Week of May 1, 2005
Iraq’s Shiite Muslim leaders, with a new government ready to take office, plan to
crack down on Sunni-led insurgents and purge suspected infiltrators and corrupt
officers from the country’s security forces.
British voters give Tony Blair a third consecutive term as Prime Minister, but his
labor party’s hold on Parliament is weakened and the Iraq war is a factor.
Iraq - Suicide bombers kill more than tow dozen in separate attacks.
U.S. health officials warn the public to be careful when handling mice, rats and
hamsters after an investigation of the first documented human cases of
salmonella linked to pet rodents.
The Fed raises its key interest rate to 3%.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reminds North Korea that the United states
has extensive military might in the Pacific, a day after a suspected North Korean
missile test.
Bruce McCandless, Joseph Allen and Gordon Fullerton are inducted into the U.S.
Astronaut Hall of Fame. McCandless is famous for his flying with a jetpack during
a 1984 Challenger space shuttle mission. He was the first man to fly without
tethers in space.
Jennifer Wilbanks apologizes for disappearing before her wedding day and
insists that her flight was prompted not by cold feet, but by “a host of compelling
issues which seemed out of control.” Wilbanks three-day disappearance led to a
nationwide search. She initially told investigators she had been abducted by a
Latino man and a white woman with a handgun - a story that quickly unraveled.
From Florida, Wilbanks said her flight by bus to Las Vegas and eventually to
