1 JUNE 2001

Israel

A Palestinian suicide bomber killed at least 21 Israelis, mostly young people, in Tel Aviv (Reuters).

7 JUNE 2001

Britain, Politics

In general elections, Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour party defeated William Hague's Conservatives. According to BBC estimates after the election, Labour won 45.7% of the vote and the Conservatives won 29.6%. The Liberal Democrats improved on their showing in the previous election, gaining at the expense of both Labour and the Conservatives, with 17.6%. Labour ended up with a 166-seat majority in the House of Commons, down 13 seats. The Conservatives had promised to keep Britain out of the euro, the single EU currency, while Labour promised a cautious move toward the euro (Reuters). Polls during the election campaign showed that most voters supported retaining the pound, but that the issue was not one of their main concerns.

8 JUNE 2001

Iran, Politics

A Presidential election was held. President Mohammad Khatami received 21.7 million of the total 28.2 million votes, or about 77%, according to official figures. His nearest rival was former Labor Minister Ahmad Tavakoli with 4.4 million votes. Khatami said his first priority was to foster democracy, but that "principles should be coupled with patience, moderation and prudence" (Reuters).

Rwanda, Genocide

A Belgian court sentenced four Rwandans to between 12 and 20 years in prison for their roles in the 1994 genocide that killed around one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus (Reuters).

India

Four Muslims were killed when unknown assailants attacked the Chrar-e-Sharief shrine in Jammu and Kashmir state (Reuters).

14 JUNE 2001

Diplomatic Affairs

US President Bush and EU leaders met in Gothenburg, Sweden to discuss global warming and other issues (Reuters).

14-15 JUNE 2001

Asia, Diplomatic Affairs

Russian President Putin and Chinese President Jiang met in Shanghai. They criticized US development of ABM defenses. On the 15th, they and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan signed an agreement establishing the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which is to coordinate efforts to fight Islamic and ethnic rebellion in their states. They also issued a communique supporting the 1972 ABM Treaty, which the US is unhappy with, and expressing opposition to any deployment of ABM defenses by "a small group of states", apparently in reference to US allies in eastern Asia (Reuters).

15 JUNE 2001

Rwanda, Genocide

A Rwandan court concluded a mass trial of 126 people accused of involvement in the 1994 genocide. Nine were sentenced to death, 30 received life imprisonment, 62 received between four and 20 years imprisonment and 25 were acquitted. Rwanda has so far tried over 3,000 genocide suspects, of whom over 500 have been sentenced to death. There are about 115,000-125,000 suspects in prison awaiting trial (Reuters).

16 JUNE 2001

Diplomatic Affairs

US President Bush and Russian President Putin met in Ljubljana, Slovenia to discuss US R&D of ABM defenses and other issues (Reuters).

Bangladesh

At least 22 people were killed by a bomb that exploded at the office of the ruling Awami League in Narayanganj (Reuters).

Jordan, Politics

King Abdullah dissolved parliament; he did not set a date for general elections (Reuters).

17 JUNE 2001

Bulgaria, Politics

General elections were held. The National Movement for Simeon II, led by former King Simeon II, defeated Prime Minister Ivan Kostov's UDF. Simeon said his priorities were rapid economic growth, membership in the EU and NATO, and fighting corruption. The Central Electoral Commission (CEC) said Simeon's party won 120 seats in the 240-seat parliament. The UDF won 51, the Socialist Party won 48, and the ethnic-Turk oriented Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) won 21 (Reuters).

Algeria

There were major anti-government riots in the Berber-speaking Kabylie region, particularly in Bejaia and Tizi Ouzou. There have been almost daily protests in the region since April (Reuters).

20 JUNE 2001

Pakistan, Politics

Military ruler General Pervez Musharraf had himself sworn in as President. State media announced that the figurehead President, Mohammad Rafiq, had been removed (Reuters).

24 JUNE 2001

Russia

The government claimed its forces had killed Arbi Barayev, a top leader of rebels in Chechnya, during an operation near Grozny (Reuters).

Venezuela

President Hugo Chavez announced that former Peruvian intelligence chief Vladimiro Montesinos had been arrested and would be handed over to the Peruvian government (Reuters).

26 JUNE 2001

Diplomatic Affairs

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met US President Bush in Washington to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Reuters).

On the same day, South African President Thabo Mbeki also met with Bush. The two discussed issues of concern to Sub-Saharan Africa, including AIDS, political turmoil and economic development (Reuters).

28-29 JUNE 2001

Yugoslavia, Politics

Former President Slobodan Milosevic was extradited to a UN tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, to face charges of crimes against humanity associated with wars against Bosnia and Croatia and oppression of Albanians in Kosovo. Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic had Milosevic taken from Belgrade Central Prison and handed over to UN officials during the late evening of the 28th. He was then flown to the Hague. The next day, Zoran Zizic, Prime Minister of the Yugoslav federation, resigned in protest at the extradition (Reuters).

30 JUNE 2001

Diplomatic Affairs

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met US President Bush in Washington (Reuters).