May 17, 2009 (Sunday)
- Al-Shabaab captures Jowhar, Somalia, from the Transitional Federal Government. (BBC)
- Four oil companies announce a plan to supply Europe with natural gas from Kurdistan, Iraq, via the Nabucco pipeline. (BBC)
- Peru's Armed Forces are authorized to aid the National Police for 30 days in a dispute with indigenous peoples. (BBC)
- The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam agree to a ceasefire in Sri Lanka's civil war. (CNN)
- A 4.7-magnitude earthquake strikes Inglewood and Lennox, California, United States. (Sky News)
- Demonstrators demand that Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom resign for allegedly killing Rodrigo Rosenberg. (BBC)