado Brazil) (Arabic News) (Bloomberg) (Reuters)
- In Ecuador, former president Gustavo Noboa is placed under house arrest. (CBS) (BBC)
- In Italy, two Vatican Radio officials, Cardinal Roberto Tucci and Father Pasquale Borgome, have been convicted of polluting the atmosphere with unnecessarily powerful electromagnetic waves that might have causes increased risk of cancer. They receive 10-day suspended sentences. (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
- Hans Blix, former United Nations chief arms inspector, suggests that Iran and Israel could support a ban of uranium enrichment in the Middle East. (Al-Jazeera) (Reuters AlertNet)
- The Nigerian government charges 80 Biafran separatists with treason. (AllAfricA) (BBC) (Reuters AlertNet)
- Italian police in Rome reopen the investigation into the murder of Pier Paolo Pasolini. (BBC)
- Andrés Manuel López Obrador, mayor of Mexico City, announces that he will quit his post on July 31 to concentrate on his campaign to be president of Mexico. (El Universal) (Reuters)
- In the Democratic Republic of Congo, president Joseph Kabila visits Lumumbashi in Katanga province. At least 30 people have been arrested for an attempted separatist coup in the province. (AllAfrica) (ReliefWeb) (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
- President George W. Bush signs the Real ID Act into effect
- Guantánamo Bay Qur'an desecration allegations: Riots over a Newsweek story (later retracted) lead to dozens of injuries and at least three deaths in Jalalabad, Eastern Afghanistan. Afghan police use live ammunition to stop the Anti-American rioting organized in protest of the alleged desecration of a copy of the Qur'an. (BBC), (Reuters)
- A Katyusha rocket hits the northern Israeli town of Shlomi, damaging a bakery but no injuries. The rocket appears to have been launched from within Lebanon while Israel celebrated its 57th Independence Day. (Haaretz)
- Justice officials in Kuwait, with assistance from United Nations war crimes expert Sharif Basyouni, complete an indictment against Saddam Hussein and several former Iraqi officials for crimes against humanity during the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. (Yahoo!)
- The Irish government gives the go-ahead for the building of the controversial M3 motorway through the archaeologically sensitive Tara-Skyrne Valley, amid an international outcry by academics and environmentalists. (RTÉ)
- The White House and United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. are evacuated, amid reports of an incoming aircraft. The US Secret Service subsequently issues an all-clear. (BBC)
- Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin has set May 19 for a vote in the House of Commons on the federal budget. He said if his government loses the vote of confidence, he will seek the dissolution of Parliament. This means an election could come as early as June 27. (CBC)
- The Austrian parliament ratifies the European Union constitution with only one dissenting vote. (ORF)
- Conflict in Iraq: At least 60 people die following a series of bombings throughout Iraq. (BBC)
- The Bulgarian parliament ratifies the EU membership treaty. (Bulgarian News Network) (Sofia News Agency) (BBC) (CNN)
- Authorities in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh investigate the attack of social worker Shakuntala Verma after she had investigated claims of illegal child marriages. One of her hands was severed and the other was badly wounded. (Newindpress) (Telegraph) (Times of India)
- In Yemen, the number of cases in a polio outbreak rises to 63. (BBC) (ABC) (Reuters AlertNet)
- Javier Zanetti, captain of the Inter Milan football club, says the team could accept the invitation to a game to play against Mexico's Zapatistarebels. (BBC)
- The presidents of Nigeria and Cameroon have not made progress in talks on the disputed Bakassi peninsula. They agree to negotiate a new date for the pullout of Nigerian troops. (Cameroon-Info) (BBC) (Reuters AlertNet)
- Medical researchers and health organizations condemn AIDS dissident Matthias Rath who had placed full-page ads in the New York Times and International Herald Tribune with a slogan "Stop AIDS Genocide by drug cartel". Rath claims that antiretroviral drugs are poisonous and his vitamin supplements can cure the disease. Researchers of Harvard University state that Rath misrepresents their findings. South Africa's Medicine Control Council announces investigation of the Rath Foundation. (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC) (Pretoria News) (Business Day) (News24)
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