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Document RNS0000020070215e32f000gs

DIARY - Political and General News Events from Feb 9
7,377 words

9 February 2007

10:48 AM

Reuters News

LBA

English

(c) 2007 Reuters Limited
*** Please note Reuters will issue this diary at an additional new time of 0300 GMT daily, followed by 0900 GMT, then 1430 GMT ***
** All times in GMT unless otherwise stated.
Items marked ** denote new or amended listings.
Media clients will also receive around 0700 GMT a daily REUTERS WORLD NEWS OUTLOOK which highlights key events for the coming week.
** New diary - Diary - Environment, see [ENV/DIARY]
** For Reuters World Outlook 2007, click on [nL17799804]
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FEBRUARY 2007 (UNDATED)
NEW DELHI - Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri visits India to seal three more confidence-building measures, including agreements to reduce risks of nuclear-related accidents, to ease restrictions on visa and the return of people held for accidentally crossing the border.
BASRA, Iraq - British operations aimed at preparing for the handover of security in Basra to Iraqi authorities expected to be completed in February.
THE HAGUE - The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno-Ocampo plans to indict suspects for atrocities in Darfur by February.
FRIDAY, FEB 9
BEIJING - Six-party talks on curbing North Korea's nuclear programme continues.
ESSEN, Germany - G7 Finance Ministers meeting (to Feb. 10).
MUNICH - 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy (to Feb. 11). German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, United States Secretary of Defence Robert Gates and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani are among those expected to attend. LINK: http://www.securityconference.de (1000).
SEVILLE, Spain - Final day of NATO defence ministers meeting.
ROME/VATICAN - The group of seven (G7), United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada, due to sign an agreement to provide $1.5 billion to develop vaccines for poor countries. Jordan's Queen Raina will preside over the launch and the G7 officials will explain the programme in person to Pope Benedict at the Vatican.
BRUSSELS - European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas and Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini hold news conference (by video conference in Rome) on proposed legislation on Environmental Crime. ** ROME - Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi hold news conference ahead of his official visit to India (1000). ** ABUJA - Nigerian oil unions meet overnight to decide on whether to call a strike over insecurity in the oil-producing Niger Delta region.
BANGALORE, India - Sixth edition of Aero India Show continues (to Feb. 11). ** UNITED NATIONS - David Nabarro, U.N. System Influenza Coordinator, to give bird flu update (1530).
BERLIN - 57th Berlin Film Festival continues (to Feb. 18). LINK: http://www.berlinale.de/
VICTORIA - Chinese President Hu Jintao visits the Seychelles (to Feb. 10).
CAPE TOWN - President Thabo Mbeki delivers 2007 state-of-the-nation speech (0900).
TUEBINGEN, Germany - German President Horst Koehler meets Italian counterpart Giorgio Napolitano at the University Tuebingen (0920).
BERLIN - Foreign Minister Frank-Waltzer Steinmeier meets his Australian counterpart Alexander Downer (1500).
AMSTERDAM - World Press Photo announces 2007 award winners.
MIAMI - Deadline for prison doctors to conduct their own medical exam of American terrorism suspect Jose Padilla, who is accused of running a U.S. support cell that provided money and recruits for violent jihad overseas.
ATHENS - Second day of symposium on "Europe's prospects" organised by the Hellenic Parliament Foundation for Parliamentarism and Democracy and Germany's embassy to Greece. First vice-president of the European Parliament Rodi Kratsa and President of the Greek Parliament Anna Benaki-Psarouda to deliver speeches.
DAR ES SALAAM - Somalia Contact Group meets in Tanzania.
MITROVICA, Kosovo - Kosovo Serbs hold protests in northern Mitrovica against the United Nations draft plan for the future status of the province. ** JERUSALEM - Possible protests by Palestinians after Friday prayers against Israeli construction work near entrance to al Aqsa mosque. ** SEOUL - South Korea's conservative group hold rally against the six-party talks and North Korea's nuclear programme (0500).
SOFIA - Bulgarians expected to stage a rally in support of the nurses being held in Libya charged with infecting 428 Libyan children with HIV.
HANOI - Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung chats online with the public for the first time on the government's Web site. Link : www.chinhphu.vn
PARIS - Trial continues of Willy Brigitte, a French Muslim convert suspected of planning to blow up a nuclear reactor and military bases in Australia. ** ISLAMABAD - Briton held in connection with a plot to bomb transatlantic jets in Pakistan is scheduled to appear at a Pakistani court. Rashid Rauf, a British Muslim of Pakistani origin, was arrested by Pakistani agents in August on a tip from their British counterparts. ** TEHRAN - Basiji students gather outside Swiss Embassy to protest against kidnapping of Iranian diplomat in Baghdad. ** CAIRO - Muslim Brotherhood to hold protest at Azhar mosque after Friday prayers against Israeli construction work near entrance to al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. ** GENEVA - U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Mark Dybul and William Steiger of the U.S. Department of Human Health and Services hold a news conference on U.S. efforts against global AIDS scourge (1400). ** LONDON - Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and British entrepreneur Richard Branson to announce a new initiative against climate change.
NEW YORK - New York fashion week ends.
SATURDAY, FEB 10
ESSEN, Germany - G7 finance ministers and central bankers meet (final day).
MUNICH - 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy continues (to Feb. 11). LINK: http://www.securityconference.de/
PRISTINA - Movement calling for the independence of Kosovo "Self-determination" (Vetvendosje) organises a protest against the document on the province's future status by the U.N. special envoy for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari (1200).
NEW DELHI - Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi visits India (to Feb. 15).
RIO DE JANEIRO - (TBC) The 8th Wonder of the World, an organisation founded to increase global awareness for children affected by HIV/AIDS and raise funds for UNICEF through arts and entertainment, holds third of a series of concerts in Brazil.
BUNGUI - Actress Mia Farrow begins tour of conflict-hit areas in north of Central African Republic and eastern Chad as goodwill ambassador for U.N. Children's Fund UNICEF.
VENICE - Carnival of Venice (to Feb. 20).
BERLIN- 57th Berlin Film Festival continues (to Feb. 18). LINK: http://www.berlinale.de/ [20070209 154819 GMT]
SUNDAY, FEB 11
IRAN - Iran marks anniversary of 1979 Islamic revolution with a nationwide rally. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expected to make a traditional speech.
RIYADH - Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit Saudi Arabia.
MUNICH - Final day of the 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy (to Feb. 11). LINK: http://www.securityconference.de/ ** PARIS - Opening of trial against those held responsible for the sinking of the Erika tanker in 1999. French government is seeking 153 million euros of damages to cover the cost of cleaning after the environmental disaster, which smeared the Brittany coast with oil.
PARIS - Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal holds key speech to outline her presidential programme (1400).
PARIS - UMP presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy holds a meeting with party supporters on the same day Segolene Royal is expected to launch her presidential programme.
BUENOS AIRES - U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns and Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon travel to Argentina from Brazil. ** BRUSSELS/LUXEMBOURG/BASEL/DUBLIN/LONDON - IAEA Director Mohammed ElBaradei visits Brussels, Luxembourg, Basel in Switzerland, Dublin and London (to Feb. 20). ** ADDIS ABABA - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in Ethiopia (to Feb. 13).
WASHINGTON - Turkish General Yasar Buyukanit, head of the military General Staff, travels to the United States for talks on the security situation in Iraq and its impact on Turkey.
TURKMENISTAN - Presidential elections.
LOS ANGELES - Annual Writers Guild Awards. Link; http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1533
LOS ANGELES - 49th Annual Grammy Awards. Link: http://www.grammy.com/Recording_Academy/Events/Default.aspx?even ID=1331&eventCategoryID=9
LONDON - British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards. Link: http://www.bafta.org
LISBON - Portuguese due to vote on a referendum to decide whether to legalise abortion.
NEW DELHI - Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing visits India to hold trilateral talks with his Indian and Russian counterparts (to Feb. 14).
KHARTOUM - The Higher Egyptian-Sudanese commission is to meet in Khartoum, headed by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and Vice President Ali Othman Mohamed Taha respectively (to Feb. 15).
ANKARA - Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer visits Turkey (to Feb. 12).
KHARTOUM - U.N. special envoy for Darfur Jan Eliasson and African Union's special envoy for Darfur peace talks Ali Ahmed Salim due to arrive in Sudan.
BANGKOK - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi visits Thailand (to Feb. 13).
BERLIN - 57th Berlin Film Festival continues (to Feb. 18). LINK: http://www.berlinale.de/
MONDAY, FEB 12
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush meets Lithuanian counterpart Valdas Adamkus.
BRUSSELS - EU Foreign Ministers Meeting (to Feb 13). Martti Ahtisaari, the U.N. special envoy for the future status of Kosovo, briefs the EU Foreign Ministers on his proposals that will set the breakaway province of Kosovo on a path to independence.
DOHA/AMMAN - Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit Qatar and Jordan (to Feb. 13).
BUENOS AIRES - U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns and Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon's visit to Argentina continues. Burns and Shannon expected to meet Argentine officials and business leaders. ** KHARTOUM - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visits Sudan (to Feb. 13). ** BAGHDAD - Iraqi high court due to consider a recommendation by a lower court that an earlier sentence of life imprisonment be toughened to one of death for former Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan's role in the 1982 killing of 148 Shi'ite men and boys after a failed assassination attempt against former President Saddam Hussein. ** BRUSSELS - IAEA Director Mohammed ElBaradei visits Brussels to hold bilateral talks with Belgian government leaders. ElBaradei also holds news conference after a meeting with Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. ** BUDAPEST - Parliament resumes session, Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany expected to deliver key address in parliament. ** BERLIN - Chancellor Angela Merkel meets French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy (1400). ** LONDON - Seven soldiers will know on Monday whether charges against them relating to the death of an Iraqi hotel receptionist in Basra in September 2004 have been dropped or modified by the military court in Britain. ** CONARKY - Union leaders have given President Lansana Conte until Monday to name the new premier or they say they will restart their strike.
BARCELONA - 3GSM Congress 2007 (to Feb. 15). LINK: http://www.3gsmworldcongress.com/flashintro.asp
STRASBOURG - EU parliament plenary session (to Feb. 15).
ABUJA - African International Media Summit organised by African Union and ECOWAS aimed at re-branding Africa.
ISTANBUL - "Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism" , meeting organised by United States and Russia (to Feb. 13).
NIAMEY - Niger appeals court due to rule on appeal by two journalists from independent weekly newspaper "Le Republicain" against 18-month jail sentences for defamation and publishing falsehoods.
CAIRO - International conference to fight infectious disease (to Feb. 15).
LONDON - London Fashion Week (to Feb. 16). Link: http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/
SOFIA - Greek President Karolos Papoulias starts a three-day official visit to Bulgaria.
BERLIN - 57th Berlin Film Festival continues (to Feb. 18). LINK: http://www.berlinale.de/
TUESDAY, FEB 13 ** STRASBOURG - EU parliament plenary session continues (to Feb. 15). The Parliament debates on the final report of its investigating committee into CIA rendition flights and "secret prisons". Also German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will speak in a debate on the EU assembly's priorities for the second half of its term. ** VIENNA - (POSTPONED TO FEB 21) U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari to hold talks with Serbs and Kosovo Albanians in Vienna before the United Nations formally takes up his proposals that will set the breakaway province of Kosovo on a path to independence.
PUNJAB, India - Assembly elections in the Indian State of Punjab.
VIENNA - IAEA Board of Governors meeting - Advisory Committee on Safeguards and Verification within the Framework of the IAEA Statute (to Feb. 14). ** BERLIN - Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier meets the President of Rwanda Paul Kagame (1700). ** BERLIN - Chancellor Angela Merkel meets British Prime Minister Tony Blair (1800). ** BERLIN - Germany has until Monday to decide whether or not to go to the European Court of Justice to challenge the European Commission's decision to reduce its national allocation of CO2 emission permits for 2008-2012.
CANBERRA - Finnish President Tarja Halonen visits Australia to meet Prime Minister John Howard (to Feb. 17).
TOKYO - Czech President Vaclav Klaus visits Japan to meet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (to Feb. 16).
WASHINGTON - United Nations Conference on Trade and Development organizes "Global Forum: Building Science, Technology, and Innovation Capacity for Sustainable Growth and Poverty Reduction" (to Feb. 15).
TOKYO - Japan to host a meeting on whaling aimed at easing confrontation between pro and anti-whaling nations (to Feb. 15). Pro-whaling nations want to return the polarised group to what they say are its roots as an organisation that manages -- rather than bans -- commercial whaling. Some 26 anti-whaling nations plan to boycott the meeting.
THE HAGUE - International conference on climate change (to Feb. 14). LINK: http://www.eccho.ca/news.asp?Table=Conferences&ID=130
SOCHI, Russia - A delegation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is due to visit the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi to inspect its bid to host the 2014 Winter Games.
CAIRO - The World Health Organisation begins a two-day conference on bird flu. [20070209 154826 GMT]
WEDNESDAY, FEB 14
WASHINGTON - Legislators Forum on Climate Change and Energy Security (to Feb. 15). German Chancellor Angela Merkel to make keynote speech by video. Other speakers include Nicholas Stern, from the UK Treasury; Paul Wolfowitz and President of the World Bank. Link: www.globeinternational.org ** STRASBOURG - EU parliament plenary session continues (to Feb. 15). The parliament due to vote on the final report of its investigating committee into CIA rendition flights and "secret prisons".
ANKARA - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to visit Turkey (to Feb. 15) for talks expected to focus mainly on energy cooperation. ** ABUJA - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visits Nigeria (to Feb. 15). ** BERLIN - Chancellor Angela Merkel meets Belgium Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (1900).
BRASILIA - Bolivian President Evo Morales expected to meet with Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to reach accord on price Brazil pays for Bolivian natural gas.
LONDON - Brit Awards 2007. Link: http://brits.co.uk
BUCHAREST - Greek President Karolos Papoulias visits Romania (to Feb. 16).
CAIRO - Third International Road Safety and Traffic Management Conference at Cairo International Conference Centre (to Feb. 16).
KARACHI, Pakistan - A three-day Hindu festival, Jigrattan, will be held at an ancient temple in Pakistan for the first time in decades. ** BEIRUT - Large gatherings set to mark the second anniversary of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. ** TALLINN - Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas visits Estonia (to Feb. 15). ** BERLIN - Chancellor Angela Merkel meets the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev (1600), news conference (1700). ** ABUJA - The code of conduct tribunal is due to hear the allegations against three governors Sam Egwu of southeastern Ebonyi state, Chimaroke Nnamani of southeastern Enugu state, and George Akume of cenral Benue state. The three governors are accused of acquiring assets above their means and of failing to declare those assets. ** BASEL, Switzerland - IAEA Director Mohammed ElBaradei to deliver a lecture to a conference at the University of Basel. ** DAR ES SALAAM - The Anglican Communion primates (national church leaders) due to hold a summit (to Feb. 19).
GLOBAL - St.Valentine's day.
THURSDAY, FEB 15
MADRID - Trial starts of 29 suspects for the 2004 Islamist train bombings in Madrid which killed 191 people.
TOKYO - Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing to visit Japan (to Feb 17).
CANNES, France - Franco-Africa summit (to Feb. 16).
BAGHDAD - The second batch of a U.S. combat brigade due to arrive in Baghdad. The additional brigades will be added every 30 days to reach a total of five in Baghdad. ** WASHINGTON - Lee Tong-soo, Kim koon-ja and Jan Ruff O'Herne, three woman who were forced into sexual servitude by Japanese soldiers in World War Two due to testify before a U.S. congressional committee, the author of a resolution calling on Tokyo to apologise for the practice. ** BRUSSELS - EU interior and justice ministers meet (to Feb. 16). ** WARSAW - The Polish government is due to publish a report of an investigation into alleged collaboration by Polish journalists with communist-era secret police. ** NICOSIA - Cyprus hosts Council of Europe seminar to fight human trafficking (to Feb. 16). Representatives from member states and NGOS from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Moldova, Romania and Ukraine expected to attend.
UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Security Council is due to vote on on a draft resolution by France recommending that the Mandate of the U.N. Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is due to expire on Feb. 15, be extended until April 15.
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government due to send two brigades to Baghdad.
UNITED NATIONS - The second U.N. peacekeeping assessment team due to submit its recommendations to the 15-nations Security Council by mid-February on how the peacekeeping force could be deployed in Chad and the Central African Republic region bordering on Sudan's Darfur region.
KATHMANDU - Nepal's former Maoist rebels to join an interim government, which is expected to be set by Feb. 15.
VIENNA - IAEA Programme and Budget Committee Meeting.
UNITED NATIONS - Mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti expires.
MANIPUR, India - Second stage of assembly elections in the Indian State of Manipur. The third and final stage due to be held on Feb. 23.
VIENNA - Vienna's annual Opera Ball. Celebrity heiress Paris Hilton will be the star guest at Austria's top society event.
MINSK - Belarus due to increase fees it charges for transit of Russian oil across its territory by 30 percent from Feb. 15.
WARSAW - Hungarian Foreign Minister Kinga Goncz visits Warsaw to meet with Polish counterpart Anna Fotyga.
BUCHAREST - Former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase has first hearings at the Supreme Court of Justice. Nastase is accused of blackmail and taking bribes worth 1.4 million euros ($1.9 million).
LONDON - Britain due to launch the Footwear Intelligence Tool, a database of thousands of shoes and shoe types to help track down criminals, thought to be the first of its kind in the the world.
COLOGNE, Germany - Annual carnival celebrations (to Feb. 21).
BUDAPEST - Hungary's public sector trade unions to hold a rally to press the government for higher wages.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fl., - Launch of NASA's Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS 2), a 2-year mission consisting of five identical probes that will track the violent colourful eruptions of auroras near the North Pole. Link: http://www.nasa.gov/
ISTANBUL - Verdict expected in an Istanbul court in the trial of 69 al-Qaeda suspects accused of suicide bombings in Istanbul in 2003 and killing 58 people.
FRIDAY, FEB 16
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush meets Panamanian counterpart Martin Torrijos.
PYONGYANG - 65th birthday of North Korean President Kim Jong-il. ** PRISTINA - Kosovo parliament debates U.N. draft plan for the future status of the province (0900). ** BERLIN - Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier gives speech about Strategies for the global energy security at the Department for Foreign Affairs (0830).
SATURDAY, FEB 17
LESOTHO - General elections.
RIO DE JENEIRO - Rio Carnival (to Feb. 20). Link: http://www.rio-carnival.net
CAIRO - Trial of the suspects in the Al-Azhar bombings continues.
LEBANON - Major-General Claudio Graziano of Italy expected to take command of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon after French Major-General Alain Pellegrini steps down. ** TRIPOLI - Bulgaria expected to appeal verdicts against the five nurses sentenced to death in Libya for intentionally infecting over 400 children with HIV.
MILAN, Italy - Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2007/2008 (to Feb. 25). Link: http://www.cameramoda.it/eng/eventi/eventi.php
PARIS - Auction of a 1939 Auto Union D-Type commissioned by German dictator Adolf Hitler and designed by Ferdinand Porsche, 1 of only 2 left in existence and winner of the 1939 Belgrade Grand Prix, set to become most expensive car ever to be sold at auction estimated to sell for £6.1 million.
BERLIN - Golden & Silver Bear Awards at Berlin film festival. [20070209 154839 GMT]
SUNDAY, FEB 18
AUCKLAND - Finnish President Tarja Halonen visits New Zealand to meet Prime Minister Helen Clark (to Feb. 21).
LONDON - Laurence Olivier Awards announced.
BEIJING/HONG KONG - Chinese Lunar New Year - Year of the Pig.
ALGIERS - Philippe Barbarin, Cardinal of Lyon, expected to visit Algeria accompanied by French Muslim leaders in order to commemorate the lives of seven French Trappist monks murdered in 1996 at the height of Algeria's political violence (to Feb. 20).
ALBANIA - Municipal polls.
LOS ANGELES - 21st Annual American Society of Cinematographers. LINK: http://www.theasc.com/news/awards/index.html
MONDAY, FEB 19
MIDDLE EAST - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meet in a bid to restart long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
ADDIS ABABA - The trial of opposition leaders and journalists accused of treason and inciting violence following a turbulent election in 2005 to resume.
NEW JERSEY, N.J. - The New Jersey law affirming equal rights for the same-sex couples but requiring the legislature to make a decision on using the word marriage comes into effect.
SARAJEVO - Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek visits Bosnia.
PHILIPPINES - Hundreds of U.S. soldiers begin annual two-week war games with Philippines to test the two country's military inter-operability to defending the Philippines against external aggression. Activities would be held in the southern Philippines, focusing on humanitarian work in poor Muslim communities. ** MANILA - House of Representatives expected to hold a special session to pass an anti-terror bill that provides for detention of suspects without charge and prescribes up to 40 years imprisonment for any one convicted (to Feb. 20).
TUESDAY, FEB 20
TOKYO - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney expected to visit Japan for talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (to Feb. 22).
CAIRO - Trial in the case of Ibrahim Eissa continues, the newspaper editor charged with defaming President Hosni Mubarak.
BRUSSELS - EU Environment Council meeting.
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush administration due to launch a new travel security system designed to deal with the problems of innocent travellers mistakenly identified as being on U.S. no-fly lists.
ABUJA - Trial resumes of Muhammed Damagun, a Media Trust director accused of taking $300,000 from al Qaeda in 2002 to arrange combat training in Mauritania for 17 members of a group called the Nigerian Taliban.
FT.CAMPBELL, Kentucky - Hearing of Sgt. Paul Cortez, the second of five U.S. soldiers charged with raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and murdering her and her family.
NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans Mardi Gras. Link: www.mardigrasneworleans.com
VENICE - Venice Carnival ends.
TOULOUSE - Airbus expected to unveil a restructuring plan after it was plunged into crisis last year when wiring problems delayed production and deliveries of its A380 superjumbo aircraft, costing almost 5 billion euros ($6.5 billion) in future profits.
ANKARA - Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki visits Turkey as part of Turkish-Iranian Joint Economic Commission meeting.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21
UNITED NATIONS - A U.N. Security Council Resolution 1737 passed on Dec. 23 has given Iran a deadline of 60 days to comply with limits on its uranium enrichment activities or risk possible sanctions.
UTTARANCHAL, India - Assembly elections in the Indian State of Uttaranchal.
RABAT - Trial resumes of Briton Lee Murray, a champion kick boxer suspected of taking part in Britain's biggest cash robbery and charged by a Moroccan court with offences including beating police officers and drug possession. ** VIENNA - (POSTPONED FROM FEB 13) U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari to hold talks with Serbs and Kosovo Albanians in Vienna before the United Nations formally takes up his proposals that will set the breakaway province of Kosovo on a path to independence. Final round of status talks expected in early March.
BUDAPEST - Hungary's public sector trade unions expected to organise a nationwide two-hour warning strike over this year's wage rises.
QUEBEC, Canada - Campaigning expected to be launched around Feb. 21 for a March 26 general election.
ANKARA - Kososo's Prime Minister Agim Ceku visits Turkey (to Feb. 22).
THURSDAY, FEB 22
PRAGUE - Leaders of ruling coalition to meet to discuss position on European Constitution.
NAIROBI - Resumption of trial of white Kenyan farmer, Thomas Cholmondeley, who is accused of killing a black Kenyan.
SAMARRA, Iraq - First anniversary of the bombing of one of Shiite Islam's holiest sites, the Askariya shrine in Samarra.
KIGALI - Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to officiate at an international women conference in Rwanda on "Gender, Nation Building and Parliaments".
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - A court hearing on the complaint by the parents of Canada's first sextuplets against the British Columbia government's forced blood transfusions for two of the four surviving premature babies. The parents are members of the Jehovah's Witness faith and believe the Bible prohibits transfusions.
FRIDAY, FEB 23
MANIPUR, India - The third and final stage of assembly elections in the Indian State of Manipur.
SALE, Morocco - Trial resumes of 22 people being held under anti-terrorism laws. The group led by Mohamed Reha, a Belgian of Moroccan origin, is accused of forming criminal gang that planned to disturb public order.
BRUSSELS - (TENTATIVE) EU Commission annual report on equality between men and women.
SITGES, Spain - Sitges Carnival.
SATURDAY, FEB 24
HOLLYWOOD - 27th Annual Razzie Awards, honouring the worst in cinema are held at the Ivar Theatre.
MILAN - Women's Autumn 2007/Winter 2008 fashion shows ends.
LOS ANGELES - 2007 Independent Spirit Film Awards.
LAHORE, Pakistan - Annual kite-flying festival or Basant.
PARIS - 32nd Annual Cesar Awards.
SUNDAY, FEB 25
SENEGAL - Presidential elections due to be held (Legislative elections postponed).
LITHUANIA - Local government elections.
HOLLYWOOD - 79th Academy Awards (Oscars). http://www.oscar.com
IVREA, Italy - Ivrea Orange throwing Carnival (to Feb 28). LINK: http://www.geocities.com/ebmomma/carnival.htm
PARIS - Paris Ready-To-Wear Autumn/Winter 2007/2008 Fashion Week (to March 5) Link: http://www.modeaparis.com/va/dates/index.html
UNITED NATIONS - Mandate of U.N. Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (East Timor) expires.
MONDAY, FEB 26
NEW YORK - The Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting for the 15th Session of the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development (to March 2).
ALLAHABAD, India - Final day of Ardh Kumbh Mela, where millions of Hindu pilgrims converged for a dip in the holy Ganges river to wash away their sins.
BRUSSELS - The Peace Implementation Council grouping about 50 countries and institutions overseeing Bosnia's peace process meets to decide on the closure of the office of powerful international High Representative Christian Schwarz-Schilling.
THE HAGUE - The U.N. war crimes tribunal has ordered Kosovo's former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj to return to its detention unit in The Hague, ahead of his war crimes trial on March 5.
BANGKOK - "Ten Years After the Asian Financial Crisis: Vulnerabilities in East Asia" - Economists, government ministers and other speakers to the conference on lessons learned from 1997-98 Asian financial crisis (to Feb. 27).
TUESDAY, FEB 27
INDIA - Counting of the Assembly election votes in the Indian States of Manipur, Punjab and Uttaranchal. The results are expected to be announced the same day.
ANKARA - Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands visits Turkey (to March 2).
CHICAGO - The Metropolitan Airports Commissions due to hold a public hearing on a staff proposal to increase penalties for cab drivers refusing fares. The hearing is also aimed at drivers who refuse to take short-haul passengers in favour of more lucrative long trips.
ANKARA - Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands visits Turkey (to March 1) [20070209 154849 GMT]
WEDNESDAY, FEB 28
TAIPEI - Taiwan to open a public monument -- The 228 Incident National Monument -- to commemorate a dark day in history that spawned a movement with implications for the island's politics.
SPACE - NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, the fastest spacecraft ever built by humans, is due to reach Jupiter, our solar system's largest planet and fifth from the sun. Launched on Jan. 19, 2006, New Horizons is set to make its closest pass by Jupiter on Feb. 28, flying within 1.4 million miles (2.3 million km).
PRAGUE - 9th International human rights 'One World' documentary film festival (to March 8). LINK: http://www.jedensvet.cz/ow/2007/index.php?lang=en
MARCH 2007 (UNDATED)
MOSCOW - Russia and North Korea expected to meet in March to discuss Pyongyang's large debt to Moscow.
WASHINGTON/LA PAZ - Bolivia's new visa requirement for U.S. citizens visiting the Andean nation due to take effect in March.
LONDON - A preliminary hearing in March will consider who the witnesses should be and the scope of the inquiry into the deaths of Princess Diana and her lover Dodi al Fayed.
QATAR - To hold its first parliamentary elections.
BRUSSELS - Poland expected to present proposals on a new EU constitution in March. ** VIENNA - Final round of Kosovo status talks expected in early March. ** WARSAW - President Lech Kaczynski due to make a foreign policy speech in early March.
THURSDAY, MARCH 1
WIESBADEN, Germany - EU Defence Ministers meeting (to March 2).
ABUJA - Nigeria's Federal High Court hears case against six people, including three foreigners, accused of spying for Russia.
GLOBAL - World Book Day.
FRIDAY, MARCH 2
ZAGREB - Bosnia's tripartite presidency visits Croatia, due to take part in the session of the inter-government council to discuss outstanding issues between Bosnia and Croatia (to March 3).
LOS ANGELES - 38th Annual Image Awards. Link: http://www.naacpimageawards.net/imageawards38.html
SATURDAY, MARCH 3
SYDNEY - Sydney Gay & Lesbian Annual Mardi Gras - culminates on Mar 3 with the world famous night-time parade through the streets of Sydney and the enormous Mardi Gras party. Link: http://www.mardigras.org.au/
SUNDAY, MARCH 4
ESTONIA - Parliamentary elections.
MONDAY, MARCH 5
VIENNA - IAEA Board of Governors Meeting (to March 9).
CAIRO - The trial of the suspects in the sinking of the Al-Salam 98 ferry resumes.
BRUSSELS - EU - Turkey Association Council meeting.
BEIJING - China's parliament, the National People's Congress, convenes for its annual session.
BRUSSELS - EU Foreign Ministers Meeting.
THE HAGUE - International Court of Justice opens public hearings in dispute between Nicaragua and Honduras on their maritime border in the Caribean Sea.
FORT CAMPBELL, Kentucky - Court-martial of Staff Sgt. Raymond Girouard, accused in the deaths of three Iraqi detainees.
THE HAGUE - Kosovo's former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj goes on trial to face war crimes charges when he was a leader in a 1998-99 war against Serb forces.
NEW YORK - (TENTATIVE) Trial of Sanjay Bahel, the head of the U.N. commodity procurement wing from 1998 to 2003, on bribery charges expected to resume.
TUESDAY, MARCH 6
GHANA - 50th Independence anniversary celebration.
ISLAMABAD - India and Pakistan due to hold the first meeting of a joint anti-terrorism panel as part of their wide-ranging peace process.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7
BELFAST - New elections for a Northern Ireland assembly in which pro-Irish Catholics and pro-British Protestants will share power.
NETHERLANDS - Elections for provincial parliaments
NEW YORK - Sentencing of Khalid Awan, a Pakistani man living in New York, guilty of providing material support or resources to terrorists and money laundering to promote terrorism.
MIAMI - Sentencing of Clark Mitchell, a Florida doctor and former director of a prominent AIDS clinic, after Mitchell pleaded guilty to securities fraud in connection with a life insurance scam that cost 28,000 investors nearly $1 billion.
LONDON - British singer George Michael scheduled to appear in court for a hearing charged with being unfit to drive. Trial date scheduled for April 23.
GHANA - 50th Independence anniversary celebration.
THURSDAY, MARCH 8 ** BRASILIA/MONTEVIDEO/BOGOTA/GUATEMALA CITY/MEXICO CITY - U.S. President George W. Bush visits Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico on a week-long tour of Latin America (to March 14).
GENEVA - International Labour Organisation (ILO): 298th Session of the Governing Body and its committees (to March 17).
GLOBAL - International Women's Day.
GENEVA - 77th International Motor Show (to March 18).
KIEV - A working meeting between Ukrainian and EU officials on a new cooperation agreement.
SATURDAY, MARCH 10
SHAH ALAM, Malaysia - Hearing of Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, a well-connected Malaysian political analyst charged with abetting the murder of 28-year-old Altantuya Shaariibuu between Oct. 19 and Oct. 20 in Malaysia.
ABUJA - Nigerian Supreme Court to rule on the bail application by former militia leader Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, who is on trial for treason.
SUNDAY, MARCH 11
BELGRADE - First anniversary of the death of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
MAURITANIA - Presidential election.
ST PETERSBURG, Russia - Local elections.
MONDAY, MARCH 12
STRASBOURG - EU parliament plenary session (to March 15).
NEW YORK - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees due to be honored at a black-tie ceremony.
BELGRADE - War crimes re-trial starts for 14 former Serbian militia members for the 1991 massacre of 200 Croatian prisoners of war at the Ovcara farm near Vukovar in Croatia.
LONDON - Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, who won the British reality television show at the heart of a racist bullying row, to meet Queen Elizabeth at a reception to mark Commonwealth Day. ** BRUSSELS - President of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Michael Platini meets EU Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso to discuss on ways to fight hooliganism and racism.
CHIANG MAI, Thailand - Trial of Swiss man Oliver Rudolf Jufer for defacing images of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej during a drunken spree on the revered monarch's birthday.
TUESDAY, MARCH 13
WEST INDIES - SPORT - CRICKET - World Cup.
NEW DELHI - A fourth round of India-Pakistan composite dialogue, as the peace process is called, expected to be held (to March 14).
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14
NUREMBERG, Germany - EU - ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting.
THURSDAY, MARCH 15
HANNOVER, Germany - CeBIT - The world's largest computer fair opens (to March 21). Link; http://www.cebit.de/homepage_e?x=1
ABUJA - Nigeria's INEC electoral authority to publish names of presidential and national assembly candidates.
TBC - An African Union-United Nations peace summit on Sudan to be held no later than March 15.
UNITED KINGDOM - British Summer Time begins - clocks across the European Union go forward.
HEILIGENDAMM, Germany - G8 Environment Ministers Meeting (to March 17).
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., - NASA scheduled to launch space shuttle Atlantis to the International Space Station.
SATURDAY, MARCH 17
IRELAND - St. Patrick's Day.
WASHINGTON - Anti-war group, International ANSWER, plans an anti-war march to the Pentagon.
KIEV - EU Foreign policy chief Javier Solana expected to visit Ukraine.
SUNDAY, MARCH 18
FINLAND - Parliamentary elections.
QUITO - Ecuador due to call a popular vote on March 18 on setting up a constituent assembly to change the constitution meant to lessen the influence of politicians in the judiciary and force legislators to live in the small constituencies that they represent.
MONDAY, MARCH 19
LOS ANGELES - Jury selection due to begin in the trial of music producer Phil Spector, who is accused of killing B-movie actress Lana Clarkson, found shot to death in the foyer of his mock castle on Feb. 3, 2003. ** FORT LEWIS, Wash. , - (TENTATIVE) Court-martial of U.S. Army officer Lt. Ehren Watada for publicly refusing to fight in Iraq and criticizing the war.
FRANCE - Anti-nuclear demonstrations planned in Rennes, Lille, Strasbourg, Lyon and Toulouse.
TUESDAY, MARCH 20
IRAQ - Fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
VICTORIA, Australia - Australian International Airshow 2006. Link: http://www.airshow.net.au/index1.html
THURSDAY, MARCH 22
GLOBAL - U.N. World Water Day.
LONDON - Worldwide publication of British novelist Jeffrey Archer's "The Gospel According to Judas". Archer has written the book in collaboration with biblical scholar Francis Moloney. [20070209 154859 GMT]
FRIDAY, MARCH 23
GLOBAL - U.N. World Meteorological Day.
OUARZAZATE, Morocco - Desert Marathon Des sables.
PARIS - Paris book fair (to Mar. 27).
SALE, Morocco - (POSTPONED FROM JAN 26) Trial of fifty members of an Islamist group, Ansar el Mehdi (Mehdi Partisans), accused of plotting to overthrow the monarchy and replace it with a purist Islamic state.
SATURDAY, MARCH 24
BERLIN - EU Heads of State Meeting (to March 25).
MADRID - First anniversary of the enforcement of a permanent ceasefire declared by Basque separatist group ETA.
MOMBASA, Kenya - IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
GLOBAL - U.N. World No TB Day.
SUNDAY, MARCH 25
BERLIN - EU Heads of State Meeting (final day).
ROME - ANNIVERSARY - 50 year ago today (March 25, 1957) six European countries signed the Treaty of Rome, pledging to set up a Common Market from January 1, 1958. The organisation developed into the European Union.
MINSK - Belarussian opposition expected to hold a rally to mark the short lived creation in 1918 of an independent state crushed by Bolshevik forces.
LONDON - 200th anniversary of the abolishing of the slave trade in the U.K. The government is considering issuing a 'statement of regret'.
HONG KONG - Hong Kong's Chief Executive election.
EUROPE - British Summer Time begins - clocks across the European Union go forward.
MONDAY, MARCH 26
BELFAST - Self-rule at the Belfast-based Stormont assembly expected to be restored to the province.
QUEBEC, Canada - Canada's French-speaking province of Quebec expected to hold general election.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28
BRUSSELS - EU parliament plenary session (to March 29).
RIYADH - Annual summit of League of Arab States.
LONDON - British Book Awards. LINK: http://www.britishbookawards.co.uk/bba/pnbb_index.asp ?
FRIDAY, MARCH 30
UNITED NATIONS - United Nations' Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - a treaty that aims to promote and protect the rights of the disabled people, will formally be opened to signing.
SATURDAY, MARCH 31
BRUSSELS - EU to report on progress of Romania and Bulgaria, 3-months after joining the union.
DUBAI - SPORT - HORSE RACING - 12th Dubai Cup - The world's richest day of horse racing. LINK: http://www.dubaiworldcup.com
SOFIA - Deadline for Bulgarian government to sent its first quarterly report to the European Commission on its progress in fighting organised crime and corruption and reforming the judiciary.
APRIL 2007 (UNDATED)
TOKYO - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao expected to visit Japan.
WASHINGTON - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expected to visit United States in late April or early May, due to hold talks with President George W. Bush.
BEIJING - China expected to take the first step in its lunar exploration programme by launching a satellite that will orbit the moon.
NEW YORK - Sentencing of Robert Riggio, guilty of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from at least 60 priests across the United States by using fake names and bogus sympathy-inducing stories about needing money.
LONDON - The Equality act, expected to come into force in April, is designed to stop discrimination against gay and lesbian couples wishing to adopt a child.
KINSHASA - Belgian King Albert expected to visit Democratic Republic of Congo.
SUNDAY, APRIL 1
WALES - Smoking ban in enclosed areas comes into effect.
SASKATOON, Canada - Juno Awards 2007, Canada's equivalent of the Grammy Awards.
MONDAY, APRIL 2
WASHINGTON - Comments on the sale of food made from cloned cattle, pigs and goats, but not sheep, in the United States will be accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration until today.
AUGUSTA, Ga. - 2007 U.S. Masters Golf Tournament (to April 8).
TUESDAY, APRIL 3
NEW DELHI - South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit (to April 4).
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4
DUBLIN - Shortlist announced for International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2007.
FRIDAY, APRIL 6
GLOBAL - Good Friday - Christian religious holiday.
SATURDAY, APRIL 7
UNITED NATIONS - World Health Organisation observes World Health Day.
LONDON - Annual Oxford-Cambridge University boat-race (1530).
MONDAY, APRIL 9
EAST TIMOR - Presidential elections.
TUESDAY, APRIL 10
BRAZZAVILLE - International forum on indigenous peoples of the forests of central Africa, with representatives from UNESCO, UNICEF, UNEP, World Bank and other international organisations (to April 15).
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11
AOMORI, Japan - Special Symposium for the IAEA 50th Anniversary Global Challenges for the Future of Nuclear Energy and the IAEA.
SATURDAY, APRIL 14
LOS ANGELES - The U.S. Olympic Committee to due to decide between Los Angeles and Chicago as the U.S. candidate city for the 2016 Olympic games.
WASHINGTON - Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (to April 15).
AINTREE, Liverpool - SPORT- HORSE RACING - Grand National.
NIGERIA - Elections for State and local governments.
SUNDAY, APRIL 15
WASHINGTON - Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (final day).
ANKARA - Applicants for the presidency have until April 15 to decide whether to run. Turkey's parliament elects the president for a seven-year term.
MONDAY, APRIL 16
VATICAN CITY - 80th birthday of Pope Benedict.
BELFAST - Trial expected to start in the Omagh bombing civil court case.
MIAMI - Trial begins of American terrorism suspect Jose Padilla, who is accused of running a U.S. support cell that provided money and recruits for violent jihad overseas.
TUESDAY, APRIL 17
NEW YORK - Pulitzer Prize awards announced.
LONDON - The Veuve Clicquot Award Business Woman of the Year. Link: http://www.veuveclicquotaward.com/
ROME - Trial begins of U.S. soldier Mario Lozano on homicide charges for shooting dead an Italian intelligence agent, Nicola Calipari, in Iraq in 2005 as he was escorting a newly freed hostage to safety. He will be almost certainly tried in absentia as the U.S. military has not revealed his location to Italy.
THURSDAY, APRIL 19
WASHINGTON - International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Economic Outlook.
FRIDAY, APRIL 20
BOAO, HAINAN - Third China International Cartoon Festival (to May 4).
SATURDAY, APRIL 21