President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky gave evidence to the Starr inquiry - she in person, he, perhaps unwisely, on video.

Around the world, the Russian economy crumbled and calls for cuts in UK interest rates gathered force. The civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo escalated as rebels tried to oust President Kabila.

The forces of nature caused flooding in China and mudslides in India as a UK Commons committee recommended not even trying to save low-lying land from rising sea levels.

In the UK, the first anniversary of Princess Diana's death was marked by the passing of a bill banning landmines and many acts of commemoration, but not the huge outpourings of emotion of 1997.

Former MI5 spy David Shayler was arrested in Paris for revealing details of an alleged UK plot to assassinate Libya's Colonel Gaddafi - though the French authorities eventually released him.

Doctors in Leeds created headlines when they grafted three fingers back onto a woman's hand eight months after she lost them - having kept them alive by attaching them to her arm.

The month's good news story was the survival of baby Liam Evans for three days in the Welsh mountains after his grandfather died, crashing the car they were in.

In sport, England had the surprise of beating South Africa at cricket, Kenny Dalglish found himself unemployed as Newcastle brought in Ruud Gullit as their new manager, and the UK topped the medal table at the European athletics championships.