May 24, 2010 (Monday)
- Trinidad and Tobago holds a general election, resulting in the victory of the United National Congress, and Kamla Persad-Bissessar becoming its first female Prime Minister. (CaribbeanWorldNews)[permanent dead link], (Xinhua)
- The death toll as a result of severe flooding in Poland reaches 15 as Interior Minister Jerzy Miller says "The situation is worse than expected". (Deutsche Welle) (The Irish Times) (Press TV) (RTÉ)
- Hamas announces that it will boycott Palestinian municipal elections, saying said that the elections were being held under the supervision of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s “unconstitutional government” and would lack fairness and credibility. (The Jerusalem Post)
- Israel:
- President of Israel Shimon Peres denies a claims that there was an alleged nuclear pact between Israel and South Africa. (BBC)(The Jerusalem Post)
- Australia expels an Israeli diplomat after a probe reveals Israel was behind the forging of four Australian passports linked to the assassination of a Hamas operative in Dubai. (BBC)
- Operation Herrick:
- Colonel Bob Seddon resigns as principal ammunition technical officer of the Royal Logistic Corps citing concerns about "the pressures on his team operating in Afghanistan". (Sky News) (The Daily Telegraph) (The Hindu) (Hindustan Times)
- The widow of an army bomb disposal expert killed there in October admits her husband was under relentless pressure and his elite unit "badly overstretched". (Reuters)
- Sinking of the ROKS Cheonan:
- South Korea cuts off trade with North Korea and announces that North Korean ships will no longer be allowed to use South Korean waters. The government demands an apology over the sinking. (BBC)
- The South Korean military announces that it will resume the suspended practice of psychological warfare against North Korean guards on the Demilitarized zone, and that it would hold anti-submarine military exercises with the United States. (Yonhap) (Al Jazeera)
- South Korea announces that it will refer North Korea to the United Nations Security Council. (BBC)
- South Korea and the United States pressure China to allow UN action against North Korea. (The Guardian)
- Two police officers are killed and six others are wounded by gunmen during unrest in Jamaica's capital, Kingston. (BBC) (Sky News)
- The first China-Europe High-Level Political Party Forum convenes in Beijing. (Global Times)
- The second round of the U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue begins in Beijing, China. (CNN) (Xinhua)
- The assassination of Bashar al-Ageidi from the election-winning Iraqiya bloc of Ayad Allawi takes place outside his house in Mosul. (BBC)
- Partial results show Western-backed leader Meles Zenawi's party is going to win the national Ethiopian election, although there are allegations it was rigged. (BBC) (The Times) (The Daily Telegraph)
- A panel of judges rules that Kenya's Islamic courts favour Islam and that this is unconstitutional as Kenya is a secular country. (BBC)
- Niger proposes reforms that would see only those with a university degree be allowed to run in presidential elections and parliamentary candidates be under the age of seventy and have some form of secondary education. Opposition groups say this discriminates against the 80 per cent of the population that is illiterate. (BBC)
- President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is met with protests during a speech in Khorramshahr. (BBC) (Reuters) (Voice of America)
- The International Monetary Fund says "far-reaching" reforms are vital for Spain's economy. (BBC)
- Plane Stupid protesters break into Manchester Airport and lock arms around an aircraft. Flights are suspended. (Sky News)
- At least three people die and four others are critically injured in a school bus crash in Keswick, Cumbria in the Lake District of North West England in the United Kingdom.
- Twentieth Century Fox's hit TV show 24 went completely off the air.
- The people of Huddersfield in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees of West Yorkshire in England are ordered to remain indoors and several schools are shut down after a huge fire engulfs a chemical plant in the area. (Sky News)
- The UK's General Medical Council bans Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who was the first to publish research suggesting a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism, from practicing in the country, finding him guilty of "serious professional misconduct." (AP) (BBC) (The Washington Post) (Wall Street Journal)
- Peter Harvey, the UK teacher who attacked a pupil with a dumbbell while shouting "die, die, die", is sentenced to community order as his trial ends in Nottingham. The judge calls him as a "thoroughly decent man". (The Daily Telegraph) (The Guardian) (The Irish Times) (RTÉ) (The Times)
- Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader and South Down MP Margaret Ritchie resigns from the Northern Ireland Executive. Alex Attwood is the new Minister for Social Development. (RTÉ)
- Sarah, Duchess of York receives support from businessman Simon Cowell and an award for her work with the disadvantaged children of the U.S. city of Los Angeles despite being caught in a newspaper sting in Britain. (Sky News)
- Iran's largest water supply project is inaugurated in Khorramshahr. (Bernama) (Press TV) (Tehran Times)
- Paul Gray, bassist and founding member of heavy metal group Slipknot, is found dead at the age of 38 by a hotel employee in his room in Iowa, United States. (The Guardian) (Xinhua) (TIME) (ABC News)