The republics of North Yemen and South Yemen have agreed on a draft constitution to merge into a single state, a South Yemen spokesman said. Abdullah Ahmad Ganem said in a statement the draft constitution provides that Islam will be the official religion and the North Yemeni capital of Sanaa the seat of government of the United Yemeni Republic. For nearly two decades the governments of the two Yemens have been conducting unity talks interspersed with military skirmishes along their mountainous border. Ghanem is the Secretary of South Yemen’s Presidium of the Supreme People’s Council (parliament) who led his country’s delegation in recent talks with North Yemen on the draft constitution. The draft has been submitted to legislative and executive bodies in both countries for ratification before formally announcing the text for a public debate. A date will then be set for a referendum in both countries to finalise the constitution of the union, Ghanem added.
1719 France declares war on Spain.
1792 Russia ends war with Turkey with Treaty of Jassy.
1799 Income tax is introduced in the UK.
1816 British inventor Sir Humphry Davy tests his miners’ safety lamp.
1878 Umberto I becomes King of Italy.
1912 US Marines invade Honduras.
1927 Laurier Palace Theatre fire, Montreal, Canada, 78 children are killed.
1945 US forces invade Luzon in Philippines during the Second World War.
1951 The UN headquarters in New York City, USA is officially opened.
1957 British Prime Minister Anthony Eden resigns due to ill health.
1962 Soviet Union and Cuba sign trade pact.
1970 Constitution of Singapore is enacted.
1973 Rhodesia closes its borders with Zambia to try to cut off black liberation forces.
1978 Islamic revolution erupts in Iran.
1979 India and East Germany sign a six-year agreement on economic, technical, industrial and scientific co-operation.
1981 Francisco Balsamao is elected President of Portugal.
1982 North and South Yemen agree to merge into a single state.
1986 British Defence Minister Michael Heseltine resigns.
1990 The space shuttle Columbia blasts off on a critical satellite-rescue mission, the first manned US space launch of the new decade.
1991 US Secretary of State James Baker fails to persuade Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait in talks in Geneva with Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz.
1992 Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina proclaim their own state.
1993 Government troops in Angola capture the headquarters of Unita.
2000 Uzbek President Islam Karimov is headed for an overwhelming re-election victory.
2005 Mahmoud Abbas is elected president in Palestinian elections.
2007 A cargo plane carrying Turkish construction workers crashes while landing at an airstrip north of Baghdad, killing 34 people.
2008 Kosovo’s parliament elects former rebel leader Hashim Thaci as prime minister.
2009 The Sirius Star, a Saudi supertanker containing $100 million cargo of crude, is freed by the Somalian pirates after paying the $3 million ransom.
2012 Dubai launches Dh12 billion Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park to generate 1000 megawatts of power.
2015 Maithripala Sirisena sworn in as Sri Lanka’s new president.
2016 British aviator Tracey Curtis-Taylor completes 3-month flight from England to Australia by her open-cockpit biplane.
