There was an early promise of the end to hostilities in the Kosovo conflict when the Yugoslav President, Slobodan Milosevic, agreed to peace terms set out by Nato and Russia.
Bombing raids continued for several days however, until it became clear that the peace plan had been implemented. Nato ceased its air raids on 9 June, 78 days after they began.
An agreement was made to send a Nato-led peacekeeping force into Kosovo, but much to the embarrassment and annoyance of the allies, Russian troops moved unilaterally into the province and occupyied Pristina airport.
The Yugoslav government finally withdrew its forces from Kosovo by 20 June. By then, the first mass graves of the victims of those forces had been discovered.
A Turkish court sentenced the rebel Kurdish leader, Abdullah Ocalan, to death for treason - despite his appeal to be spared so he could work for peace.
Belgium sparked a Europe-wide food scare when high levels of a poisonous chemical, dioxin, were found in Belgian chicken meat and eggs. The scandal then hit the pork and beef industries.
June was also a month for elections. Indonesia held its first democratic election in 44 years. In South Africa, the Africa National Congress won a landslide victory in the country's second democratic election, resulting in Thabo Mbeki succeeding Nelson Mandela as president.
Europe went to the polls to elect members to the European Parliament. Widespread voter apathy in Britain led to the lowest turnout in any countrywide poll in British political history.
A multi-billion pound deal involving an American company dominated business news in Britain. The giant US retailer Wal-Mart set up shop in Britain when it bought the supermarket chain Asda.
The athletics world had a new hero in the American Maurice Greene, who set a news 100m world record at 9.79s.
English cricket looked optimistically towards a new era with the appointment of Nasser Hussain as national team captain and the Irish Olympic champion swimmer, Michelle Smith lost an appeal to have a four-year drugs ban lifted.
In Britain, the royal wedding of Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones attracted controversy when the photographer admitted using digital technology to impose a smile on Prince William's face.
The ageing rocker Eric Clapton sold one of his guitars for a record breaking $500,000 as part of an auction of instruments sold in aid of a charity in Antigua, and British artists spearheaded a project to create a fundraising book for Kosovo.
World: Trinidad returns to hanging
UK: Bloody Sunday soldiers retain anonymity
UK: City riots by anti-capitalists
UK: Brighton bomber freed
UK: Holocaust woman regains her Van Gogh
Business: Internet surfer sacked
Obituary: English cleric Cardinal Basil Hume
Obituary: American singer-sonwriter Mel Torme
Obituary: Zimbabwean politician Joshua Nkomo
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