May 6, 2006 (Saturday)
- The People's Republic of China announces Vatican-approved Paul Pei Junmin will be ordained as a Catholic bishop on Sunday, just days after a diplomatic clash due to the unilateral ordination of two other bishops by Beijing. (Reuters)
- Mahamat Nouri, until recently the Chadian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, who has previously served as the Chadian Defense Minister, defects to Sudan and joins the United Front for Democratic Change rebels. (Reuters)
- Grant McLennan, co-founder of the legendary Australian band The Go-Betweens dies at age 48, while sleeping in his house at Brisbane, Australia, from a reported heart attack.
- The People's Action Party is returned to government in Singapore for the twelfth time, winning 82 out of 84 seats with the ruling party winning 66.6% of the total votes in the 2006 general election. (CNA)
- The starboard engine of the cruise liner The Calypso, sailing from Tilbury to St Peter Port on Guernsey, catches fire at 4 am, 16 miles off Eastbourne, southeast of the British coast. Its crew puts the fire out, after its 708 passengers are moved into its lifeboats. Rescue lifeboats attend but neither these nor the ship's lifeboats are needed.(Yahoo News).
- The People's Republic of China plans to launch satellites for lunar surveying, probing the moon's surface, physiognomy, landform and geological structure. (People's Daily)