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World News Forecast 
Mon, 29 Dec 2008
Elections for the Jatiya Sangsad, the parliament, originally set for 22 Jan 2007, will be held on Dec 29 (CORRECTED DATE.) The military-backed interim government will lift its nearly two years of emergency rule on Dec 17 ahead of polls so candidates can campaign. The government set up a Truth and Accountability Commission in May, a move it presents as an anti-corruption measure, but opposition leaders see it as a ploy to rig the election.
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Sun, 28 Dec 2008
An estimated 80,000 Calabrians and Sicilians died on 28 Dec 1908 in an earthquake and tsunami that hit the Straits of Messina. The centenary spotlights a scandal — the 3,336 shacks thrown together by survivors after the most destructive earthquake in recorded European history. Still occupied, they have outlasted a king, a dictator, two world war and 61 governments. The anniversary also spotlights the cost and wisdom of a plan to bridge Sicily and mainland Italy.
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Sat, 27 Dec 2008
Dec 27 marks the first anniversary of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, former Pakistan prime minister and head of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). The scale of the ceremonies marking her death is likely to depend on whether the governing coalition survives until the end of the year. The government has asked the United Nations to launch an independent inquiry.
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Tue, 23 Dec 2008
Emperor Akihito, the scion of the oldest imperial family in the world and 125th direct descendant of Jimmu, Japan’s legendary first emperor, turns 75. The birthday, which is celebrated each year as a national holiday, falls just days before another Akihito anniversary: Jan 7 marks the 20th anniversary of his informal accession to the Chrysanthemum Throne. Together, the 75th birthday and the emperor's health problems could return Japan's succession crisis to Page 1 in Japan.
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Mon, 22 Dec 2008
The Province of Lucca, the home of Giacomo Puccini, has prepared a rich calendar of events to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of the most performed composer in the world. They began in May and end on his birthday in December.
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Sun, 21 Dec 2008
The summer solstice is a big day each year for pagans and neo-druids everywhere, and one Australian hopes they will mark it in 2008 at his Stonehenge II in Western Australia.
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Sun, 21 Dec 2008
Community groups in Lockerbie plan to observe the 20th anniversary of the bombing of PanAm Flight 103 over the Scottish town in a low-key way, and there will be a parallel ceremony at the Lockerbie memorial at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC. Director Steven Speilberg is preparing to make a movie about the bombing, which claimed 270 lives from both sides of the Atlantic, and rumors are flying that the convicted perpetrator of the crime will be freed soon on a technicality.
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Fri, 19 Dec 2008
Prime Minister Gordon Brown hosts a summit of oil producer countries and consumers on Dec 19. The debate will center on oil prices and what might be done to prevent another spike in the market of the sort that prompted a surge in global inflation in 2008. Informal invitations have been issued. At least one invitee, Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, could attract protesters: Dec 21 is the 20th anniversary of the PanAm Flt. 103 bombing, for which Tripoli has accepted responsibility.
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Wed, 17 Dec 2008
The ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are unlikely to set the agenda for this 150th Extraordinary meeting in Oran until the economic picture is clearer in the world's biggest energy consumer. Falling demand has sent oil prices below US $50 per barrel,from a high of nearly US $150. Though OPEC production cuts to prop up prices are inevitable, the ministers might choose to keep the cuts gentle for fear of reducing demand farther.
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Wed, 17 Dec 2008
The financial and market crises that has spread from the United States to the rest of the world will be the main issue facing European Central Bank governing and general councils at their December meeting. In October the ECB put up US $100 billion to offer liquidity to the market. The European Central Bank is likely to move slowly, because of its federal structure, but the gravity of the situation is expected to encourage additional bold moves.
full story
Tue, 16 Dec 2008
Dissidents from South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress, launch a new party in Bloemfontein to challenge the ANC in the country's general election in 2009. The party, the Congress of the People, is made up of ANC members who are upset by the election in Dec 2007 of Jacob Zuma to replace former president Thabo Mbeki as new ANC president. The rebels are also upset by the possibility the ANC could support a deal to set aside fraud and corruption charges against Zuma.
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Tue, 16 Dec 2008
South Africa's ruling African National Congress has called for a mass gathering of members in Bloemfontein as a show of strength against ANC rebels who will formally launch a rival party on the same day. The rebels' Congress of the People will compete against the ANC in the country's April election. The ANC is on the warpath: ANC chief Jacob Zuma has called the rebels "snakes." The war could erupt first in the courts. The ANC plans to take legal action against the new party over its name.
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