01|In Cuba, Australian swimmer Susie Maroney reaches shore after swimming 197 kilometres from Mexico, setting a new world record in unassisted ocean swimming. Maroney swims the distance inside a cage towed behind a boat, in order to be safe from sharks and jellyfish. The swim took more than 38 hours to complete.|
01|In Harare, Zimbabwe, more than 200 students protesting against President Robert Mugabe's regime begin a violent protest. Several shop windows are smashed before police arrive to disperse the protesters. The students are trying to oust Mugabe in the same way as President Suharto of Indonesia was ousted last month.|
01|In Hengelo, in the Netherlands, Haile Gebrselassie sets a new world record for running 10,000 metres, completing the distance in 26 minutes 22.75 seconds. Gebrselassie, of Ethiopia, regains the record from Paul Tergat of Kenya.|
01|In Lusaka, Zambia, former president Kenneth Kaunda is cleared of charges of concealing knowledge of a coup against the government. Kaunda, who spent the last five months under house arrest, is cheered by dozens of supporters as he leaves the Lusaka High Court.|
02|In Tehran, Iran, an explosion inside a revolutionary Islamic court kills at least two people and injures six more. The Iranian opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq claims responsibility for the blast, but Iran's official news agency blames negligent handling of explosives which were to be used as evidence in court.|
02|International aid agencies report that thousands of Albanians are fleeing the Serbian province of Kosovo as violence continues in the area. Serb forces have recently intensified their attempts to extinguish separatist movements among ethnic Albanians, forcing more than 2,000 Albanians out of Kosovo in the past 48 hours. Many thousands more have been displaced within Kosovo.|
03|A high speed Munich-Hamburg express train crashes in Eschede, Germany, killing more than 100 people and injuring 200 other passengers. The crash is believed to have been caused by a fault in one of the train's wheels, which caused it to derail and smash into a bridge spanning the track. The crash is the worst of its kind in Germany in more than 30 years.|
03|In Turkey, Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz announces his intention to resign at the end of the year. A general election will be held in April 1999. His agreement to step down is taken after a meeting with Deniz Baykal of the Republican People's Party, who had agreed to back Yilmaz's government on the condition that he called early elections.|
03|In Tunisia, two men are each sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for their part in the assassination of former Belgian prime minister Andre Cools in 1991. Abdelmajid al Almi and Abdeljelil Ben Brahim are found guilty of manslaughter.|
04|In Bulgaria, the country's exiled King Simeon II is given back his family estate by order of the Bulgarian Constitutional Court. The royal estate was seized in 1946 when the royal family fled the country's new communist leaders.|
04|In India, the death toll from the recent heatwave rises to more than 1,300 as temperatures reach more than 49 degrees Celsius. In the eastern state of Orissa, more than 600 people have been killed by dehydration and heat stroke. Recurring power breakdowns have hindered hospitals providing treatment.|
04|In Victoria Park, Hong Kong, thousands of people gather to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Their candle-lit vigil is the first mourning of the victims of the massacre permitted on Chinese soil.|
05|In eastern Africa, a border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia descends into war, as Eritrean planes bomb the city of Mekele, killing at least 20 people and injuring hundreds more. Ethiopia responds by bombing the Eritrean capital, Asmara, and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi threatens Eritrea that "enough is enough".|
05|In Congo (Brazzaville), services are held to commemorate the first anniversary of the beginning of the country's civil war. In Brazzaville, the foundation stone of a commemorative plaque is laid in honour of more than 15,000 people who died during the struggle.|
06|In Istanbul, Turkey, a bomb explodes in the offices of the Democratic Turkey Party, but there are no injuries. The bomb is the latest incident in recent political violence that began in the country after a leftist rally on May 1st.|
06|The Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) militia group announce that they have kidnapped two French fishermen who were sailing off the Somali coast. The SSDF claim the men were sailing in Somali waters and endangering local fishermen, and are holding the men at a base in Bossaso.|
06|In London, more than 8,000 people gather in two locations to stage simultaneous demonstrations against traffic congestion and overuse of cars in the United Kingdom. The protest, organized by the pressure group Reclaim the Streets, blocks roads into the city centre and causes massive traffic congestion.|
07|In New York, Brooklyn Supreme Court sentences Darrel Harris to death for the murder of three people in 1996. The death penalty was reinstated in New York State in 1995, and Harris will be the first person to be executed since Eddie Lee Mays, in 1963.|
07|In Paris, the French Open tennis tournament comes to an end, with Carlos Moya beating Alex Corretja in an all-Spanish Men's Singles final. The Women's Singles final is won by Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, also of Spain, who beats Monica Seles of the U.S.A. by two sets to one.|
07|In Pakistan, at least 23 people are killed and 32 more injured when a bomb explodes on an express train travelling from Karachi to Peshawar. The blast occurs as the train passes through Khairpur in Sindh province. Some officials blame India for the bomb, heightening tensions between the two countries in the aftermath of their rival nuclear testing. (See also May 28, 11.)|
08|General Sani Abacha, president of Nigeria, dies of a heart attack at the age of 54. Abacha seized power in Nigeria in 1993 in a military coup, and had led the country as a dictator since then, although promising a return to civilian rule. He is buried at his birthplace of Kano in the north of the country.|
08|In London, thousands of fans of Linda McCartney gather in Trafalgar Square to celebrate her life, as her husband Paul and a host of celebrities attend a memorial service nearby. Among the guests at the church service are former Beatles George Harrison and Ringo Starr, who have not been seen in public with McCartney since 1969. (See also April 17.)|
09|In Nigeria, the country's new military leader, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, promises to return his country to civilian rule on October 1 of this year. In his first address to the nation as head of state, Abubakar promises a return to democracy, amid calls by the opposition for the people to take to the streets in protest. (See also June 8.)|
09|In Taiwan, the 31st victim of a virus that is sweeping the country dies. The viral disease affects children under the age of five, and it is believed that more than half a million children could be affected. In Taipei, the government calls together a team of experts to set out plans for monitoring and treating the illness.|
09|In Hong Kong, torrential rains devastate rural areas of the northern New Territories, and affect much of the country. One person is missing and eight more are injured. More than 15 landslides and waters up to 1.5 metres deep prevent many businesses from opening, and disrupt road, rail, and air traffic.|
10|In Paris, the 1998 World Cup finals commence, with the Stade de France hosting a spectacular opening ceremony, followed by the first game of the tournament between Brazil and Scotland. Brazil win the first game of the 33-day football tournament, beating Scotland 2-1.|
10|In India, a cyclone strikes the west of the country, centring on the state of Gujarat. More than 800 people are killed, many of them salt workers in the Kutch region, and power supplies are cut off. Winds reaching 120 kilometres per hour and tidal waves more than 2 metres high batter the coastline. The cost of damage is estimated at 284 million U.S. dollars.|
10|In Dili, East Timor, thousands of people protest against Indonesian President B. J. Habibie's plans for the territory. They demand a ballot on independence and reject Habibie's plans to grant the territory "special status". In Jakarta, thousands more demonstrate through the capital after the Indonesian currency hits a new low.|
11|Dame Catherine Cookson, one of the United Kingdom's most popular novelists, dies at her home in Newcastle at the age of 91. Cookson wrote 85 bestselling novels, which realised sales of more than 100 million copies.|
11|In Pakistan, the government announces a unilateral halt to nuclear tests in an effort to end hostilities with India. Indian officials welcome the gesture and propose negotiations with Pakistan to bring about an end to the nuclear threat currently existing between the neighbouring countries. (See also June 7, May 28, 11.)|
12|In the United Kingdom, a 69-year-old man is cleared of a murder conviction passed in 1975, for which he has served 23 years in prison. Patrick Nicholls was imprisoned for the murder of his friend, Gladys Heath, but is cleared by the Court of Appeal after pathologists' evidence that helped convict him is proven to be flawed.|
12|It is announced by archaeologists in Shardlow, United Kingdom, that a 3,300 year old Bronze Age boat has been uncovered in a local Derbyshire quarry. The 10.5-metre-long boat was still carrying its original load of building stone, and is believed to have sunk in turbulent waters. It is one of the best preserved examples of Bronze Age water transportation.|
12|In Budapest, the men's world chess champion Anatoly Karpov meets Judit Polgar, the female world champion, in a speed-match challenge. Polgar, of Hungary, beats Russian Karpov 5-3 in the first meeting of the male and female champions of the game.|
13|In Australia, controversial politician Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party wins almost 25 per cent of votes in a Queensland state election. The shock result of the election shows that support is growing for anti-immigration member of parliament Hanson. The One Nation party will now take up to 12 seats in the state parliament in Brisbane.|
13|The organizers of World Cup 1998 begin an investigation into massive ticket fraud where thousands of fans paid for tickets that they never received. Football fans from Japan, Holland, Brazil, Germany, and the United Kingdom have been affected by the fraud. Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) is also to investigate the trade of "ghost" tickets.|
14|In Marseilles, France, hundreds of English and Tunisian football fans clash in a day of violence that culminates in the hurling of bottles and glasses. Riot police use tear gas and batons to disperse the supporters, and more than 100 arrests are made. The violence, blamed in part on heavy alcohol consumption, continues for several hours.|
14|In Brazil, 12 people are killed and 16 others injured as a bus and truck collide on a road near Frutao. A third vehicle then crashes into the bus, killing 8 of the Paraguayan tourists on board. All three drivers of the vehicles are also killed. A tour guide later dies in hospital.|
14|Five Scottish seamen are killed when their trawler is hit by a German coaster in the North Sea, about 48 kilometres from the Danish shore. The crew of the Silvery Sea vessel have not yet been recovered, following the accident that sliced their boat in half.|
15|In Denmark, Queen Margrethe opens Europe's longest suspension bridge to traffic for the first time. The 6.8-kilometre-long bridge, which took 10 years to build at a cost of 5.6 billion US dollars, links eastern and western Denmark over the Great Belt waterway.|
15|In Iran, two earthquakes hit the provinces of Khorasan and Chahar Mahall-va-Bakhtiari, but no injuries are reported. The quakes measure 4.6 and 4.8 on the Richter scale, and are the latest in a series of tremors to hit the country in recent months.|
15|In Nigeria, General Abdulsalam Abubakar orders the release of nine political prisoners, signalling his intention to honour his promise to bring democracy to the country following the death of Sani Abacha. Of those released, two were prominent opposition activists, and one the former head of state, Olusegun Obasanjo. (See also June 8.)|
16|In Boston, U.S.A., the Massachusetts supreme court upholds the conviction of manslaughter on former nanny Louise Woodward, but rejects a plea for the reinstatement of her original murder conviction. Woodward's passport is released, and she is free to travel home to the United Kingdom as all appeals are finally concluded. After the announcement of the court's decision, the parents of the child she is accused of killing launch a civil suit against her. (See also March 9; November 10, 1997; October, 30 1997.)|
16|In Florida, U.S.A., the birth of a baby is filmed and transmitted live over the Internet for the first time. The 40-year-old mother of the baby boy allows the broadcast of the delivery because she wants to educate people about childbirth.|
17|In Bourkika, in the province of Tizapa, Algeria, a bomb explodes in a cemetery killing four people and injuring four others. The homemade explosive is the latest in a series of violence between rebels and troops over the past 11 days which has caused the deaths of 210 people.|
17|In Losiny village, in the Urals region of Russia, 6 soldiers are killed as lightning sets off an explosion at a munitions dump in a military base. More than 14 others are injured in the blast, which causes the evacuation of 3,000 villagers.|
18|In Russia, Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Chubais issues a demand for international aid to help prevent the economic collapse of his country. The demand for 17 billion U.S. dollars from the International Monetary Union marks the first admittance from Russia that its economy is in danger of collapse.|
18|In Belgrade, Serbia, several hundred women march in protest against the government's continued military action in Kosovo. The women, who all have sons serving in the Serbian army, disperse peacefully, but their demonstration represents growing opposition to Serbia's offensive against ethnic Albanians in the Kosovo province. (See also April 22, March 31, 25, 22, 6,2.)|
19|In Guinea-Bissau, fighting intensifies between rebels and the army over control of the cannabis and tourism trades in Casamance, on the borders with Senegal. Senegalese planes bomb a border village, killing more than 100 people. It is believed that more than 80 per cent of the population of the capital city of Bissau has fled into the jungle to escape the violence.|
19|In India, five gunmen, believed to be militant Kashmiri separatists, ambush a wedding party who are returning to their homes in a village near Doda, in Jammu and Kashmir state. Twenty-five members of the wedding party, including the bridegroom, are shot dead and six others are injured.|
20|In Asmara, Eritrea, more than 100,000 people line the streets to welcome home the first group of Eritreans expelled from Ethiopia due to the current conflict. About 720 people who were released from the Ethiopian border three days ago reach the capital to a tumultuous welcome. (See also June 5.)|
20|In Sana, Yemen, hundreds of people take to the streets to protest against rising prices of fuel and food. Police fire into the air and use tear gas to disperse the demonstrations. Many of those protesting call for the resignation of Prime Minister Abd-al-Karim al-Iryani.|
21|In Moscow, a hurricane kills 6 people and injures more than 120 others. The winds uproot more than 5,000 trees, and destroy electricity, telephone, and tram lines. Thousands of troops are deployed to help clear the streets of debris.|
21|In the Czech Republic, the Social Democratic Party win the general election, garnering more than 32 per cent of votes. Their victory is, however, considered to be too narrow for them to form a viable government to replace that of Vaclav Klaus, which collapsed in November. Klaus's right-wing Civic Democratic Party gain 27 per cent of votes, but a coalition government between the two parties seems unlikely to succeed. (See also November 30, 1997.)|
21|In Colombia, the former mayor of Bogota, Andres Pastrana, wins the presidential election. Pastrana wins 50 per cent of the vote. His nearest rival, Horacio Serpa, has 46 per cent.|
22|A suspected North Korean spy submarine and its crew are captured off the north-east coast of South Korea after becoming entangled in fishing nets. The submarine is towed by a naval ship to the coast, but sinks before it reaches shore. The nine crew on board are found dead with gunshot wounds in what appears to be a group suicide.|
22|On Mount McKinley, in Alaska, U.S.A., two soldiers from the United Kingdom are rescued after spending four days stranded without a tent on the mountainside. The men survived at a height of 5,700 metres and temperatures of minus 27 degrees Celsius before being rescued by helicopter.|
23|In Valencia, Spain, a hijacked Iberia airlines plane with 130 people on board is reclaimed by police as the hijacker surrenders. The plane, which had been travelling from Seville to Barcelona, was taken over by Javier Gomez, who surrenders after speaking to a psychiatrist over the phone from the plane.|
23|In Phoenix, U.S.A., Irish-born actress Maureen O'Sullivan dies at the age of 87. Famous for her role as Jane in the Tarzan films of the 1930's and 1940's, she was also the mother of actress Mia Farrow. It is believed she died of a heart attack.|
23|In Romania, the Environment Ministry announces that more than 15,000 acres of land have been submerged by rising floodwaters. The floods, which mainly affected Transylvania and Moldova, were caused by a month of stormy weather which has brought hail and tornadoes to the regions.|
24|In Newtownhamilton, Northern Ireland, a bomb explodes injuring a teenage boy and damaging buildings. The bomb, thought to be the work of the Irish National Liberation Army, comes on the eve of Ulster's assembly elections.|
24|At Melrose Abbey in Scotland, the reburial of what is thought to be Robert the Bruce's heart is marked in a special ceremony, two years after it was rediscovered in the Abbey during an archaeological dig. The casket, containing the heart, has been in safekeeping in Edinburgh since then, but is finally laid to rest after more than 600 years.|
24|At least seventy people are killed as a plane crashes into mountains in northern Mexico. The plane, which had been travelling from Mazatlan to Chihuahua, crashes near the town of Cinco.|
25|In Xian, China, U.S. President Bill Clinton arrives to spend nine days touring the country. This is the first visit by an American president since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.|
25|In Algeria, Muslim rebels murder 17 civilians in a village in Saida province. Hours later, another group murders the popular singer Lounes Matoub, an outspoken anti-Islamist, and injures his wife, in an attack that has been attributed to an Islamist terrorist group.|
26|In Texas, U.S.A., Henry Lee Lucas becomes the first person to successfully appeal for clemency against the death sentence since the punishment was restored in the state in 1982. Governor George Bush commutes Lee's sentence to life imprisonment on the grounds that he believes the conviction to be in doubt.|
26|In southern Lebanon, 60 Lebanese former prisoners of war held by Israel return home to a triumphant welcome. The return of the prisoners brings to an end a series of exchanges between the two countries that has been negotiated by the Red Cross and the U.S.A.|
26|The Nigerian military ruler, General Abubakar, announces the release of 17 political prisoners, bringing the total number of releases to more than 40. Abubakar has also begun negotiations with banned pro-democracy groups. (See also June 15.)|
27|In Dili, East Timor, thousands of people demonstrate in front of European Union representatives to show their opposition to Indonesian rule. The protestors throw stones at troops gathered outside the office of the Indonesian governor, and several of the building's windows are smashed. Troops disperse the crowds with tear gas and wooden clubs. (See also June 10.)|
27|In Louisiana, U.S.A., two tugboats collide on the Mississippi River spilling more than 262,200 U.S. gallons of crude oil. The spillage stops river traffic, and poses a threat to drinking water supplies and wildlife. A cleanup operation is begun, but is expected to take several days.|
27|In Ceyhan, southern Turkey, 112 people are killed when an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale hits the town. Apartment blocks and houses are flattened, and many people flee the area as at least 16 aftershocks are registered.|
28|In the Berber region of Algeria, one man is killed as rioting breaks out at the funeral of singer Lounes Matoub. Tens of thousands of people attend the funeral, and youths attack government buildings. Troops respond with gunfire and a Berber man is killed. He is the fourth person to be killed in riots sparked by the murder of Matoub. (See also June 25.)|
28|A boat carrying more than 100 Arabs which had been drifting at sea for 12 days is rescued by a Ukrainian cargo ship and towed to shore. Those aboard had been without food and water, and two of their fellow passengers had died during the ordeal. The Syrian captain of the boat is placed under arrest for causing death by negligence.|
29|In Washington, U.S.A., the remains of an unknown soldier interred in the Tomb of the Unknowns are identified as those of Lieutenant Michael Blassie of the U.S. Air Force following DNA testing. (See also May 7.)|
29|Rudy Narayan, the Guyana-born lawyer and black rights activist, who spent his adult life in the United Kingdom, dies in hospital in London at the age of 60.|
29|In Stavelot, Belgium, a man is killed and 11 others injured as a truck carrying paint crashes and ignites, spreading flames over nearby buildings. More than a dozen houses are destroyed and toxic smoke engulfs the town centre. The accident is thought to have been caused by the failure of the truck's brakes.|
30|Tension between Iraq and the U.S.A. is heightened when U.S. aircraft bomb an anti-aircraft battery in the Iraqi port of Basra. The bombing is in retaliation against Iraq's targeting of British planes with hostile radar whilst they were performing a routine patrol mission over the air exclusion zone.|
30|In the province of Kosovo in Serbia, at least 10 ethnic Albanians are killed as government troops make an assault on the Belacevac coal mine near the regional capital of Pristina. A combined force of Serbian police, Yugoslav troops, and civilians reclaim the mine from the Kosovo Liberation Army after a three-day battle. (See also June 18, April 22, March 31, 25, 22, 6, 2.)|
