 » After a decade-long manhunt Osama bin Laden was killed in a daring raid. A two-year intelligence effort led American special forces to a compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, just north of Islamabad, where they shot al-Qaeda's leader. His body was buried at sea to prevent jihadists from creating a shrine. With Mr bin Laden found to have been living comfortably in an urban area, some concluded that he had been sheltered by elements of the Pakistani security services. The Americans did not notify Pakistan about their operation for fear that it would be compromised. See article » News of Mr bin Laden's death brought celebratory crowds into the streets of some cities, notably New York and Washington. But the mood soon turned to sombre remembrance of September 11th 2001 and for the thousands of other mostly Muslim victims around the world of Mr bin Laden's jihad. Barack Obama was praised, including by Republicans, for his supervision of the operation. Later the president prepared to go to Ground Zero to mark the demise of al-Qaeda's founder.
See article » The death toll from a spate of tornadoes that hit southern states at the end of April rose to at least 340. In Alabama alone 250 people were killed. See article
Nothing to be proud of » Portugal agreed to the terms of a €78 billion ($116 billion) bail-out with the European Union and the IMF. José Sócrates, the country's caretaker prime minister, boasted that he had achieved a better deal than Greece and Ireland, the two other euro-zone countries that have accepted rescue packages. Portugal holds a general election on June 5th. See article » The European Commission said that countries inside the European Union's passport-free Schengen area should be allowed temporarily to reimpose border checks when faced with large numbers of migrants. France and Italy had asked the commission to consider revising the Schengen rules after arguing over the handling of tens of thousands of migrants from north Africa.
Power surge  » After five years of minority government, the Conservative Party won a parliamentary majority in Canada's federal election. The centrist Liberals lost more than half their seats, and were replaced as the official opposition by the leftish New Democrats. Quebec's separatist Bloc Québécois lost 90% of its seats and was nearly eliminated from Parliament. See article » Mexico's Congress passed a tougher competition law. Collusion will now be punished by up to ten years in prison, and first-time offenders will be subject to a maximum fine of 10% of annual sales. See article » Prosecutors in Honduras dropped corruption charges against Manuel Zelaya, the country's former president, who was ousted in a coup backed by the courts and legislature in 2009. The decision means that Mr Zelaya is free to return home without fear of arrest, and should pave the way for Honduras to be readmitted to the Organisation of American States. » French investigators recovered both the flight-data and cockpit-voice recorders from an Air France plane that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris in 2009, killing 228 people.
The people, united? » After years of internecine conflict, Fatah and Hamas, the two biggest Palestinian factions, signed an agreement to back a government of national unity. Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, condemned the reconciliation. See article  » The Syrian government sent tanks into restive cities across the country. Its security forces detained several thousand protesters and political opponents, and killed more than 100 more people, bringing the death tally to at least 600 since protests began. See article » A NATO air strike in Tripoli killed one of Muammar Qaddafi's sons, Saif al-Arab, and three of the Libyan leader's grandchildren. As the fighting continued between rebels and government forces, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said he wanted to arrest three (unnamed) individuals in Libya for crimes against humanity. » Bahrain said that 47 doctors and nurses who defied the government by treating protesters injured by security forces during anti-government demonstrations in March would be prosecuted. » Two Rwandan warlords were put on trial in Germany for atrocities committed in Congo.
Coping with the costs » Opposition parties joined Japan's government in passing a ¥4 trillion ($50 billion) emergency budget to bring disaster relief to the areas devastated by the earthquake and tsunami of March 11th. More reconstruction packages will follow, bringing with them contentious tax rises and yet more government borrowing. » Thailand's prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, prepared the country for what he said would be a landmark general election, a year after the army crushed opposition protests in Bangkok. The election could take place in June or July. Human Rights Watch published a report that blamed the red shirts for plenty of last year's violence, but also accused Thai soldiers of violating human rights. See article » Singaporeans prepared to vote in an election on May 7th. The People's Action Party looked set to win another whopping majority, but had to contest 82 of its 87 seats, having defended just 47 last time. Support for the PAP has been diminishing, even as the economy races along, mostly because of opposition to its liberal immigration policy.  » May Day marked the beginning of one of China's more ambitious projects: to ban smoking in public places. On buses, in restaurants, bars and hospitals—the Chinese were told to stop smoking in public. With 350m smokers, China burns through a third of the world's cigarettes every day. Around 8% of the state's revenue comes from tobacco. » The United Nations forecast that the world's population would reach 7 billion on October 31st, a bit earlier than predicted, and could reach 10 billion by 2100. » The last living combat veteran of the first world war died at the age of 110. Claude Choules, who lived in Australia, joined the Royal Navy as a young man and witnessed the surrender of the German fleet in 1918. | 
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