World News Forecast
Fri, Apr 29 2011
NASA Shuttle Endeavour (STS-134) lifts off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on 29 Apr, 30 years after the shuttle program started: STS 1 lifted off on 12 Apr 1981. The date of the final shuttle mission is still up in the air - shuttles Endeavour and Atlantis might not be mothballed in 2011 after all. Astronaut Mark Kelly, husband of the US lawmaker who was gunned down in January, commands the flight. He expects his wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, to have recovered enough to watch the launch.
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Fri, Apr 29 2011
At its 140th Annual Meetings and Exhibits in the Pennsylvania city of Pittsburgh, the National Rifle Association will vet potential cantidates for the 2012 United States presidential and congressional election at a time when they might need more firepower than usual. The nation's porous background-check system allowed Jared Lee Loughner, the suspect in January's mass shooting, to purchase weapons. The organization opposes attempts to close the loopholes.
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Fri, Apr 29 2011
The Prince William, second in line to the British throne, marries long-time girlfriend Catherine "Kate" Middleton in London's historic Westminster Abbey on Apr 29. His choice of a bride has met general approval, but the date and cost are looming as issues. It almost coincides with a national referendum on a change to the voting system and with voting in devolved and local governments around the kingdom. In Britain's age of austerity, the cost to the public purse could cause negative comment.
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Thu, Apr 28 2011
Mexico City hosts the first meeting of the 40-country committee tasked with getting the Green Climate Fund, an outcome of the Dec 2010 climate summit, on the road. The fund obliges 40 rich countries to finance US $100 billion a year in climate aid for developing countries from 2020. The aid is meant to help them curb greenhouse gas emissions by switching to fuels from renewable sources. The United Nations was forced to delay the meeting because of a row over which countries would be represented.
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Thu, Apr 28 2011
The organizers of the Great Central United States ShakeOut say the event, centered around a simultaneous drop, cover and hold drill at 10:15 am (CDT) on Apr 28, will involve more than 1 million people. The Japanese earthquake disaster in March and upcoming bicentenary of the New Madrid Earthquakes in December could increase interest in the event. It will be staged in the states impacted by the 1811 earthquakes. Home to some 40 million people, the area is still vulnerable.
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Wed, Apr 27 2011
The United States Department of Homeland Security ordered a review in 2009 of the color-coding, called the Homeland Security Advisory System, used to inform the public of the potential for terror. The task force reported that the system suffered from a lack of credibility and clarity, and that it taught Americans to be scared, not prepared. It is due to be dropped by Apr 27 and replaced by the National Terrorism Advisory System, which aims to notify specific audiences about specific threats.
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Tue, Apr 26 2011
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych plans an international summit on Apr 19 in Kiev, a few days ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor explosion on 26 Apr. He plans to seek more aid to enclose the damaged reactors and address continuing problems from the accident. Donors might balk at the cost. The 25th anniversary will see memorials, vigils and bigger-than-usual protests, with Japan's Fukushima crisis feeding anti-nuclear sentiment.
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Sun, Apr 24 2011
President Idriss Deby Itno runs again for the presidency in April. So he could stand again, he engineered the removal of term limits from the country's new constitution in Jun 2005. Five candidates have come forward to oppose him. The force of an opposition threat of boycotts depends on whether a coup-installed leader would care about questions of legitimacy. The vote was postponed from Apr 3 to Apr 24.
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Fri, Apr 22 2011
President Evo Morales announced a plan in Apr 2010 to plant 10 million trees by 22 Apr 2011, Earth Day. He did not say whether the campaign will embrace two other programs -- the Cochabamba Project and the Nestle Waters France project in Peru and Bolivia. Both are massive tree-planting campaigns aimed at reversing Amazon deforestation, but also raising timber for cutting. Peru set out in 2009 to plant 40 million trees.
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Sun, Apr 17 2011
Fidel Castro's forces repelled the Bay of Pigs invasion, a CIA-sponsored effort by 1113 Cuban exiles to overthrow the Cuban leader, 50 years ago. The exiles were defeated in three days. Most were taken prisoner. The incident has become a catch phrase for any fiasco, and it blighted the early days of the John F. Kennedy administration. The anniversary could be the symbolic date on which United States and European Union lift or ease their present trade and travel restrictions on the island.
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