2010 World News Forecast Archive

SPAIN 1 Jan 2010 Spain assumes 6-month presidency of European Union

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ARGENTINA/CHILE 1 - 17 Jan 2010 32nd Dakar Rally starts in Buenos Aires. Starts bicentennial

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LONDON 1 Jan 2010 Britain's Royal Society begins 350th anniversary year

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VIETNAM 1 Jan 2010 Socialist country assumes presidency of ASEAN

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VIENNA 1 Jan 2010 Ecuador minister Germanico Pinto takes helm at OPEC
Ecuador's Minister of Mines and Oil, Germanico Pinto, takes the helm of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on 1 Jan, replacing Angola s Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelo. He assumes the 1-year presidency in a high profile year for OPEC, as the organization turns 50 in 2010. Pinto plans to focus his attention on the fight against financial speculation in oil contracts, recently complaining that oil-consuming countries are not taking measures to rein in prices.
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DUBAI 4 Jan 2010 Burj Dubai, world's tallest building, due to open
Burj Dubai will open as the tallest building in January after many postponements. The timing is unfortunate for the 2625-foot tower. Booming oil prices helped turn Dubai into Heaven for investors and playground for the ultra rich, but now the global economic downturn is buffeting the region. Property prices at Burj Dubai and in the surrounding developments have plunged. Analysts worry about the high debt the emirate has taken on to finance its explosive growth.
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SUDAN 9 Jan 2010 Comprehensive Peace Agreement five years old

Jan 9 marks five years since the Arab Muslim north and non-Arab, non-Muslim south of Sudan signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended a civil war that killed some 1.5 million people. The pact established an autonomous south, and stipulated a unity government, national elections and a referendum to determine the future of the south. Census and voter-registration violence and a dispute over who can vote threaten the fragile unity government.
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SPACE 15 Jan 2010 First solar eclipse of 2010 path spans two continents

The first solar eclipse of 2010 is annular, meaning the outside of the Sun will still be visible to eclipse watchers. It will make up for being the second-best kind of eclipse -- total solar eclipses, which turn day into night, are the favorites -- by offering exceptional duration. At its peak, over the Indian Ocean, it will last 11 minutes 8 seconds. This duration won't be exceeded for 1000 years. It lasts 10 minutes 45 seconds in Male, which has an airport.
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UKRAINE 17 Jan 2010 Longtime rivals gear up for presidential election

Ukraine's political rivals finally have agreed on January for the country's presidential election. The main players -- President Viktor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych -- have fought it out at the polls before. The president's and prime minister's rivalry is so extreme it has paralyzed the workings of government and worsened the country's severe economic woes, giving the opposition leader the edge.
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ROME 17 Jan 2010 Pope Benedict XVI visits Rome's synagogue
Pope Benedict XVI will visit Rome's synagogue in January -- only the second pope in history to visit it. The visit comes a year after he outraged Jews by rehabilitating a British bishop who has made statements denying the full extent of the Nazi Holocaust of European Jews. In comments to Swedish television in Jan 2009, Bishop Richard Williamson said he believes there were no gas chambers, and that up to 300,000 Jews perished in Nazi camps, rather than the 6 million widely accepted.
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ABU DHABI 18-21 Jan 2010 World Future Energy summit dissects renewable energy issues

This third World Future Energy summit will dissect the implications of decisions taken at the Copenhagen climate change summit, and discuss alternatives to the product that has made the region wealthy. The thrust of the forum of world leaders, policy makers, industry experts, thinkers, investors and researchers from over 100 countries is that renewable energy is not a threat to oil producing economies, instead representing an insurance policy and business opportunities.
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BRUSSELS 18 Jan 2010 European Agriculture and Fisheries Council meets
The European Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting could make history - the schedule is unsettled, so there's a chance another council meeting will be first - as the first ministerial event of the European Union in its post-Lisbon Treaty form. Whichever meeting is first will be scrutinized for signs that the hardwon Treaty is fulfilling a key aim - streamlining the workings of the 27-nation bloc. New EU president Herman Van Rompuy plans to attend all ministerial-level events.
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BRAZIL 24-28 Jan 2010 World Social Forum celebrates 10th birthday

The Greater Porto Alegre 10 Years Social Forum marks the 10th birthday of the World Social Forum. A global entity, it brings together anti-globalization, anti-capitalist and social justice movements to challenge the actions of the ruling elites of nations and corporations that meet each year in Davos, Switzerland. Instead of its usual vast gathering to coincide with the annual Davos forum, the WSF will hold seminar-type events in Brazil in January and similar events around the world during 2010.
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CANADA 22 Jan-21 Mar 2010 Cultural Olympiad rings in the Winter Olympics
Canada's 2010 Cultural Olympiad ushers in the Winter Olympics. The arts attractions run throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games concluding on March 21. The extensive program will include more than 600 ticketed and free performances and exhibitions in 50 venues in Metro Vancouver and British Columbia's Sea to Sky corridor. A highlight will be Canada's first theatre of ice and snow, which has the task of attracting spectators and keeping them warm on the shores of Whistler's Lost Lake.
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INDIA 22-25 Jan 2010 War Resisters International holds mobilizing conference
Ahmedabad hosts a conference of the venerable War Resisters International body, founded in The Netherlands in 1921, in a pivotal year. The 40th anniversary of the coming into force of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty falls in March, with a NPT review conference in May. WRI and affiliates are mobilizing for protests and events to highlight the anti-war movement and their opposition to nuclear weapons. Indian activists Arundhati Roy and Ashish Nandy will address the opening session.
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SWITZERLAND 21-24 Jan 2010 Business, political leaders meet at 40th World Economic Forum

Some 2500 leaders from economic, scientific and government circles in 88 countries, including heads of state or government, meet at the resort town, Davos, for the 40th annual World Economic Forum. The WEF's Global Redesign Initiative, "an unprecedented global multistakeholder dialogue to help establish processes and structures of global cooperation in the 21st century, is the formal focus of the gathering. The real drama of the event often comes with the deals and rows on the fringes.
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UNITED STATES 21-31 Jan 2010 Sundance Film Festival opens

The upcoming biography and recent marriage of Sundance Film Festival founder Robert Redford could perk up interest in the 26th running of the premiere event for independent film makers, which might otherwise suffer from being on the wrong side of the festive 25th anniversary event. The book, said to be frank about Hollywood, and the headlines about his July wedding to long-time girlfriend Sibylle Szaggars, a well-known German abstract painter, provide timely publicity for the 2010 festival.
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BAHRAIN 21-23 Jan 2010 Gulf state stages first international air show in inauspicious year

The inaugural Bahrain International Airshow at the Sakhir Airbase will offer a totally new concept to the global aerospace community, according to its hosts. They describe the planned business-to-business setup at the show as unique. The brand new facilities do not include exhibition halls. The question is whether the new concept will offset two potential handicaps for the show -- its proximity to November's Dubai Airshow and the downturn in the global economy.
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ABU DHABI 18-21 Jan 2010 World Future Energy summit dissects renewable energy issues

This third World Future Energy summit will dissect the implications of decisions taken at the Copenhagen climate change summit, and discuss alternatives to the product that has made the region wealthy. The thrust of the forum of world leaders, policy makers, industry experts, thinkers, investors and researchers from over 100 countries is that renewable energy is not a threat to oil producing economies, instead representing an insurance policy and business opportunities.
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ABU DHABI 26 Jan 2010 International Renewable Energy Agency one year old

The International Renewable Energy Agency, the first and only intergovernmental agency to focus solely on renewable energy development, was established officially one year ago. Enthusiasm appears to be waning. Only a handful of the signatories have ratified the treaty, which, as of Sep 2009, needs 25 more to come into force. IRENA is banking on a boost from its choice of Helene Pelosse of France as interim head and Abu Dhabi's very green Masdar City for its secretariat.
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NEW DELHI 26 Jan 2010 India became a republic 60 years ago

India observes its 60th anniversary as a Republic on Jan 26 with a near two-hour military parade in New Delhi that will highlight its nuclear-powered arsenal. The display of India's advanced weaponry is intended to match China's show of the same during the 60th anniversary parade in Beijing in October. Maoists rebels (Naxals) in the hinterland states represent a potential threat to the commemorative events. Under pressure from the government, they will observe the anniversary as a Black Day.
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SRI LANKA 26 Jan 2010 President calls early presidential election

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, with two years left in his six-year term, in November called early presidential to take advantage of a rise in popularity after the army's defeat in May of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The defeat ended Sri Lanka's 25-year civil war. His main rival -- or perhaps only rival -- will be retired General Sarath Fonseka, who is credited with leading the final victory. Gen Fonseka says he has never lost a battle yet, and can win the election battle too.
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BRUSSELS 26 Jan 2010 European Commission votes on candidates

The European Commission began seven days of hearings on Jan 11 for 26 aspiring European Union commissioners, and the European Parliament will vote on the body as a whole on Jan 26. The nominees will be tested on their knowledge of their assigned portfolios. Once on the job, they will be expected to adhere to the aims of the Lisbon Treaty of Dec 1, a key goal of which is to give Europe a greater voice on the world stage in talks with major powers like China and the United States.
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LONDON 28 Jan 2010 British prime minister hosts conference on Afghanistan

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has invited Afghan President Hamid Karzai, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, NATO allies, Afghanistan's neighbours, regional powers and key international bodies to a conference in London on Jan 28 to set a political and security timetable for Afghanistan for 2010 and beyond.
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CANADA 28 Jan 2010 Court sets deadline for participants in polygamy case

Jan 28, a deadline for applications from participants, begins a constitutional case that has implications for polygamous groups across Canada. The British Columbia Supreme Court will consider during 2010 whether Criminal Code provisions prohibiting polygamy are consistent with the guarantee of freedom of religion provided in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Winston Blackmore, Canada's best known polygamist, predicts doom for those who break up families or interfere with a person's freedom.
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UNITED STATES 30 Jan 2010 Second man on the Moon turns 80

Buzz (Edwin) Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon, turns 80 a few months after the 40th anniversary of the feat. The former NASA astronaut, whose achievements include the first extravehicular space walk, in 1966, could use his 80th birthday spotlight to reiterate his objections to NASA's plans to return to the Moon: He wants NASA aiming instead for Mars. He could also speak out about coping with being second, not first, on the Moon, a challenge he writes about in Magnificent Desolution.
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UNITED STATES 29 Jan 2010 Prohibition era began 90 years ago

The 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution ushered in the 13-year period known as Prohibition. Ratified on 29 Jan 1919, it went into effect on 29 Jan 1920. The National Prohibition Act banned, nationwide, the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol for consumption. The 90th anniversary invites a look at the unintended consequences of prohibition as a tactic, and could prompt new questions about whether the so-called war on drugs should be continued.
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SRI LANKA 31 Jan 2010 Government sets deadline to close Tamil refugee camp

The Sri Lanka government plans to close the camps where it has detained internally-displaced Tamil civilians since the defeat in May of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Some 300,000 Tamils fled the fighting during the final offensive, and some 160,000 have been held in the makeshift camps. Criticised for detaining them, Colombo insisted that detention was necessary while the refugees were being screened for possible links with the rebels and while their home areas were de-mined.
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UNITED STATES 1 Feb 2010 Dramatic new credit card rules in effect

The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act goes into effect on or about 1 Feb 2010, after which United States credit card issuers will find it harder to change the terms of consumers' credit card accounts. For one thing, issuers will no longer be able to raise interest rates on an existing balance if an account is paid on time. Ahead of the change, credit-card issuers are hiking interest rates, penalties and fees in full force, a practice Market Watch describes as gouging.
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EUROPEAN UNION-UNITED STATES 1 Feb 2010 One-sided interim bank transfer deal in effect
Brussels has agreed to a bank data transfer deal with Washington that allows anti-terrorist investigators in the United States to access European financial transaction data for nine months while a longer-term deal is negotiated. The deal formalizes a secret program introduced after the Sep 11 terror attacks in 2001, and it could be annulled before the nine months are up. The longer-term deal would allow European investigators access to US transfer information.
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COSTA RICA 7 Feb 2010 Costa Ricans vote in general election
Costa Rica votes for a president and legislature in an election that could give the region its first female president. The National Liberation Party, the governing party of President Oscar Arias Sanchez, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, chose Laura Chinchilla as its candidate. A Costa Rica vice president until she quit to campaign, Chinchilla holds a healthy lead in the polls. Newcomer Otto Guevara from the fringe Libertarian Movement is in second place.
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UNITED STATES 7 Feb 2010 NASA plans Endeavour shuttle launch despite setback
NASA wants to send Endeavour with the Italian-built Tranquility module from Cape Kennedy, Florida, to the International Space Station on Feb 7, but is facing issues with the ammonia lines and connectors that route cooling to and from the module. Attached to the left side of the central Unity module, Tranquility will house life support and exercise gear now housed in other modules. With the shuttles nearing their 2010 retirement, NASA is particularly eager to avoid launch delays.
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UNITED STATES 6 Feb 2010 Special coin begins observance of 2011 Ronald Reagan centenary
Ronald Reagan, the 40th United States president (1981-1989), who is venerated by conservatives for his fervent republicanism and appealing style, was born 100 years ago on 6 Feb 1911. He died in 2004. The birthday party starts early, with fanfare and the release of a commemorative US $1 coin on 6 Feb 2010. The coin is meant to build excitement for the big day one year later. The 11-member Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission is planning the federal observation of the centenary.
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NIGERIA 6 Feb 2010 Questions over Anambra state gubernatorial election
The gubernatorial poll in Anambra state is viewed as a test case for President Umaru Yar'Adua electoral reform plans, but his prolonged absence threatens the election, the reforms and democracy in Africa's most populous country. He promised the reforms following his win in 2007 in elections marred by allegations of fraud. Though allegedly flawed, the election was hailed as milestone, marking the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power in Nigeria's history.
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CANADA 5-6 Feb 2010 G7 finance ministers meet in remote Arctic city
Group of Seven finance ministers meet in remote Iqaluit, an Inuit city in Nunavut, at the start of the possible final year for the select group of rich countries. Consensus on global financial sector reform, strengthening international financial institutions and ensuring sustainable global recovery remains elusive. Britain wants G7-G20 nations to tax financial transactions, penalize big risk taking and limit the burden on taxpayers of bank failures. The United States says No to the measures.
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MOSCOW 3-5 Feb 2010 Government, business notables gather at 2010 Russia Forum
The Russia Forum gives up to 1000 guests -- Russian and international business figures from some 30 countries -- an inside line on investment opportunities, credit issues, ruble movements, oil prices and Russian stocks. The organizers, the Troika Dialog Group, promise guests opportunities to rub shoulders with influential Russian government figures and notable participants. Speakers of previous years have included Aleksey Kudrin, Alan Greenspan, Richard Branson and Yoshka Fisher.
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SPAIN 8 Feb 2010 America's Cup sailing showdown might begin
The best-of-three showdown for the America's Cup between Switzerland's Alinghi, the two-time defending champion, and its bitter American rival, BMW Oracle Racing, is due to start on 8 Feb off Valencia but could be delayed by the contestants' legal fight. This contest for yachting's most prestigious trophy started in the courts.
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UNITED STATES 9 Feb 2009 Launch of Sun-watching spacecraft a milestoneWhen NASA launches its Solar Dynamics Observatory, a new Sun-watching spacecraft that is part of the agency's Living with a Star project, from Cape Canaveral in Florida, it will be the 20th launch for the Atlas V program. The milestone raises the question of whether the days are numbered for both the Atlas V and Delta IV rockets if NASA's Ares rocket is developed. Ares, an element of NASA's Constellation Program, is envisioned as the rocket that will carry astronauts back to the Moon.
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BERLIN 11-21 Feb 2010. Berlinale celebrates 60th anniversary
Setting the dates for the Berlin International Film Festival 60th anniversary edition was complicated by the need to avoid an overlap with the popular Rotterdam and Sundance film festivals and the Academy Awards. The chosen slot avoids a clash that would have meant a shared spotlight for the Berlinale in its landmark year. The festival will screen a political thriller "Ghostwriter" from veteran director Roman Polanski, who is under house arrest.
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BRUSSELS 11 Feb 2010 European Union leaders meet for special economy summit
European Union President Herman Van Rompuy chairs a special EU economic summit that will look for ways to bring the bloc back from the brink. As the EU's 10-year economic strategy expires in 2010, the leaders also need to discuss a replacement. Spain, EU rotating president, wants to see new banking and other rules in place to prevent another economic meltdown. The challenge is finding ways to stimulate growth without exacerbating unemployment or undermining the bloc's social security system.
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SOUTH AFRICA 11 Feb 2010 Nelson Mandela released from prison 20 years ago

On Feb 2 in 1990, South African President F.W. de Klerk lifted the 30-year ban on the African National Congress, and black nationalist Nelson Mandela. He was released from prison on Feb 11 after 27 years behind bars. Mandela visited one of the prisons, Robben Island, on the 5th anniversary, and opened the Nelson Mandela Museum on the 10th. The 20th anniversary events have not been announced. They are likely to be determined by Mandela's health. He turns 92 in Jul 2010.
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VANCOUVER 12-28 February 2010 Canada hosts XXI Winter Olympics
Canada is counting down to the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics with several early worries out of the way -- and a new one: warm weather. Canada's indigenous leaders had threatened to disrupt the Games with bridge blockades and airport protests, and construction strikes that would have delayed completion of the venues were a potential threat at one point. Both threats appear to have eased, but the lack of snow remains a worry.
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RIO DE JANEIRO 12-16 Feb 2010 Rio holds Carnival, triumphant but anxious
Rio's raucous Carnival kicks off in a celebratory -- but anxious -- mood. The city won the honor of hosting the 2016 Olympic Games, but drug-gang violence is sharing Page One headlines along with the triumph. Carnival 2010 will be seen as a test of the city's ability to keep visitors safe during 2014 World Cup and the Olympics. The 2009 Carnival champion, Salgueiro Samba School, will be defending its title at what is described as the world's biggest street party. It draws some 700,000 visitors.
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WORLD 14 Feb 2010 Chinese Year of the Tiger begins
The Year of the Tiger begins 14 Feb 2010 and ends 1 Feb 2011. The birth sign for power and luck, it falls every 12th year of the Chinese calendar. China is more fortunate than its tigers -- the last sighting was 25 years ago -- and these striped cats are unlucky everywhere. They are protected but still hunted, and their habitat is disappearing. The tigers' year promises to heat up efforts to save them from extinction. It also could put the luck of famous and infamous Tigers under a spotlight.
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ENGLAND 15 Feb 2010 Protesters plan blockade of British nuclear bomb factory
War Resisters International, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and affiliates plan to blockade Britain's Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston to protest what they regard as the country's illegal development of nuclear weapons. A proposal for a long-term storage facility at Aldermaston for enriched uranium -- plus the approach of the pivotal Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in May -- are likely to swell the numbers and increase the disruption and the arrests.
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UNITED STATES 18 Feb 2010 Pluto discovered 80 years agoAmateur-astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto 80 years ago at Lowell Observatory in Arizona. Pluto's demotion in 2006 from a planet to a plutoid upset space enthusiasts all over the world, and trimmed the tail off the mnemonic device for remembering the order of the planets from the Sun: "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas." Pluto Day 2010 will cue another burst of anger about the demotion, and will see NASA's New Horizon spacecraft closer to the King of the Kuiper Belt.
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THE HAGUE 1 Mar 2010 Karadzic trial resumes

The trial of Radovan Karadzic at the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia resumes in March. The former Bosnian Serb leader boycotted the trial when it started in September, and the tribunal has appointed an attorney to represent him should he boycott the resumption of the case. Karadzic faces 11 counts of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity from the 1992-95 war in Bosnia-Herzigovina when he was president of a breakaway Serb republic. He faces life in prison if convicted.
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WASHINGTON DC 28 Feb 2010 Multi-billion dollar deal for Native Americans faces deadline

A settlement of one of the largest class-action lawsuit ever filed against the United States government would compensate some 300,000 Native Americans for billions of dollars in royalties owed to them over the last century for oil, mineral and grazing rights on tribal lands. But time is running out. The settlement of the 13-year suit will have to be renegotiated if Congress does not approve it by the end of February, according to Legal Times.
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AUSTRALIA 27 Feb 2010 Anniversary of execution of two soldiers could see pardons
Australian soldiers Lieutenants Harry Harbord ''Breaker'' Morant, Peter Handcock and George Ramsdale Witton were convicted of murdering Boer War prisoners in South Africa over a century ago. Morant and Handcock, the only Australians executed for war crimes, died by firing squad on 27 Feb 1902. The execution was deemed political, and has been the subject of books and an award-winning Australian film. There is a push to see the three pardoned, and it could happen by the February anniversary.
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WASHINGTON DC 25 Feb 2010 US president plans bipartisan powwow on health care

Congressional wrangling and the recent loss of the filibuster-proof majority previously held by the Democratic Party in Congress threaten Democratic President Barak Obama's plan to fix the country's healthcare system, regarded as the top domestic priority of his presidency. His invitation to opposition Republicans to a televised healthcare debate in February is seen as recognition that reform won't go anywhere without some bipartisan support.
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POLAND 1 Mar 2010 Fr d ric Chopin born 200 years ago

Polish-French composer and pianist Fr d ric Chopin was born on 1 Mar 1810, and plans are under way in Poland for a year of concerts, recitals and conferences marking the bicentennial of his birth. The country's parliament has declared 2010 the Year of Fryderyk Chopin. A Chopin Centre and renovated Chopin Museum will be inaugurated to honor the great Romantic composer, whose work is regarded as a Polish cultural treasure.
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GENEVA 4-14 Mar 2010 80th International Motor Show to see usual makers?
Geneva's 80th International Motor Show looks set to go ahead, with a possible boost from a big anniversary year and spillover from the cancellation of the British International Motor Show in 2010. The global economic crisis has slowed car sales, and makers are unwilling to commit to the cost of exhibiting. As in 2009, the news from the 2010 show in Geneva and the many other auto shows around the world is likely to be about the automakers who decided not to exhibit rather than those that did.
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NAIROBI 7-12 Mar 2010 Kenya hosts ICANN meeting

The recent approval of the use of non-Latin-character domain names eased one long-standing source of tension in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, but it introduces technical issues that will need to be aired at the Nairobi ICANN meeting. The introduction of the new characters introduces the biggest technical change to ICANN since it was launched 40 years ago. The change comes a month after the United States released sole oversight of ICANN.
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UNITED STATES 7 Mar 2010 Hollywood hosts 82nd Academy Awards

The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony will be held at a later date than usual in 2010, one of two changes for the 82nd Oscars by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The second change is described as the most radical revision of the Oscar-night ritual in recent memory. Aimed at winning back audiences for the live broadcast of the ceremony, it expands the pool of Best Picture nominees from five to 10.
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IRAQ 7 Mar 2010 Iraq due to hold vital post-war parliamentary election

Iraq set a January date for an election for the country's 275-seat unicameral Council of Representatives, then changed it in December to March. Whenever the election happens, the potential for violence and boycotts is high. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Da'wa al-Islamiya Party and its allies made big gains in recent local elections, and is expected to do well again in this second post-Saddam legislative election. The new parliament will elect a prime minister and cabinet.
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CAIRO 12 Mar 2010 Ministers of Organization of the Islamic Conference meet about Darfur aid

Ministers of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference meet in Egypt for an International Donors Conference for the Development and Reconstruction of Darfur. The International Criminal Court at The Hague appears to have backed away from its efforts to see Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir behind bars for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Sudanese province of Darfur, possibly as a result of the OIC's opposition to the ICC arrest warrant for Al-Bashir.
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DOHA 13-25 Mar 2010 Qatar hosts meeting of parties to Endangered Species Convention

The 15th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species brings together experts from participating countries to consider proposals for tighter trade controls on Atlantic bluefin tuna, polar bears, sharks, corals and elephant ivory. CITES meets every three years to change trade rules through amendments to the CITES Appendices. Controversially, Monaco wants the large tunas on Appendix 1, the category that prevents all commercial international trade in the species.
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