1998 - A statement issued after White House talks between US President Bill Clinton, Vice-President Al Gore and His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, said that the UAE will buy 80 state-of-the-art warplanes from US company Lockheed Martin Corp in a deal worth about $6 billion (Dh22 billion). The UAE wants the F-16s fitted with extra fuel tanks to avoid the need for aerial refuelling. It wants them armed with weapons like High-Speed Anti-Radar Missiles and Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles.
Other important events
1890 - First County Championship cricket match is held in England.
1943 - Battle of North Africa ends in the Second World War with German surrender of Cap Bon in Tunisia.
1979 - Occupied Jerusalem is declared the capital of Palestine.
1994 - British Labour leader John Smith dies of a heart attack.
1997 - The leaders of India and Pakistan meet for the first time in four years in Male.
1999 - Scotland and Wales open historic new parliaments that would take substantial powers from London for the first time.
2002 - Former US President Jimmy Carter visits Cuba, aiming to improve relations between the two countries.
2006 - An oil pipeline explodes on the outskirts of Lagos, Nigeria, after thieves tapped into it to steal fuel.
2010 - A Libyan jet crashes at Tripoli airport, killing 103 people on board.
