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WORLD NEWS FORECAST ARCHIVE
Jan - Jun 2009
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A United Nations-mandated ceasefire was declared 60 years ago in the Himalayan territory of Kashmir. A new term, the Line of Control to denote the border between Indian-administrated and Pakistan-administrated Kashmir was coined. The anniversary is a likely flashpoint in the tense region. In the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir a deal to transfer land to the Amarnath Shrine Board in Kashmir Valley is exacerbating the tensions.
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The Trade Preferential System for the countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (TPS-OIC), which has been on the OIC agenda for 25 years, comes into force on Jan 1. It will be expected to increase intra-OIC trade to 20 per cent within the framework of the 10-year OIC program of action adopted in 2005. The OIC aim is to claim a bigger share of the world's gross domestic product.
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The Bharat Scouts and Guides (BSG) observe its centenary on 1 Jan with commemorative events in New Delhi. Centenary stamps and coins honoring the BSG will be issued. A parallel scouting movement, the right-wing-backed Hindustan Scouts and Guides Association, plans protests and its own commemoration on the same day. The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports officially recognized both groups Apr 2001, but withdrew the recognition in Feb 2005 after pressure from the world scouting movement.
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Continuing a tradition he started when he was president, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin plans a live nationwide televised question and answer session some time between the start and end of Russia's big New Year celebrations. Anticipating that the economy will be their biggest worry, he assured Russians on Nov 20 that he would guide them safely through the crisis. He could be asked to explain proposed constitutional changes that would allow him to become president again.
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But for the enlargement of the European Union, Linz, the capital of Upper Austria would not have had to share the throne as European Capital of Culture 2009. Starting in 2009, the culture capitals will have to double up to accommodate candidate cities from the new EU members. Consequently, Linz has to share with Vilnius, Lithuania's capital. And Vilnius could get most of the attention because Lithuania celebrates its millineum in 2009.
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Fidel Castro's guerrilla army proclaimed victory over dictator Fulgencio Batista on 1 Jan 1959, taking over on 9 Jan 1959 as Cuba's new leader. For the first time, the celebrations marking the anniversary will be presided over by a new Cuban leader. Following the resignation of the aged and ailing 81-year-old Fidel in February, the Cuban parliament named Raul Castro, 76, to succeed him. Raul's speech and the guest list will be analyzed for hints of any new direction for Cuba.
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A low rate of handwashing by healthcare workers, drug-resistant germs in hospitals and rampant infections make frequent headlines on both sides of the Atlantic. Beginning in January, Canadian healthcare facilities will be unable to obtain accreditation unless they crack down on the first problem, seen as a low-tech but effective way to curb infections. The new rule from healthcare watchdog Accreditation Canada will compel them to monitor hand-hygiene and implement a compliance plan.
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European Monetary Union was finalized on 1 Jan 1999, with the European single currency, the euro, becoming the currency of 11 European Union countries. After a difficult birth marked by modest growth and growing pains, it will end the decade with 16 countries in the club. It is second only to the United States dollar in importance and influence. Experts see the global financial crisis as trouble ahead for the euro.
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The Czech Republic, which has a famously euroskeptic president, Vaclav Klaus, takes the helm of the European Union. Under the bloc's new Lisbon Treaty, a new full-time EU chief was supposed to be in place on the same day. Treaty ratification delays have pushed the selection of the new chief well into 2009. And there remains the question of whether the new style EU presidency will replace the 6-month old-style presidency or operate in tandem with it.
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The nomination in August of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as the Republican vice-presidential candidate in the United States election was well timed. Organizers of events celebrating Alaska's 50th anniversary of statehood can now count on a media crush at the main event, a gala in Anchorage to which international and national dignitaries have been invited -- and a full quota of security headaches because of Palin's celebrity.
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Paris will be the center of international celebrations marking the bicentenary of the birth of Louis Braille, the inventor of the method used in most languages as the standard reading and writing tool for blind people. The year is also the 180th anniversary of his invention. Braille's birthday on 4 Jan begins four days of special events in Paris. The United States will mint the 2009 Louis Braille Silver Dollar, with Braille letters, in honor of the inventor.
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On 7 Jan 1979, invading Vietnamese troops seized Phnom Penh and sent the Khmer Rouge fleeing to remote jungles. Thirty years on, the country is still wrestling with its Khmer Rouge legacy while being courted by economic superpowers, such as India and China, for its oil potential and trade possibilities.
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President Nicolas Sarkozy and former British PM Tony Blair co-host a conference reflecting France's ambition to create a new model for capitalism in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. "New World: Values, Development and Regulation" comes just weeks after a G20 emergency summit in Washington agreed on general principles and more talks on dealing with the crisis. Initially billed as a summit, the Paris meeting has been downgraded to a conference with no decision-making responsibilities.
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In January a federal court in Miami sentences the son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor. Charles "Chuckie" Taylor Jr., also known as Roy M. Belfast Jr. and Charles McArthur Emmanuel, was convicted of torture, firearms and conspiracy charges on Oct 31. It was the first case brought under a 1994 United States law that allows prosecution for torture and atrocities committed overseas. He faces life in prison. His father faces trial on Liberian war crimes before a United Nations tribunal.
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The commissioning in Norfolk, Virginia, of the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush is set for 10 Jan, just days before the son of the former United States president, President George W. Bush leaves office. It is a race against the clock. Because of construction delays, the original date for delivery to the US Navy has slipped from November to late December. The supercarrier was christened on 7 Oct 2006.
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Prime Minister Gordon Brown plans to create a public works program. Creating some 100,000 jobs, it will be modeled on the United States Depression-era model. The program starts on Jan 12 with what Brown describes as a jobs summit. He will host ministers and employers from several sectors to find ways to get the unemployed hired or retrained. The initiative is one of several he will introduce to ease the pain of the country's recession.
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A system introduced by the United States Department of Homeland Security to beef up security of the Visa Waiver Program becomes mandatory on Jan 12. The Electronic System for Travel Authorization requires travelers from VWP countries to receive an ESTA permit before boarding a US-bound airplane or vessel. The system gives DHS agents a way to screen for dangerous travelers before they board. Australia has installed a similar system, and the European Union is considering a tighter entry controls.
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The 25th Sundance Film Festival will be thinly attended if gay activists upset over the Proposition 8 vote in California have their way. They are urging stars and film makers to boycott the festival, one of the biggest celebrity-studded events of the year, because the venue is Utah, home of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Mormon church strenuously backed the proposition to end same-sex marriage in California. Gay activists have signalled plans to protest during the event.
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Some 15,000 experts and industry leaders in the field of renewable energy meet for the World Future Energy Summit in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, which sits on one tenth of the world's oil. The event is billed as the largest meeting of influential figures within the renewable energy field. The size of a new prize to be awarded at the event suggests that the industry is hedging its bets, and it is aware of fortunes to be made in fossil fuel alternatives.
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Democrat Barak Obama will take the Oath of Office on Jan 20, then take up residence at the White House as President of the United States. He will be expected to restore America's global image, to find a tidy solution for Iraq and Afghanistan and mend the broken economy. Visitor numbers for the inaugural balls and parties that begin on Jan 15 are likely to be robust due to the protracted primary and star power of the players.
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In a bid to raise public awareness on the deep bias against female children in India, The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government plans to observe Jan 24 as National Girl Child Day. The government hopes it will raise awareness of sex-selection abortion and female infant abandonment. The date marks the day in 1966 that Indira Gandhi took over as the first woman prime minister of India.
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Scotland celebrates the 250th birthday of Robert Burns, a favorite son, on Jan 25. The global birthday party for the poet targets more than 100 million people with some form of blood link to Scotland. The birthday kicks off Homecoming Scotland, which ends on St. Andrew's Day in November. There will be some 300 gatherings for Scottish clans from all over the world during the Homecoming. The Treasury will mint a 2-Pound coin for the birthday.
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MOSCOW 25 Jan - 1 Feb 2009 Russian Orthodox Church installs patriarch successor
The council of the Russian Orthodox Church votes Jan 27 on a successor to Alexy II, who died at 79 on Dec 5 after serving 18 years as patriarch. He will be installed on Feb 1, potentially at Moscow\\\'s Christ the Savior Cathedral. The Assembly of Hierarchs gathers on Jan 25 to nominate candidates. The interim successor, Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Kirill, is seen as a likely choice and as someone who might seek reconciliation with the Roman Catholic Church.
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Bolivia's first indigenous leader, leftist President Evo Morales, plans a referendum on a new constitution that will further the interests of the country's impoverished indigenous majority. A recall vote on Aug 10 gave Morales a fresh mandate to advance efforts to redistribute petroleum royalties and private farmlands among the country's indigenous people. The five energy-rich and prosperous regions of Bolivia, where the people are of mainly European descent, are expected to boycott the vote.
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Former Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga goes on trial at the International Criminal Court, the inaugural trial for the ICC. It starts six months after the original date, which was delayed after the judges accused the prosecution of withholding evidence that could help Lubanga's defense. Arrested in 2006, Lubanga is accused of recruiting and using child soldiers during the Democratic Republic of Congo's brutal five-year conflict that ended in 2003. He denies the charges.
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The first of two solar eclipses of 2009 is the annular kind. It will be visible from a wide track traversing the Indian Ocean and western Indonesia. A partial eclipse will be seen from the southern third of Africa, Madagascar, Australia (not Tasmania), southeast India, Southeast Asia and Indonesia. The second eclipse of 2009, in July, is a total solar eclipse. These outrank the annular kind for eclipse tourists, and the July eclipse will be spectacularly long.
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On the Chinese calendar, 2009 is Lunar Year 4706-4707, and 26 Jan begins the Year of the Ox. United States presidential candidate Barak Obama was born under the ox sign. The traits attributed to this sign could be useful to Obama if he wins the presidency in November. The Chinese zodiac describes people who share the ox sign as born leaders, and says they are steadfast and solid, patient and honest. Rival John McCain missed the ox traits by a year.
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The global International Renewable Energy Agency plans to have charter documents ready for signatures at its founding meeting in January. Mandated by governments worldwide, IRENA aims to guide and coordinate renewable energy initiatives on an international level. The organizers point out that many initiatives exist around the world, but they lack a focal point. One of its functions will be to prevent duplication of effort. IRENA will be modeled on the International Atomic Energy Agency.
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Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is due to present his budget to parliament on Jan 27, opening an opportunity for his dethronement. The opposition Liberals could push ahead with plans to vote against the budget and topple Harper's minority Conservative government. The government and opposition are at odds over how to set the economy on a recovery path as Canada enters a recession.
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World Social Forum activists from some 1000 organizations in 130 countries, who are loosely united in their opposition to the survival-of-the-fittest economic model that is celebrated each year on the same dates at the World Economic Forum in Davos, meet in Belem, the Amazon gateway city, to highlight the threats to the jungle and its indigenous people. The WSF meetings, which generally attract some 100,000 people, will be held every two years in the future instead of annually.
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On 28 Jan 1969, some 80,000 barrels of oil washed up on the popular beaches of Santa Barbara in California, an accident regarded as the catalyst for the United States environmental movement. A congressional moratorium since 1981 has prohibited oil and gas drilling along the east and west coasts and eastern Gulf of Mexico, accounting for some 80 per cent of the country's outer continental shelf. The spill played into arguments for renewing the ban, but it was allowed to expire in Oct 2008.
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In 2009 "creative capitalism" and globalization are likely to be melded into an official theme again at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and there could be less talk of pledges. Grim government reports of sluggish economies and high fuel prices are likely to leave the participants - leaders from economic, scientific and political circles in some 88 countries, including heads of state - in a less generous mood.
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Moscow Times reports that Cuban President Raul Castro will visit on Jan 30 to sign trade deals. Castro will meet with President Dmitry Medvedev. Closer ties with Cuba are a springboard for advancing Russian interests in that part of the world, according to Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin. He added that Russia and Cuba would continue to remain partners in the arms trade.
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Provincial elections are scheduled for early 2009 in 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces. Due to unresolved issues, elections in the remaining provinces have been delayed. The vote is seen as a major step toward political stabilization, a more inclusive sectarian balance and the improvement of basic services. Violence has decreased, but the United Nations top advisor in Iraq, Staffan de Mistura, warns that it could spike around election time and derail the vote. The official campaign period begins Dec 1.
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When Anglican primates meet in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, they are likely to continue trying to prevent fragmentation of the 77-million worldwide Anglican Communion. Issues such as the ordination of women, same-sex relationships and scriptural interpretation divide the church. The most recent upset is over plans by conservatives in the Episcopal Church, the Anglican presence in the United States, to establish a separate-but-equal entity under the Anglican umbrella.
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Despite differences on the issue, there is a plan to set up an African federal government at the January summit of the African Union. Stretching the usual 2-day summit three days to accommodate one full day of federation business is part of the plan. The 47-nation Union of the Mediterranean, the brainchild of French President Nicolas Sarkozy launched in July, appears to have injected urgency into the United States of Africa dream.
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When the plane returning the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini from exile circled over Tehran on 1 Feb 1979, a crowd estimated at 6 million waited below. In 2009 the crowds are as unlikely to be as big, but could be as fervent. Thirty years on, the Islamic revolution is still in control and the Ayatollah rules from the grave with Holy Koran. The question is whether Tehran will tone down its anti-United States and anti-West vitriol during the 10-day celebrations.
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In 2009 Berlin's most important cultural event, the Berlinale, commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. The retrospective features films from both sides of the Iron Curtain that presage the end of the Cold War. The International, a movie about the funding of war and terror, starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts and directed by German film-maker Tom Tykwer, opens the event. The Berlinale enjoys the largest audience of any film festival in the world.
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New Zealand observes the 75th anniversary of Waitangi Day, a national day in New Zealand. The commemorative activities at Bay of Islands are likely to be marred by protests and attempts to fly the Maori sovereignty flag by Maori activist groups, such as the Nga Tamatoa and Maori Party.
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A referendum in Switzerland, which is not a member of the European Union, will decide on the continuation of its labor treaty with 25 EU states and the extension of the accord to the two newest members, Bulgaria and Romania. Three of the four parties in the government and the business community support the deal. The right-wing Swiss People's Party, which holds the most seats in parliament, opposes it. A No vote would threaten some 16 bilateral accords with the European Union.
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The first lunar eclipse of 2009 is the deepest of three penumbral lunar eclipses of the year. A fourth lunar eclipse is partial. The Feb 9 eclipse will be easily visible to the naked eye as a dusky shading in the northern half of the Moon. Alaska, Hawaii, Australia and East Asia will be able to see the entire event. In North America, western regions will have the best views, with moonset occurring sometime after mid-eclipse. Easterners will miss it entirely as it begins after moonset.
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The head of the ruling Kadima Party, Tzipi Livni, dropped efforts to form a government in October and called an early parliamentary election. In January, former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the right-wing Likud party is ahead in the polls, and Israel's 22-day military assault on Gaza has not dented his lead. The outcome of the election is expected to impact on negotiations with the Palestinians. Livni, as foreign minister, has spoken for negotiations. Netanyahu opposes them.
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Fifty years after British naturalist Charles Darwin was born, he shocked the world with a theory of evolution that belies the Biblical story of the Creation. It still shocks much of the world. The 200th anniversary of his birth and the 150th anniversary of "Origin of the Species" will see pilgrimages to Darwin shrines, movies and rhetoric that celebrate his life and work -- or condem it. The village of Downe will become a World Heritage Site, and HMS Beagle will be recreated.
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On 12 Feb 1909 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People turns 100. An expanded NAACP annual meeting, which runs from Feb 19-21, is one of two high points in a year of centennial events. Another is the 100th NAACP annual convention in Jul 2009. The United States president is invited to these events. The centennial is a year for taking stock of the NAACP's accomplishments -- and unfinished business that includes the reparations for slavery issue.
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Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was born 200 years ago on 12 Feb 2009. Though Lincoln served only four years as president before his assassination on 14 April 1865, he is regarded by many historians as the greatest United States president. Inaugurated in 1861, Lincoln is remembered for leading the defeat of the secessionist Confederate States of America in the American Civil Wars and breaking the grip of slavery with his Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.
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Feb 14, Valentine's Day, celebrates love, but the date is stained with blood. In 2009 it is the 80th anniversary of the St. Valentine's Day massacre in Chicago, Illinois. Best known as the home state of civil war-era president Abraham Lincoln and of President Barak Obama, Illinois was a gang battlefield in the Prohibition era. Feb 14 is a big day for Chicago tour operators: Local sites of gangster infamy are popular tour destinations in the city.
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On 16 Feb 1989 a team of researchers published a paper that concluded one of Catholics' most revered relics, the Shroud of Turin, is a medieval fake. They concluded it is not the burial cloth of Jesus from centuries earlier that shows an imprint of his body, as believed by many. The controversial 1989 findings from radiocarbon dating of fragments of the shroud contradicted other studies, and is still causing a stir. The question is whether new tests will support the controversial findings.
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NATO defense ministers moved their meeting in Krakow forward from March, a reflection of their concern about Afghanistan. United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates will call for more help in Afghanistan from NATO allies, but it could be a tough sell: The war is increasingly seen as unwinnable. Arctic security and Russia's plan to build military bases in the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia loom as new headaches for the Alliance, which is choosing a new leader.
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Russia insists all representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe must leave Georgia by 19 Feb. The demand results from the the stalemate between Russia and the other 55 OSCE members over South Ossetia. Russia is the only OSCE member that recognizes the independence of South Ossetia, an enclave in the mountainous northern part of the Georgian province of Shida Kartli. The human rights organization works by consensus.
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Art museums in Italy and elsewhere will mark the 100th anniversary of the publication of the Manifesto of Futurism in the French newspaper, Le Figaro, on 20 Feb 1909. Written by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876-1944), it rejected the art of the past and exalted energy, strength, movement and the power of the modern machine.
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PAKISTAN 21 Feb 2009 India and Pakistan signed Lahore Declaration 10 years ago
Ten years ago Atal Behari Vajpayee, then prime minister of India, and former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif signed the Lahore Declaration in Lahore, Pakistan. It is the only major agreement the neighbors have signed in the last decade. The Declaration reiterated the intent of the 1972 Simla Agreement, which normalized bilateral relations. Both sides agreed to show restraint along the borders and solve the contentious issue of Kashmir.
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Anyone wanting to know what movies to avoid will tune in to the 29th Annual Golden Raspberry (Razzie) awards at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre in Hollywood on Feb 21. The presentation of Razzies to the worst achievements in film is on the eve of the presentation of Academy Awards to the best. The nominees for both awards are announced a day apart in January. It's been suggested that the move "Revolutionary Road" could be a nominee for both a Razzie and an Oscar this year.
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Hugh Jackman, the Australian who won a Tony Award for his performance in The Boy From Oz, hosts the 81st Academy Awards ceremony. If there is any correlation between box office flops and the coveted awards presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Jackman's movie "Australia" could see an Oscar. "Frost/Nixon" is seen as a strong contender for Oscars, but "Marley and Me," deemed an unlikely nominees, is cleaning up at the box office.
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NASA launches its Orbiting Carbon Observatory, the agency's first mission to study carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, aboard a Taurus XL rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The launch was postponed from January. The agency expects the observatory and 2-year mission to solve some of the lingering mysteries related to Earth's carbon cycle and its primary atmospheric component, carbon dioxide. This compound is believed to be the leading contributor to global warming.
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BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 23 February 2009 Sultanate of Brunei celebrates 25th National Day
Brunei Darussalam celebrates its 25th National Day on 23 Feb with a festival. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah will host Asian leaders at his 1788-room palace in the capital. The sultan\\\\\\\'s brother, Prince Jefri, is unlikely to be on the guest list. The brothers have been fueding in court for years. Nothing has been heard of the prince since June, when a London judge issued a warrant for his arrest.
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David Mitchell and his wife Wanda Barzee are accused of kidnapping Utah teen Elizabeth Smart on 5 Jun 2002 and holding her captive in the foothills near her home for nine months. A hearing to argue dismissing Mitchell's case is set for 26 Feb. Mitchell, a homeless street preacher and self-proclaimed prophet who apparently wanted to make the then-14-year-old girl a second wife along with Barzee, was found mentally incompetent to stand trial in 2008.
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The summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations was postponed from December, following a year of protests in Thailand by supporters of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. For security reasons the summit has been moved from Bangkok to the coastal town of Hua Hin, but protests are still expected to be a problem.
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The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is expanding generic top-level domains (gTLDs), and critics of the plan are likely to be out in force at the 34th ICANN public meeting. ICANN says the gTLDs will allow for more innovation, choice and change to a global Internet presently served by only 21 generic top-level domain names. Critics say they are dangerous and too costly. ICANN, meanwhile, has been applauded for improving the security of the Whois domain registration process.
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The signatories to the Anti-Personnel Mine-Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Convention, are due to fulfill their obligations to the pact by 1 Mar 2009. The treaty prohibits the use, trade, production, and stockpiling of antipersonnel landmines. States Parties have 10 years to clear all their mined areas. More than three-quarters of the states with 2009 deadlines appear set to miss their deadlines, according to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.
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British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visits United States President Barak Obama to discuss the global financial crisis and strategy in Afghanistan, among other issues. Brown could be subjected to face-to-face pressure to provide more NATO help in Afghanistan. American appeals for more NATO troops there have been rebuffed repeatedly by European allies.
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NATO foreign ministers meet to plan the Alliance's 60th anniversary summit in April and to continue discussions about expansion. The aspiring NATO membership of Georgia and Ukraine is likely to take a back seat to France's possible return to the Alliance. Russia's recognition of the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and a new NATO leader are also top issues for the foreign ministers, whose ranks include United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the first time.
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China's top legislative body, the National People's Congress, holds its annual session in the Great Hall of the People on Mar 5, and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference begins on Mar 3. The Congress will celebrate the communist nation's 60th anniversary, review 2008, examine the budget and consider the challenges of 2009. The recession is biting, and several politically sensitive anniversaries could focus disaffected minds on the party's shortcomings.
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NASA launches NASA's Discovery Mission #10, after many delays, aboard a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It is NASA's first mission that could find terrestrial planets -- those one-half to twice the size of the Earth. There is particular interest in planets in the habitable zone of their stars, where liquid water and possibly life might exist. To date, no Earth-sized planet has been discovered.
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Musher Lance Mackey will try to turn his back-to-back victories in 2008 and 2007 into a hat trick in the 2009 running of the Iditarod Dog Sled competition, the gruelling 1,161-mile competition over Alaska's ice and snow. The 800 or more dogs in the race will be under scientific scrutiny again. Recent research shows that they do not chew up their reserves and avoid the worst aspects of fatigue by changing their metabolism during the race. The discovery could be useful for humans.
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The retail icon, Barbie, made her debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York on 9 Mar 1959, her official birthday. It's a birthday likely to prompt a new version of Barbie from toymaker Mattel, a US postage stamp, and reopen the question of whether she encouraged generations of girls to want breast implants and a career as a cocktail waitress. Someone worked out that her real-life statistics would be 39-18-33, and that the weight of her chest would break her back.
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The Australian International Airshow, Aerospace and Defence Exposition -- Avalon 2009 -- is being promoted as the world's first major airspace show to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Man's landing on the Moon. The organizers anticipate that NASA personnel involved in the lunar mission will be on hand for the program. Despite controversial plans to retire the elderly fighter bombers, visitors to the 2009 show might again see F-111s in the Royal Australian Air Force's aerial display.
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Thousands of scientists gather to share research on ways to reduce the world's energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The results from the International Scientific Congress on Climate Change will form part of the final proceedings for the United Nations climate summit in Nov 2009 (COP15), a gathering aimed at replacing the Kyoto Protocol with a new deal. The November congress aims to present scientifically validated information to help prevent political distortion of the debate.
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The 50th anniversary of the uprising in Tibet against the invading Chinese army promises to stir up continuing opposition to Chinese rule in the Himalayan region. Pro-Tibet demonstrations have disrupted the Olympic Torch relay in many parts of the world ahead of the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. The 50th anniversary could see either Chinese efforts to improve human rights in Tibet or increased troop activity to end anti-Chinese unrest in Lhasa and elsewhere.
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Nigeria's Federal High Court decides if former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo should be tried at the Code of Conduct Tribunal over allegations of abuse of office and misuse of public funds. The case illustrates the vulnerability of former world leaders, and helps explain why many cling so hard to power. Some 300 criminal cases had been filed against former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet by the time he died in 2006, and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe can expect to be tried if he is ousted.
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The ministers at the 152nd Ordinary Meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will assess production quotas in light of the state of the global economic picture in March. More production cuts are likely, as simultaneous recessions in the United States, Europe and Japan have created a significant slump in demand. The slump could revitalize talk of a formal cooperation pact between OPEC and Russia, which together produce half the world's oil.
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Pope Benedict XVI's first visit to Africa takes him to Yaounde, Cameroon, to give Africa's bishops a preview of the topics for the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops at the Vatican in Oct 2009. In Angola the 81-year-old pontiff will celebrate the 500th anniversary of the evangelization of that country, a former Portuguese colony. He is expected to press Cameroon President Paul Biya to end government corruption, described as Cameroon's second deadly virus - after HIV/AIDS.
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Global problems are likely to preoccupy the European Leaders at this first summit of the Czech presidency, leaving Prague less room for pressing its euroskeptic agenda. The pressing issues include the global economic crisis, Gaza and the interrupted flow of natural gas to Europe, which was fallout from a Ukraine-Russian pricing dispute. EU countries have taken a unified stand on several of the issues in early 2009, and will be assessing the results at their strategies at this March summit.
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The Georgian Glass & Mineral Waters of Georgia auctions a 25-year license to its distinctive Borjomi mineral water. It was enjoyed around Russian dinner tables for decades until Moscow banned it in 2006. The minimum bid price will be US $8 million, according to the Moscow Times, which reported the story. The slightly salty water had been a Russian cultural institution since the country was ruled by the tsars. It's known as a hangover cure, and is believed to have medicinal properties.
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The verdict in the long trial of former president Alberto Fujimori is due around Mar 20. He is accused of ordering two massacres that killed 25 people during his controversial decade in power that ended in 2000. He is on trial and faces up to 30 years in prison for ordering the "Colina group" death squad to carry out a ruthless campaign against Maoist Shining Path rebels and suspected sympathizers. He denies having any knowledge of death squad activities or of ordering the dirty-war tactics.
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In 2009 it will be 20 years since the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling 10.8 million gallons (US) of crude oil into Prince William Sound. The spill contaminated more than 1180 miles of shoreline and killed hundreds of thousands of seabirds and marine animals. Despite its US $40-billion windfall profits in 2006, Exxon Mobil Corp. continues to fight the punitive damages.
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Russia's TMA-14 mission from Baikonur to the International Space Station in March delivers a new crew and Charles Simonyi to the orbiting facility. It will a second sojourn on the ISS for Simonyi, who led Microsoft's development of Excel and Word software. The tourism program is expected to end with TMA-16, as Soyuz is likely to be the only spacecraft available to transport official crews to the orbiting facility once NASA's space shuttle fleet is retired.
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Moscow hosts a conference on Afghanistan, under the auspices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, on Mar 27. The United Nations hosts an Afghanistan conference four days later at The Hague. Some horse trading ahead of the two events sees agreement that the common goal is to stabilize the Afghan situation, and that the agendas of the two conferences will not work at cross-purposes.
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UNITED STATES 28 Mar 2009 30th anniversary of Three Mile Island nuclear reactor accident sees resurgence
The 30th anniversary of the most serious accident in United States commercial nuclear power plant operating history is likely to see a small protest near the Three Mile Island Unit 2 nuclear power plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania, on Mar 28 and some big headlines. It highlights the comeback of nuclear power generation after a decades-long hiatus caused by safety fears and low prices for other sources of power, such as oil.
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TURKEY 29 Mar 2009 Municipal election a test for governing party's platform
The party of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), is expected to take its national lead into the municipal election, which will be seen as a referendum on national issues. The campaigns in 81 provinces, among which there are 16 metropolitan municipalities to be won, can be expected to reflect the Islamist-secularist divide in Turkey, which is a constitutionally secular country with a population overwhelmingly composed of Muslims.
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A federal inquiry will look at whether former prime minister Brian Mulroney acted inappropriately when he took at least Can. $225,000 (US $180,000) in cash from lobbyist Karlheinz Schreiber after leaving office. Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the inquiry after revelations that the Progressive Conservative Party prime minister had accepted the cash from Schreiber in 1993 and 1994, then waited six years to declare the income.
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Experts meet in Darmstadt to exchange ideas on how to protect satellites from space junk. The need suddenly seemed more urgent after a United States satellite accidentally hit a a disused Russian satellite on Feb 10, scattering a trail of debris that endangers the vast collection of satellites in earth orbit. The European Space agency said recently that it does not want to have to rely on US radar to track satellites and spent rocket debris. It hopes to build its own detection system.
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The United Nations meeting on Afghanistan at The Hague on Mar 31 will try to shape the war-shattered country's future. According to United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Afghan and Pakistani officials will be invited, along with NATO allies, donors, international organisations and key regional and strategic nations. Directly, or indirectly through a third party, Afghanistan's Taliban could also be present.
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Two Europeans and four Russians begin a simulation of a 105-day mission to Mars. They will experience all phases of a real Mars mission -- travel to the Red Planet, orbiting, landing on the Martian surface and returning to Earth -- in a sealed chamber at a special facility outside Moscow. Their only personal contact will be with each other. The 20-minute communications delay with the control center that they could expect on an interplanetary mission will be built into the system.
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| GERMANY 1 Apr 2009 Weimar celebrates 90th anniversary of Bauhaus movement
Celebrations for the 90th birthday on Apr 1 of the Bauhaus movement will center in the eastern German city of Weimar, where the design movement was founded. Weimar will mark the occasion with a special exhibition at the Bauhaus Museum, which houses one of the most comprehensive collections of Bauhaus designs in the world. Architect Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus school, which attracted avant garde artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Lyonel Feininger.
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Indonesia and Australia unveiled plans in November for a disaster center in Jakarta and for a joint strategy aimed at reducing the impact of extreme weather wrought by climate change and other natural disasters. The Australia-Indonesia Disaster Reduction Facility will be prepared to deal with Asia-Pacific disasters that kill some 10,000 people annually. It will offer training in risk assessment and for identifying new threats and improving relief capabilities.
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Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will report to the State Duma next month on the performance of his government in 2008 under a new law requiring the government to report to legislators annually on its performance the previous year. He is unlikely to have anything cheerful to report. According to The Economist, oil prices have stabilized above US $40 a barrel and stock appear to be rallying, but industrial output continues to collapse, unemployment keeps rising and wage arrears are growing fast.
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Barak Obama's first trip to Europe as United States president begins in London for the G20 summit (Group of 20 large industrialized countries, then takes in the NATO summit. The Czech Republic successfully pressed Obama to stay on for talks in Prague with European Union leaders. He is also expected to visit Turkey. The G-20 is scheduled to discuss overhauling the global financial system, a topic also likely to top discussion at the EU-US meeting.
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The heads of state and government of the Group of 20 industrialized and emerging economies meet to follow up on decisions made at their November emergency meeting in Washington. At the 2008 meeting the leaders endorsed a series of broad goals to fend off future economic calamities and to revive the world economy. The Metropolitan Police force describes anti-capitalist protesters' vows to bring London to a standstill an "unprecedented challenge."
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Though relations between them are strained, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will co-host the 60th anniversary NATO summit. Symbolically, it will be held in the French border city of Strasbourg and its German neighbor, Kehl. Sarkozy is expected to announce at the summit whether France will rejoin the Alliance's integrated military command in 2009, more than 40 years after Gen. Charles de Gaulle pulled his country out.
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The North Atlantic Treaty, a military alliance to counter a perceived Soviet threat, was signed in Washington by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States on 4 Apr 1949. When the Soviet Union became history, NATO didn't fold. In the absence of a clear idea about its new role, it has expanded its activities haphazardly outside the original limits of the treaty.
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Commander Robert E. Peary of the United States Navy planted a US flag on the Geographic North Pole a century ago on Apr 6, claiming he had won the so-called Race to the Pole. Almost a century later Russia planted a flag under the North Pole and claimed the territory. The centenary is likely to reopen the debate about the results of the first race and sharpen the dispute over Russia's claim.The centenary also represents then-and-now themes for new reports on melting ice caps.
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Georgia's opposition parties plan massive rallies to demand that President Mikheil Saakashvili step down. The event could begin another upheaval in Georgia like the so-called Rose Revolution that brought down Eduard Shevardnadze in 2003. The protesters blame Saakashvili for the disastrous war with Russia in Aug 2008 and for failing to protect Georgia from the global economic crisis. Economic woes are also causing instability in Latvia, Hungary, Estonia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine.
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Up to 10 candidates will vie against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika for the presidency, but none will be from the two main opposition parties or Islamist parties. Islamist leader Abdallah Djaballah said recently that he has decided not to run because the incumbent had effectively won. The parliament, dominated by Boutelfika's National Liberation Front (FLN), approved abolishing presidential term limits. It opened the potential for a third term for the incumbent, who has held power since 1999.
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Indonesia holds election for its 550-seat national parliament in Apr 2009, with a presidential election due in the world's most populous Muslim country later in the year. Trading on voters' recognition of celebrities, some of the 34 political parties have turned to actors and models to front their campaigns. The provincial and district elections set for the same day are expected to increase tensions in Aceh between former separatist rebels and the Indonesian military.
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Undeterred by low oil prices and a dire world economy, Dubai will inaugurate the Middle East's first monorail service to the world's largest man-made island on Apr 15 or sooner. It will carry passengers from Dubai's Gateway Station, at the trunk of palm-shaped Palm Jumeirah Island, to the ultra-luxe Atlantis Hotel and waterpark. The journey between the two stations, which are at either end of the monorail track, covers a distance of 3.5-miles and takes approximately eight minutes.
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Some 2000 monks from around the world gather in Assisi in April to celebrate the founding of the Franciscans, a major Catholic religious order. The members of the order follow the Rule of St. Francis of Assisi, one of Catholics' best loved and best known saints, and one of the patron saints of Italy. Eight-hundred years on, there is some controversy over his teachings but questions about the authenticity of several items preserved as relics of the saint have been resolved for the present.
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The general election for the 15th Lok Sabha (lower house) in the world s largest democracy sets the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which includes Congress, against the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leads the opposition alliance, and early polls predict an opposition victory. "Slumdog Millionaire," with eight Oscars to its credit, joins the economy and a nuclear deal as a campaign issue.
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The V Summit of the Americas in Port-of-Spain puts Trinidad and Tobago on the world stage in 2009. It is the first time a Caribbean nation has hosted an Americas summit. Caribbean-wide security arrangements put in place for the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the region will be dusted off to put distance between the leaders at the Americas summit and the violent crime that has hit the nation.
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The 2009 United Nations racism conference, Durban II, will discuss ways to implement the decisions taken at the UN racism conference in Durban in 2001. Because of their objections to the language in the draft of the Durban II final document, the United States, Canada and Israel say they won't attend. The United States and Israel walked out of Durban 1 to protest efforts to pass a resolution comparing Zionism to racism. The controversial wording was dropped in the 2001 document.
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Britian's most colorful royal became King Henry VIII 500 years ago. He has been described as the man who waged war with the Pope and beheaded more wives than he had fingers, as a despot and as a remorseless incarnation of Machiavelli's Prince with an elastic conscience always at the beck and call of his desire. The 500th anniversary invites comparisons with present day rulers who are described in similar terms.
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Julien's Auction House in Beverly Hills, California, will auction memorabilia from the career and Neverland Estate of Michael Jackson if the performer's lawsuit to stop the liquidation sale doesn't succeed. The auction includes some 2000 items from Jackson's former home, Neverland Ranch, in California. They include the Neverland gates, his famous jeweled white glove and a stretch Rolls-Royce. The lawsuit contends the auction house can't sell the items without his permission.
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When South Africa holds its election for the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces on Apr 22, it will be 15 years since the first free election in the country. The ruling African National Congress has possible competition for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994. Security will be a taxing issue leading up to the election, with potentially violent rallies mixed with the armed robberies and cash-in-transit heists that increase over the holiday season.
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When South Africa holds its election for the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces on Apr 22, it will be 15 years since the first free election in the country. The ruling African National Congress is expected to remain in power, but the country's economic woes could play into the results.
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NASA hopes to launch its Lunar Orbiter (LRO) and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) in April aboard an Atlas 5 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission opens the way for Man's return to the Moon. The spacecraft will be used to map safe landing sites, locate potential resources like water ice at the poles and to identify potential hazards that the lunar environment may pose for human explorers. LCROSS's particular task is to determine if there is water.
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Iceland plans an election in April, almost one year early, to replace its caretaker center-left government. The conservative government, in power for 18 years, collapsed in January because of a financial crisis that collapsed the currency, the krona. The collapse wiped out savings and pensions, required a massive IMF bailout and set off unprecedented riots in Reykjavik. The economy of the North Atlantic nation and potential European Union membership promise to be key campaign issues.
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Pope Benedict XVI will elevate five Europeans to sainthood in April, with a second five to be canonized in October. This pontiff is notably less driven to create saints than his predecessor. Pope John Paul II proclaimed 483 saints from all corners of the world during his pontificate, an average of some 18 per year. If Pope Benedict continues to show his present restraint, his yearly average is unlikely to top 10.
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President Barak Obama has invited representatives of the world's 16 major economies and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to Washington for the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate. It will focus on increasing the clean energy supply and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Another meeting follows in July in Italy, maybe on the sidelines of the G-8 summit. The goal is to prevent a train wreck at the pivotal UN climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in December.
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The Indian Government is obliged to destroy its declared chemical weapons stockpiles on 28 Apr, as agreed under the 11th Annual Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) of 8 Dec 2006. According to the latest media reports, nearly 90 per cent of the country's chemical weapons stock has been destroyed.
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The Global Language Monitor organization predicts that the English language will adopt its millionth word in Apr/May 2009. The nearest estimate, according to Paul J. Payack, the founding president of both the Global Language Monitor and yourDictionary.com, is 29 Apr 2009. The organization's news release about the prediction notes that as of 30 Jun 2008, the total is 995,844 words. The newest word is e-Vampire. A noun, it describes electric equipment that consumes energy while in standby mode.
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The 100-day mark has been used as a benchmark for presidents since Franklin Roosevelt in 1933. Ahead of the benchmark, the administration of President Barak Obama has hit rough patches. The situation on Apr 30 will be taken as a guide to his chances of delivering on the campaign promises that helped him to win the presidency. If the country's economy is showing a flicker of life again by Apr 30, after the near-US $800 billion stimulus bill, Obama will have a big mandate for his agenda.
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Pope Benedict XVI plans to tour the Abruzzo area, the site of a devastating earthquake on Apr 6 that so far has claimed some 300 lives. It isn't known if he will hold a memorial mass for the victims during his visit. Meanwhile, families living in the tent cities set up around L'Aquila have sought to return to a semblance of normality. Classes for children have been set up in temporary canvas schools in the tent city for the victims who have lost their homes.
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The global economic crisis can be counted on to swell the traditional May Day marches and protests. May 1, also known as International Workers' Day and Labor Day, commemorates the contributions and achievements of working people. Workers blame governments and employers for closures and job losses. The protests against the way governments are handling the crisis started early in some cities. In France, May Day could set off more "bossnapping" - French workers holding their bosses hostage.
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KINGSTON 1-12 May 2009 Jamaica hosts Anglican policy makers wrestling with divisions in church
The main policy-making body of the worldwide 77-million Anglican Communion, the Anglican Consultative Council, meets in its 40th anniversary year to consider the divisions threatening the church. The ACC is expected to review a final draft of the proposed Anglican covenant, a set of principles intended to bind the Anglican Communion amid differing viewpoints on human sexuality and the Bible. At issue is whether to allow US conservatives to form a separate-but-equal US Anglican province.
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The 16-nation Pacific Islands Forum gave Fiji military leader Voreqe Bainimarama, who seized power after a Dec 2006 coup, until May1 to hold elections or face suspension. Bainimarama stepped down on Apr 9. Fiji President Ratu Josefa Iloilo abrogated the country's constitution, appointed himself head of state and set a 2014 election deadline. Suspension from the forum could have painful consequences for Fiji.
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NATO's plan to hold military exercises in the former Soviet republic of Georgia is seen by Russia as an Alliance effort to interfere in Georgia's internal affairs. Involving some 900 service personnel from 23 NATO member and partner nations, the Cooperative Longbow/Lancer - 2009 drills, an itiative of the Alliance's Partnership for Peace program, will be held at Vaziani military base. The exercises are designed to improve interoperability between multinational troops.
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The Conservative Party rejoiced on 4 May 1979 in its victory over Labour, a win that gave Britain its first woman prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. Encyclopedia Britannica describes her as the most renowned British political leader since Winston Churchill. The books and biopics timed for the 30th anniversary are likely to explore Thatcherism, her ideological take on capitalism and social issues, and her impact on Britain's politics, economy and society during her record three terms in office.
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The Third Preparatory Conference for parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty will be working on the agenda for the all-important NPT Review Conference in 2010. United States President-Elect Barak Obama has pledged to work towards eliminating nuclear weapons worldwide. NPT supporters are pushing for ratification of the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty, nuclear weapons cuts and an end to the production of fissile material for weapons.
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FC Brussels from Molenbeek hosts the Palestinian National Football Team, playing its first ever game in Europe. The away game follows a home game for the team against Jordan in Oct 2008 in al-Ram, a town near Jerusalem. Hostilities between rival parties Hamas and Fatah were set aside for the game described by late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish as more noble than war!
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The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that Pope Benedict XVI has accepted an invitation from President Shimon Peres to visit Israel, and that he will also visit the Palestinian Authority and Bethelem. The visit appears aimed at mending bridges with Israel over the canonization of a controversial pope, and could also seal a diplomatic pact establishing the juridical rights of the Catholic Church in Israel.
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The Czech government fell in a no confidence vote on Mar 24, half way through the country's six-month rotating presidency of the European Union. Jan Fischer, the head of the country's statistics office, will lead a non-partisan caretaker government until a snap election in October. He takes the reins on May 9. London's Financial Times newspaper expects the change to facilitate Czech approval of the European Union's Lisbon Treaty.
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The centenary edition of the Giro d'Italia starts from Venice, northern Italy, and finishes in front of the Coliseum in Rome. It is the first time in the last 58 years the famed bicycle race -- second only to the Tour de France -- has not finished in Milan. The route pays tribute to Italy's most important cities and passes through the hometowns of the race's most distinguished former champions. Seven-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong plans to begin his comeback with the Giro.
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NASA's STS-125, launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida, is the fifth and final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. It will carry two new instruments, gyros, batteries and other devices crucial for the telescope s continued success through the year 2013. The mission was postponed from Sep 2008 to Feb 2009, then to May.
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The deadline for countries to submit territorial claims to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf is 13 May 2009. Oil and mineral treasure lies under the sea, so there there is a rush to divvy up the seabed before the deadline. As of Apr 2009, 21 submissions from coastal countries had been filed, and as many as 50 could file before the deadline. Russia claims the Arctic. The other Arctic states -- Canada, the United States, Norway and Denmark -- oppose the claim.
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The National Rifle Association backed the wrong horses in the Nov 4 United States election, and NRA president Wayne LaPierre is warning members to take cover. One of the most deep-pocketed and influential lobbies in the nation, it endorses mainly Republican candidates. To be held in Phoenix, Arizona, this first annual meeting in the aftermath of the Democratic victory will see the NRA rallying against new gun control regulations. The NRA will honor Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin with an assault rifle.
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After seven delays, Ariane V ESV is due to blast off from Kourou with the ESA's Herschel Space Observatory and Planck Surveyor, the largest and most advanced infrared telescope ever built. It will observe wavelengths never covered before, enabling scientists to look back in time to observe the birth of galaxies and stars. It will also look at galaxies and stars closer in space and time to Earth, and at our own solar system.
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The emir, Sheik Sabah al Ahmed al Jabar, angry at opposition members' requests to summon Prime Minister NASIR al-MUHAMMAD al-Ahmad al-Sabah for public qustioning over allegations of misuse of public funds and mismanagement, dissolved the 50-member National Assembly in March and called an early general election for May. The poll will be the second in a year and the third in three years in the oil-rich state, which is beset by political squabbling. The lineup of candidates again includes women.
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Prime Minister Vladimir Putin urged his aides after Russia's win of the Eurovision Song Contest in May 2008 to take all necessary measures to organize Eurovision-2009 at the highest level. The question is whether European countries angry at Russia for its invasion of Georgia in August would dare to court the wrath of its citizens by boycotting the competition: it is second only to the soccer World Cup in the size and ardor of its television audience in Europe.
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UNITED STATES 17 May 2009 President Barak Obama to speak at Catholic university
United States President Barak Obama will be the principal speaker and the recipient of an honorary doctor of laws degree at Notre Dame University\'s 164th commencement ceremony on May 17. The Catholic university\'s invitation to the president has riled many Catholics, who regard his stance on embryonic stem cell research, abortion and gay rights as an affront to Catholic teachings. Protests are a certainty.
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The winner of Lithuania's presidential election will be expected to turn around a country in grave difficulty. The new president's challenges will include addressing plummeting exports and domestic demand, and a plunging currency. Public anger at the worsening economic situation in once-booming Lithuania has triggered protests. The front runner is European Union budget commissioner, Dalia Grybauskaite, who is running as an independent.
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The All England Club tests its new retractable roof over the Centre Court at Wimbledon, the arena of some of the most dramatic duels in tennis history. It will allow all-weather play at the venerable facility on the outskirts of London. The only Grand Slam tennis event still played on grass, Wimbledon is perenially plagued by rain delays. The big test will be the 2009 Wimbledon tournament in June.
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At its 62nd Assembly, the World Health Organization will be looking at achievements and setbacks since the 61st assembly, and at progress on its six-year action plan to tackle the leading threats to human health. Noncommunicable diseases head the list. WHO concerns about the impact of the global financial crisis on public health and about Israel's military offensive in Gaza, which began 27 Dec 2008, could share an agenda likely to be headed by the swine flu outbreak.
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Despite mutual irritation, NATO and Russia have resumed formal contacts and will meet at the ministerial level on May 19. Relations between the two Cold War-era foes were suspended in Aug 2008 because of the war in Georgia, and the tension has been exacerbated by NATO's plans for military exercises with Georgia in May. They meet within the framework of the NATO-Russia Council, a panel set up in 2002 to improve relations between the two sides. It could be a testy meeting.
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The European Union and China plan a summit on bilateral trade co-operation and investment on May 20 - if China doesn't cancel the meeting a second time. China cancelled the Dec 2008 meeting after French President Nicholas Sarkozy announced he would meet the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. France held the rotating six-month EU presidency at the time, and Sarkozy's move was interpreted as antagonistic to China. Prague, as EU president until July, is likely to avoid the Tibet issue.
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Horst Koehler runs for a second and final term in Germany's presidential election on May 23. His bid for the largely ceremonial office is supported by Chancellor Angela Merkel and the governing coalition of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Socialist Union. Gesine Schwan was chosen by the junior partner in the coalition, the center-left Social Democratic Party. Her candidacy is seen as provocative and as a possible swansong for the coalition.
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Oil ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meet amid continuing worries about falling demand for oil. At their March meeting, they deferred another production cut for at least 11 weeks and resolved to enforce production quotas. The decision comes amid some evidence that output cuts so far are starting to remove excess oil from the market, but the picture changes on a daily basis. The meeting will be watched for further OPEC-Russia overtures.
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When cetacean experts gather in Madeira ahead of the 61st International Whaling Commission meeting (22-26 Jun 2009) they will pool information about the health and population size of the world's oceans. The data is usually dismissed as fanciful by one side or other of the commercial whaling dispute, and is also seen as unreliable because each country has its own way of counting. The figure for right whales is likely to influence a tussle in the United States over ship speeds and sonar use.
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Like other people, former presidents have to earn a living. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, United States presidents 42 and 43, will appear together on stage for the first time since Bush ended his presidency in Jan 2009. Bush made his first post-presidential appearance in Calgary in March. Although speakers' fees are not divulged, there were reports Bush received as much as US $162,000 for his March appearance in Calgary, and Clinton earned US $31 million in speaking fees between 2001 and 2005
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The monument to the 16th US president, Abraham Lincoln, will be rededicated 70 years after it was dedicated by the 29th US president, Warren Harding. The event marks both the completion of renovations to the monument and the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth on 12 Feb. The 44th president, Barak Obama, has been invited to give an address, an opportunity for Obama to share Lincoln's aura as the greatest United States president.
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| UNITED STATES 1 Jun-30 Nov 2009 Atlantic hurricane season rolls in
An above average Atlantic hurricane season is forecast for 2009, a "gift" from the ongoing weather pattern called La Ni a. Colorado State University's annual forecast sees 14 storms rolling in during the season, with seven developing into hurricanes, and three of those into Category 3 storms, which have sustained winds of at least 111 mph. Should a 2009 version of Hurricane Ike or Hurricane Katrina develop, the rescue and recovery is likely to be directed by Craig Fugate.
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CHINA 1 Jun 2009 China adopts law to increase food safety
China's National People's Congress has passed a food safety law that goes into effect on Jun 1 in the aftermath of a string of recent food safety scandals. The law will increase government monitoring and supervision, boost safety standards and recall substandard products, according to Xinhua. It consolidates hundreds of disparate regulations and standards covering China\'s 500,000 food processing companies.
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Chinese soldiers killed hundreds of pro-democracy activists in Tiananmen Square and other Chinese cities 20 years ago in June. Beijing wants admiration for its undeniable success as an Olympics host in Aug 2008 to shift interest away from the anniversary, but human rights activists will have other ideas. Vigils and demonstrations calling for the release of Tiananmen demonstraters still in prison are likely to be coupled with protests against Chinese crackdowns in Tibet.
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United States President Barak Obama has chosen Egypt for his long-promised address aimed at mending ties with the Islamic world from a Muslim country. It will be the first stop in a trip that also takes him to Buchenwald, the former Nazi concentration camp in Germany, and then to Normandy, in France, to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landing.
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The St. Petersburg Economic Forum bills itself as Russia's most important economic event. Harder times and a 25 per cent budget cut mean the organizers are accepting foreign sponsors for the first time and the entertainment and parties for Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and other forum-goers might be a cut below last year's. Pink Floyd's Roger Waters starred in 2008. President Dmitry Medvedev will open Day Two, and is expected to assess the global economic situation.
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Genoa plans to remind the world that a best-loved fashion item, jeans, originated among fishermen in the city's port over 500 years ago. Although Levi Strauss patented the copper-riveting that made jeans famous, the material itself has been used widely in the Mediterranean since the 16th century. The work trousers take their name from "Bleu de Genes" (blue material from Genoa). Few people are aware of the link, and the Italian city plans to put that right.
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Twenty-seven European Union countries hold elections for the European Parliament, 30 years after the assembly was directly elected by citizens of the bloc for the first time. Some 400 million Europeans will be eligible to elect now-736 Members of the European Parliament. The number of MEPs has been trimmed from 785-strong body after politically-charged negotiations.
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The first local government of the State of Singapore was sworn in 5 Jun 1959, heralding the arrival of self-government. On the eve of the 50th anniversary, the Hindu Rights Actions Force (Hindraf) in Singapore will protest against the alleged atrocities committed by the neighbouring Malaysian government against the Hindu population. The protests are likely to be held in the Malaysian embassy in Singapore.
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When the Dalai Lama visits France in June, it is expected he will be awarded the title of Citizen of the City of Paris by Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe. The Tibetan spiritual leader's trip to France is part of a European tour that also takes in Denmark, Iceland and the Netherlands. Countries, and particularly governments, that receive the Dalai Lama can expect a protest from Beijing or even retaliation. Beijing accuses him of being intent on independence for Tibet after 58 years of Chinese rule.
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Some 687 candidates from 17 political parties will vie for 128 seats in Lebanon's National Assembly. The anti-Syrian 14 March coalition hopes to defend its slim majority against the alliance led by the pro-Syrian Islamist group, Hezbollah. Despite Lebanon's battering from the 1975-1990 civil war, the 2005 assassination of Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and an Israeli invasion in 2006, it has held several successful elections. A recent pact strengthens the chance of a peaceful poll.
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The results from the election for the 60-seat unicameral Chamber of Deputies of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, one of the world's smallest countries, are almost a foregone conclusion. Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, the longest-serving leader of a European Union country, will lead his Christian Social People's Party (CSV) into the election. If there is an upset, it is likely to be linked to the dire straits of the global economy, from which wealthy Luxembourg is not immune.
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NATO's defense ministers have added piracy in the Gulf of Aden to the long list of Alliance security concerns, which is topped by the Afghanistan insurgency. They must also consider the new tensions with Russia over upcoming NATO-Georgia war games. The ministers will be responsible for working on the Alliance's new Strategic Concept and the April summit decision to ensure deployable forces prepared conduct the full range of military operations and missions for 21st Century challenges.
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At midnight 17 Feb 2009, stations were due to drop the analog signals that have been standard since the dawn of broadcast television in the 1930s and move to all-digital programming. The changeover was postponed to Jun 12.
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Incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is poised to win Iran's 10th presidential election, but an upset is possible. Prosperity and political freedoms are elusive, and Iran has twice delivered upset presidential election results. As self-appointed keeper of the revolutionary flame, he is boosted by two major Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini anniversaries in 2008. But the new Washington administration could be undermining the odds of his re-election.
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The leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting at Yekaterinburg are expected to announce whether Iran will be allowed into the regional security bloc as a full member. Widely seen as a counterweight to NATO's influence in Eurasia, the group primarily addresses security issues, but has recently moved to embrace economic and energy projects. China and Russia have major commercial interests in Iran, which could swing the vote in Tehran's favor.
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The International Paris Air Show celebrates 100 years in 2009, and many exhibits and flying displays at Le Bourget will reflect the centenary theme. Russia plans to roll out its new Sukhoi SuperJet-100. A strike by some 27,000 machinists at Boeing at the end of 2008 increases the odds that Le Bourget visitors won't be seeing the 787 Dreamliner, already some two years over schedule because of production delays.
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Polo teams from England, South Africa, Dubai and the Commonwealth will battle it out for the Westminster Polo Trophy at London's Horse Guards Parade, the historic arena where jousting tournaments were staged for Henry VIII and countless ceremonies have been held. The official entrance to Buckingham Palace, Horse Guards is the site of Trooping the Colour, the ceremony marking the Queen's birthday. The organizers say the June tournament will be like a gladiatorial spectacle.
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NASA launches its Lunar Orbiter (LRO) and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) aboard an Atlas 5 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission opens the way for Man's return to the Moon. The spacecraft will be used to map safe landing sites, locate potential resources like water ice at the poles and to identify potential hazards that the lunar environment may pose for human explorers. LCROSS's particular task is to determine if there is water ice.
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This second European Union summit of the Czech EU presidency faces at least one of the same crisis issues it faced at the March summit, namely, economic meltdown. It will be the last opportunity for Prague to try to steer EU policy. Czech President Vaclav Klaus is an outspoken critic of the Lisbon reform treaty and deeper European integration. By late June, the bloc will have the results and implications of the European Parliamentary elections to mull.
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VATICAN 19 Jun 2009 Pope Benedict XVI proclaims Year for Priests
In March Pope Benedict XVI called for a Year for Priests, beginning on 19 Jun. The call signals his determination to hold the line against moves to \"dilute the priesthood.\" Dissidents are calling for an end to the celibacy requirement for priests, for the ordination of women and more power for the laity. Clergy sex abuse scandals, priest shortages and bankrupted parishes have strengthened the calls. The year will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the death of St. Jean Vianney, Cure of Ars.
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Europe wants the United States government to relinquish its role in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, and the issue could dominate this 35th meeting of the body that governs the Internet. The Europeans want ICANN to be privatized and turned over to international oversight. President Barak Obama hasn't indicated where he stands on the issue, but his predecessor was vehemently opposed to handing over control. Generic top-level domains will also top the agenda.
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Greenlanders voted Yes to expanding autonomy from Denmark in Nov 2008, 30 years after the Home Rule Act gave the island limited autonomy. Provided the Danish parliament approves the expanded-rule plan in early 2009, it will come into effect on Jun 21. It calls for the small, mostly Inuit population to take control of the police force, courts and coast guard. It also makes Kalaallisut, an Inuit tongue, the official language.
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At the 2009 Wimbledon Championship, the new retractable roof over Centre Court will end weather delays during the main matches. Defending champion Rafael Nadal will be looking for a second win. His 4-hour-48-minute Wimbledon final against Roger Federer in 2008 was the longest men's final in history. Serena Williams can be counted on to try to unseat her sister, Venus, as reigning Wimbledon women's champion. Venus has five Wimbledon championships, including the past two. Serena has two.
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The 61st meeting of the International Whaling Commission will see the familiar battle by whaling countries for the resumption of commercial whale hunting. It will also see a new chapter in the effort to reform the 63-year-old organization to end the chronic state of deadlock over most aspects of whale welfare. Australia and New Zealand are mobilizing to play a more aggressive role in both issues.
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Some 7000 young volunteers from all 186 Red Cross and Red Crescent national societies gather in Solferino to celebrate three historical landmarks for the world's biggest humanitarian organization: 150 years since the birth of the Red Cross concept; 90 years since the foundation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; and 60 years since the establishment of the Geneva Conventions--four treaties that set standards for humanitarian concerns.
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In April NATO leaders accepted an offer from Kazakhstan, which is also keeping its options open with Russia, to host the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council Security Forum. The Alliance describes its Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and Partnership for Peace programs as the essential framework for substantive political dialogue and cooperation. Held for the first time in Central Asia, the meeting will work on NATO's list of requirements for its EAPC and PfP partners, with an autumn 2010 deadline.
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In 2009 Albany and the Hudson River Valley region of New York state celebrate the 400th anniversary of European discovery of the area. The Great Champlain Hudson Sojourn (GCHS) from 24 Jun to 19 Jul is one of the main quadricentennial events. The 26-day, 340 mile kayaking trip from the Canadian border to Manhattan covers areas explored by Samuel de Champlain and Henry Hudson in 1609. The biggest parties will be in Aug 2009, the 400th anniversary of Hudson's landing.
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When the foreign ministers of the G8 group of major industrialized countries meet in Trieste they will be putting together the agenda for the G8 summit in La Maddalena in July. The United States is said to be pressing for the inclusion of Iran when the ministers discuss problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The fringe will be watched for bilateral meetings between Russia and Japan and the United States and Iran.
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Egypt hosts the second preparatory meeting of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The main task at the meeting in the coastal resort of Sharm El-Sheikh is selecting an interim director-general and a location for an interim headquarters. Abu Dhabi has offered to host it. The work program of the agency, which is set up like the International Atomic Energy Agency, was put together at a founding conference in January. It is aimed at driving the world's transition to renewable energy.
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Bernard L. Madoff, accused of running a US $65 billion Ponzi scheme that wiped out the investments of thousands of people and scores of charitable foundations, will be sentenced. The 70-year-old Madoff has pleaded guilty to 11 felony counts that include securities fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and perjury. He faces a 150 year sentence. The case has focused more regulatory scrutiny on other investment schemes. Defrauded investors can be expected to turn out for the sentencing.
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New security rules come into effect on Jun 29 that require all 27 European Union countries -- plus non-EU members Norway, Iceland and Switzerland -- to begin issuing biometric passports. They will contain a chip carrying the passport-holder's fingerprints. The feature is meant to prevent identity fraud. The new rules also introduces a one-person, one passport requirement. As it stands, children are often included on their parents' passports. EU members have until 2012 to complete the changeover.
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Under the Status of Forces Agreement with Iraq the United States is obliged to clear its troops from Iraq's cities by 30 Jun 2009 and leave Iraq at the end of 2011. Iraq assumed overall responsibility for security on Jan 1. The Iraqi public still has to approve the agreement, raising the question of what happens if Iraqis vote against it. There is also the question of whether either side will treat the terms of the pact as binding if the country descends again into anarchy.
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Boeing's unveiling in Jul 2007 of the first commercial plane to be made mainly of lightweight carbon composites rather than aluminum, the 787 Dreamliner, was a high-profile event. The Everett, Wash., aerospace company planned the first flight of the 787 for later in 2007 The timetable proved to be wishful thinking. Production snafus have caused multiple delays. The newest timetable appears set to fly, with the maiden flight now planned by Jun 30
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