launched aboard Space Shuttle Discovery. President of Zaire Mobutu Sese Seko lifts a 20-year ban on opposition parties. April 25 – Violeta Chamorro is sworn in as President of Nicaragua, the first woman elected (February 25) in her own right as a head of state in the Americas. April 26: A 7.0 earthquake shakes the Chinese province of Qinghai leaving 126 dead. April 30 – Lebanon hostage crisis: Lebanese kidnappers release American educator Frank H. Reed, who had been held hostage since September 1986. May May 1 – The former Episcopal Church in the Philippines (supervised by the Episcopal Church of the United States of America) is granted full autonomy and raised to the state of an Autocephalous Anglican province and renamed the Episcopal Church of the Philippines. May 2 – In London, a man brandishing a knife robs a courier of bearer bonds worth £292 million (the second largest mugging to date). May 2–4 – First talks between the government of South Africa and the African National Congress. May 4 – Singing Revolution: The Latvian SSR declares independence from the Soviet Union. May 8 Singing Revolution: The Estonian SSR restores the formal name of the country, the Republic of Estonia, as well as other national emblems (the coat of arms, the flag and the anthem). Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier assumes office as President of Costa Rica. May 9 – In South Korea, police battle anti-government protesters in Seoul and two other cities. May 12 – Jeanne Calment surpasses Augusta Holtz to become the oldest verified person ever. May 13 In the Philippines, gunmen kill two United States Air Force airmen near Clark Air Base on the eve of talks between the Philippines and the United States over the future of American military bases in the Philippines. The Dinamo–Red Star riot took place at Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb, Croatia between the Bad Blue Boys (fans of Dinamo Zagreb) and the Delije (fans of Red Star Belgrade). May 15 Singing Revolution: The pro-Soviet Intermovement attempts to take power in Tallinn, Estonia, but are forced down by local Estonians. Portrait of Dr. Gachet by Vincent van Gogh is sold for a record $82.5 million. May 17 – The World Health Organization removes homosexuality from its list of diseases. May 18 – German reunification: East Germany and West Germany sign a treaty to merge their economic and social systems, effective July 1. May