• Chinese, Nigerian presidents satisfied with bilateral ties • Pang Yuliang Acquired German Parchim Airport

NIGERIA - Presidential and National Assembly elections.
SUNDAY, APRIL 22
FRANCE - First round of presidential elections.
LONDON - London Marathon. Link: www.london-marathon.co.uk
MONDAY, APRIL 23
BRUSSELS - EU Foreign Ministers Meeting.
STRASBOURG - EU parliament plenary session (to April 26).
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - Court-martial of Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins, a U.S. Marine suspected of being the ringleader in the kidnap and murder of an Iraqi grandfather.
LONDON - British singer George Michael scheduled for trial charged with being unfit to drive.
BERLIN - Lower-level bilateral talks between EU envoys on forging a new EU constitution expected to take place between April 23 and May 4.
TUESDAY, APRIL 24
BRUSSELS - Fraud Europe 2007, a conference dedicated to fraud detection, prevention & investigation/recovery across Europe from both a corporate and regulatory focus.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25
NEW YORK - 6th annual Tribeca Film Festival (to May 6). LINK: www.tribecafilmfestival.com
THURSDAY, APRIL 26
ANKARA - Deadline for candidates to register for Turkey's presidential election.
SATURDAY, APRIL 28
WEST INDIES - SPORT - CRICKET - World Cup Final.
SUNDAY, APRIL 29
MALI - Presidential elections.
MONDAY, APRIL 30
N.IRELAND - Northern Ireland smoking ban comes into effect. ** VIETNAM - Liberation Day.
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WORLD-DIARY/|LANGEN|AFA|CSA|LBY|RWSA|RWS|REULB|GNS|G|RBN|DIA|RNP|PGE|PMF|WORLD-DIARY/=2|LANGEN|AFA|CSA|LBY|RWSA|RWS|REULB|GNS|SXNA|WORLD-DIARY/=3|LANGEN|AFA|CSA|LBY|RWSA|RWS|REULB|GNS|G|RBN|DIA|RNP|PGE|PMF|WORLD-DIARY/=4|LANGEN|AFA|CSA|LBY|RWSA|RWS|REULB|GNS|G|RBN|DIA|RNP|PGE|PMF|WORLD-DIARY/=5|LANGEN|AFA|CSA|LBY|RWSA|RWS|REULB|GNS|G|RBN|DIA|RNP|PGE|PMF|WORLD-DIARY/=6|LANGEN|AFA|CSA|LBY|RWSA|RWS|REULB|GNS|G|RBN|DIA|RNP|PGE|PMF|chained
Document LBA0000020070208e3280007q

Economy & Politics

Chinese_president_says_investment_push_isnt_new_colonialism'>Hu, in Africa, tries to ease anxiety --- Chinese president says investment push isn't new colonialism

By Craig Timberg The Washington Post

768 words

8 February 2007

The Wall Street Journal Asia

AWSJ

8

English

(c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. To see the edition in which this article appeared, click here http://awsj.com.hk/factiva-ns
Johannesburg, South Africa -- CHINESE PRESIDENT Hu Jintao sought to reassure Africans that his country's aggressive investments in oil, copper and other natural resources don't amount to a new wave of colonialism, saying China would "not do anything harmful to the interests of Africa and its people."
Mr. Hu's comments, made yesterday in Pretoria, South Africa, on the sixth stop of an eight-country tour of the continent, came amid rising anxiety that China's economic power is strangling African manufacturing while locking up vital resources for years. Despite large Chinese purchases of oil from Angola, Sudan and Nigeria, the flood of finished goods to Africa has caused a large trade imbalance.
Commentators increasingly compare the relationship to the historic one between European powers and their African colonies, which generated money for ruling countries by exporting raw materials while importing more costly manufactured goods. President Hu sought to distinguish China by invoking his country's experience with colonialism.
"For more than 100 years in China's modern history, the Chinese people were subjected to colonial aggression and oppression by foreign powers and went through similar suffering and agony that the majority of African countries endured," he said at the University of Pretoria, according to a transcript released by South African officials.
He added, "China has never imposed its will or unequal practices on other countries and will never do so in the future."
China has longstanding relationships with many countries in Africa, dating back to the era when its Communist government provided money, weapons and training to liberation movements seeking to overthrow colonial and white-supremacist governments. In the past decade, China has dramatically escalated its role on the continent through a combination of major construction projects and investments in materials needed to keep its manufacturing boom alive.
Chinese companies have built railways, water-treatment plants, telecommunications systems, highways and port facilities, often subsidizing projects or working for much less than the bids of competitors. And Chinese companies haven't been content to merely buy raw materials; more and more they invest in production capacity, purchasing oil blocks in Nigeria or copper mines in Zambia. China also has delivered billions of dollars of aid to African countries and billions more in loans.
African governments have largely welcomed the largesse, as well as the lack of accompanying demands for human-rights improvements, expanded democracy or increased financial transparency often required by Western investors and their governments.
In advance of Mr. Hu's trip to Sudan last week, Andrew Natsios, U.S. President George W. Bush's special envoy for Sudan, traveled to Beijing to urge China to help persuade President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to accept a strong U.N. peacekeeping force in the war-torn region of Darfur. Mr. Natsios emerged from the talks saying "our policies and the Chinese policies are closer than I realize," and he added that China will "play an increasingly important role in helping us to resolve this."
But U.S. officials now say Mr. Hu did little to press President Bashir, instead calling on countries to "respect the sovereignty of Sudan," while writing off debts and providing an interest-free loan to build a new presidential palace.
"There have been some mixed signals, obviously," said U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack in Washington.
Among Africans, the concerns about rising Chinese clout are more often economic. Textile mills from Nigeria to South Africa have closed amid a flood of inexpensive Chinese imports. And Chinese purchases of mining concessions have stirred nationalist backlashes.
Mr. Hu canceled a stop Sunday at a mining community in Zambia after threatened demonstrations against the supposed plunder of the country's natural resources, news reports said. The main opposition party in Zambia, which accused the Chinese of dumping goods in their country and bankrupting Zambian traders, fired a top official for attending an official welcoming ceremony for Mr. Hu.
There was little such rancor in South Africa, which has an especially close relationship with China. Many South African companies have major investments in China, and Mr. Hu on Tuesday signed deals opening his country's markets to South African agricultural products.
"The Chinese government will continue to take steps to increase imports from Africa to balance the trade between the two sides," he said at the University of Pretoria.
---
Washington Post staff writer Glenn Kessler in Washington
License this article from Dow Jones Reprint Service
Document AWSJ000020070207e32800018
Other World Stories

Chinese talk trade to woo Africans.

711 words

7 February 2007

Irish Times

IRTI

12

English

(c) 2007, The Irish Times.
CHINA: President Hu Jintao is buying his way through a tour of eight African countries with aid and interest-free loans, writes Clifford Coonan
The growing trade links between China and Africa take many forms: Chinese-built football stadiums in Zambia; transport ships heading to Tianjin laden with lumber and tobacco from Zimbabwe; sesame seeds from Ethiopia; and people using Chinese-brand mobile phones in Windhoek. In Tanzania's Dar-es-Salaam, local youths hunt prized monitor lizards for Chinese workers on building sites.
President Hu Jintao is now leading a mission to earn Africa's affection by bombarding it with aid and trade links. Mr Hu is visiting eight countries, including war-torn Sudan, and the Chinese say the trip is "another major diplomatic move", although some critics say its growing influence in Africa is merely a new form of colonialism.
China needs Africa's energy and resources to fuel its economic boom and the current high-profile visit is the result. Mr Hu is being accompanied by commerce minister Bo Xilai, foreign minister Li Zhaoxing and other high-ranking policy-makers.
The visit follows a major African summit in Beijing in November, where China was at pains to show it was interested in more than just Africa's abundance of natural resources. It wants to be a political force in Africa, just as it is an economic power to be reckoned with. This week, China said it would lend African states more than €2 billion over the next three years and double the amount of aid and interest-free loans.
Crucially, the Chinese said the loans had no strings attached, containing none of the "political conditions" often sought by western nations.
There is a lot to play for. According to China's deputy commerce minister Wei Jianguo, trade between China and Africa last year amounted to €43 billion, a jump of more than 40 per cent - the fifth consecutive year in which growth has exceeded 30 per cent.
The Chinese want Africa's abundance of natural resources, as well as textiles, clothing, furniture, and their shopping list includes South African diamonds, Egyptian marble, Ugandan coffee and Gabonese hardwood.
China's growing influence in Africa is being watched with some alarm by western mining groups, who fear being frozen out of a continent rich in resources because Washington and Brussels are not paying the same attention as the cash-rich Communist government in Beijing.
For their part, African consumers are keen to buy home electronics and mobile phones, and new cars produced by China's growing domestic auto industry.
South Africa is an example of how close relations have become. Arriving at Johannesburg airport, Mr Hu was spirited away to Pretoria to meet President Thabo Mbeki and sign a hefty wad of bilateral deals. China is now South Africa's second-largest import trading partner and eighth-largest export partner.
However, no matter how close the relationship with Africa, there are teething troubles and growing tensions. Chinese oil workers have been kidnapped in Nigeria, including nine who were abducted in January and released this month.
China has enthusiastically built economic ties with some of the continent's worst human rights offenders, such as Sudan, earning it widespread international criticism.
Zambian elections saw serious criticism of China's investment policy, which was blamed for job losses and factory closures. Blame for the woes of the South African textile industry has also been laid at the door of the Chinese.
Many African leaders, such as Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, enjoy being treated as equals by the Chinese, rather than as the political pariahs they are seen as in the West.
Human rights groups have complained that Mr Hu did not confront President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on human rights abuses and mass killings in Darfur. They say China's secret arms exports to Sudan are fuelling human rights violations and helping to sustain conflict there.
However, anyone familiar with the Beijing government's view on human rights issues - they are a sacrosanct domestic issue and no one else's business - can hardly be surprised this was not on the agenda. The Beijing government believes the Darfur issue will be resolved by international negotiation.
Document IRTI000020070207e3270001q

DIARY - Political and General News Events from Feb 7
7,392 words

7 February 2007

10:59 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.
MOSCOW - Russia may write off about $10 billion of Afghanistan's Soviet-era debt in February.
BASRA, Iraq - British operations aimed at preparing for the handover of security in Basra to Iraqi authorities expected to be completed in February.
VIENNA - The U.N. Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space is due to sign a new voluntary agreement to mitigate the creation of space debris.
SOUTH AFRICA - South Africa's land restitution programme deadline for white farmers to agree a selling price or have their land seized.
THE HAGUE - The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno-Ocampo plans to indict suspects for atrocities in Darfur by February.
TEHRAN - Russia's Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov expected to visit Tehran in early February.
WEDNESDAY, FEB 7
BRUSSELS - The European Commission unveils delayed proposals to curb CO2 emissions from cars after the failure of the automobile industry to meet voluntary targets for fighting climate change agreed in 2000.
MECCA, Saudi Arabia - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas continue to hold talks on the formation of a unity government.
GENEVA - World Trade Organisation (WTO) General Council meeting (to Feb. 8).
BANGALORE, India - Sixth edition of Aero India Show (to Feb. 11).
ROME - The Italian cabinet meets to approve the new measures to curb violence after the death of a policeman at Catania's match with Palermo on Friday.
HELSINKI - A group of health finance experts, which includes officials from the European Investment Bank, the World Bank and the London School of Economics to submit a final report on European Union (EU) countries health spending at conference in Helsinki (to Feb. 8).
PARIS - Two influential Islamic groups to sue a Paris satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo for inciting hatred against Muslims by printing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in 2005. ** ITALY - Petrol station workers begin a two day strike to protest against a government initiative to allow supermarkets to sell petrol. ** BERLIN - Personal Representative of the German Chancellor for the G8 World Economic Summits (Sherpa), Bernd Pfaffenbach, speaks to foreign press association (1330). ** PARIS - Willy Brigitte, a French Muslim covert suspected of plotting to attack an Australian nuclear power station goes on trial on terrorism charges in a Paris court on Wednesday. Sajid Mir, Brigitte's co-accused will be tried in absentia.
BAGHDAD - Trial resumes of Ali Hassan al-Majeed also known as "Chemical Ali" and five other former senior Baath party officials for their roles in the 1988 Anfal (Spoils of war) military campaign. ** BELGRADE - European Union delegation, including EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and State Secretary in Portuguese Foreign Ministry Manuel Lobo Antunes arrive in Belgrade to meet outgoing Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic (1420), Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica (1515), Serbian President Boris Tadic (1615), followed by news conference (1700). ** PRISTINA - EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana meets Kosovo Albanian leaders in Pristina (1030).
LONDON - Prime Ministers question time - 1200
LONDON - Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, who won the British reality television show at the heart of a racist bullying row, to meet Prime Minister Tony Blair and other ministers at the House of Commons.
THE HAGUE - A draft agreement on forming a Dutch coalition government between the Christian Democrats, Labour and the Christian Union due to be unveiled by Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.
JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH, West Bank - British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett continues her visit to Israel and the West Bank region of Ramallah to gauge the prospects for reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Beckett holds talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (0900), followed by a meeting with senior Palestinian officials in Ramallah (1030).
ROME - A Rome court continues its hearing in the case U.S. soldier Mario Lozano, who is accused of shooting agent Nicola Calipari at a checkpoint in March 2005 while his car was heading for Baghdad airport.
BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel meets her Austrian counterpart Alfred Gusenbauer (1130).
MOSCOW - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to meet heads of Russian non-governmental organisations (NGO) (1400).
TEHRAN - Final day of Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Iran. Mukherjee meets his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
SALE, Morocco - Trial of Briton Lee Murray sought for UK's biggest cash raid, arrested in Morocco and charged in June 2006 with criminal gang membership and illegal possession of cocaine and foreign currency.
SYDNEY - Court to hear bail application of Peter Foster, who was arrested on money laundering charges and remanded into custody until Thursday. Foster, once a confidante of British prime minister's wife Cherie Blair, is now Australia's most high profile conman who has been jailed on three continents for peddling bogus slimming products and using false documents.
LOS ANGELES - Hearing in the paternity case of former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith's daughter, Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern. Smith gave birth to the baby girl in the Bahamas on Sept. 7 and several weeks later married her personal lawyer, Howard K. Stern, saying he was the father. Anna's ex-boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, sued Smith in October, claiming he was the father and demanding a paternity test.
MADRID - Carla del Ponte, chief prosecutor for U.N. war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia visits Spain.
PRAGUE - Left-wing opposition Social Democrats have called for a special parliamentary session to discuss the Czech government's plan to allow the United States to build a radar base as a part of its planned missile defence.
LONDON - The Costa Book of the Year 2006. Link: http://www.costabookawards.com/
BANGKOK - Public hearing on Thailand's new 15-year Power Development Plan, proposals include development of nuclear power.
BELGRADE - British Minister for European Affairs Geoffrey Hoon holds a news conference after a meeting with Serbian President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic (1445).
CAIRO - The National Conference on Integrated Social Policites in Egypt, organised by the U.N. Economic and Social Commmision for Western Asia (UN-ESCHWA) and the Egyptian Ministry of Social Security (to Feb. 8).
BERLIN - German cabinet meets to decide whether to send Tornado-aircrafts to Afghanistan (0830). ** TBILISI - Leaders from Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia due to inaugurate the start of work on the new Kars-Akhalkalaki-Baku rail link to improve transport links in region that joins Asia to Europe. ** GULF/SEA OF OMAN - Iran's Revolutionary Guards due to hold wargames in the Gulf and Sea of Oman, focusing on launching missiles (to Feb. 8). ** TOKYO - Japan holds a government-sponsored rally calling for return of the disputed islands, referred to as Northern territories by Japan and as Southern Kuriles by Moscow. The islands were seized by the Soviet army at the end of World War Two and have remained under Russian control. ** JOHANNESBURG/PRETORIA - Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to South Africa continues (to Feb. 8). ** PARIS - Green presidential candidate Jose Bove expected to appear in court to face accusations that he helped destroy crops of genetically modified corn. ** AMMAN - U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres visits Jordan. [20070207 155900 GMT]
THURSDAY, FEB 8
SEVILLE, Spain - NATO defence ministers meeting.
BEIJING - A fresh round of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programme expected to resume.
MAPUTO - Chinese President Hu Jintao visits Mozambique.
UNITED KINGDOM - Heavy snow is likely to fall on central and southern England on Thursday morning.
LONDON - Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev to speak at the London School of Economics.
BERLIN - Chancellor Angela Merkel meets Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko.
BRUSSELS - European Commission to propose legislation on Environmental Crime; (1030) - European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas and Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini hold news conference on proposed legislation on Environmental Crime.
BERLIN - Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier meets his Pakistani counterpart Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri (1300).
BERLIN - EU Troika - Pakistan Meeting.
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt - Trial resumes in the case of Egyptian blogger Abdel Karim Suleiman, on charges of blasphemous writings and insulting the president.
STOCKHOLM - Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt meets EU-commissioner Peter Mandelson.
BUDAPEST - Budapest Court to rule about claim by journalist Kozak Daniel for the publication of files which show whether priests collaborated with communist secret agencies.
PHILIPPINES - Thousands of U.S. soldiers begin annual three-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 Subic, Clark, Fort Magsaysay and on Jolo and Palawan islands.
BERLIN - 57th Berlin Film Festival (to Feb. 18). LINK: http://www.berlinale.de
THE HAGUE - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso visits Netherlands to meet Dutch parliamentarians.
MANIPUR, India - Assembly elections in the Indian State of Manipur. Polls due to be held in three stages on Feb. 8, 15 and 23.
ZAGREB - Carla del Ponte, chief prosecutor for U.N. war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia visits Croatia to attend a conference (to Feb. 9).
TAIPEI - The world's leading Chinese art museum, the National Palace Museum in Taipei due to open.
SPACE - Astronauts on International Space Station take the final of the three spacewalks to hook up new cooling system.
ATHENS - The Hellenic Parliament Foundation for Parliamentarism and Democracy and Germany's embassy to Greece organise two-day symposium on "Europe's prospects". Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyanni to deliver speech (1600). ** HANOI - Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung chats online with the public for the first time on the government's Web site. ** DAMASCUS - U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres expected to visit Syria after his trip to Jordan.
GLOBAL - Nirvana Day - Buddhists mark the death of Buddha. ** ABUJA - President Oulusegun Obasanjo meets with the state governors from the Niger Delta, oil company executives and Nigerian oil unions to discuss the insecurity in the oil-producing Niger Delta. ** NEW YORK - Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul meets U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. ** SARAJEVO - European Union Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth Jan Figel holds a news conference (1230). ** NEW DELHI - Bhutan's King Jigme Kesar Namgyel continues visit to India (to Feb. 11). ** NEW DELHI - World Wildlife Fund (WWF) - News conference on "Endangered Ganga River" (1300).
FRIDAY, FEB 9
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 Defense Robert Gates and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani are among those expected to attend. LINK: http://www.securityconference.de (1000). ** 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.
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. ** SOFIA - Bulgarians expected to stage a rally in support of the nurses being held in Libya charged with infecting 428 Libyan children with HIV.
SATURDAY, FEB 10
VENICE - Carnival of Venice (to Feb. 20).
ESSEN, Germany - G7 finance ministers and central bankers meet (final day).
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. [20070207 155907 GMT]
SUNDAY, FEB 11
TURKMENISTAN - Presidential elections.
RIYADH - Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit Saudi Arabia.
IRAN - National holiday and anniversary of 1979 Islamic revolution. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expected to make traditional speech.
PARIS - Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal holds key speech to outline her presidential programme. ** 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. ** 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.
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.
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).
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.
MONDAY, FEB 12
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush meets Lithuanian counterpart Valdas Adamkus.
BRUSSELS - EU Foreign Ministers Meeting (to Feb 13).
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. ** BRUSSELS - IAEA Director Mohammed ElBaradei to visit Brussels.
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.
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).
SOFIA - Greek President Karolos Papoulias starts a three-day official visit to Bulgaria.
TUESDAY, FEB 13
VIENNA - 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).
CANBERRA - Finnish President Tarja Halonen visits Australia to meet Prime Minister John Howard (to Feb. 17).
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).
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. ** ANKARA - Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer visits Turkey.
WEDNESDAY, FEB 14
ANKARA - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to visit Turkey (to Feb. 15) for talks expected to focus mainly on energy cooperation.
GLOBAL - St.Valentine's day.
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. ** WASHINGTON - Legislators Forum on Climate Change and Energy Security on February (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
THURSDAY, FEB 15
TOKYO - Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing to visit Japan (to Feb 17).
CANNES, France - Franco-Africa summit.
MADRID - Trial starts of 29 suspects for the 2004 Islamist train bombings in Madrid which killed 191 people.
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.
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. [20070207 155917 GMT]
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.
MILAN, Italy - Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2007/2008 (to Feb. 25). Link: http://www.cameramoda.it/eng/eventi/eventi.php
RICHMOND, Va. - Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), a possible 2008 presidential candidate, attends Virginia Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson fund-raising dinner.
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.
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 - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to bring together Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to talk about a future Palestinian state.
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, United States - 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.
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
UTTARANCHAL, India - Assembly elections in the Indian State of Uttaranchal.
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.
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
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
SITGES, Spain - Sitges Carnival.
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.
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.
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)
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 [20070207 155931 GMT]
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.
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
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. ** BANGKOK - 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.
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.
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.
UNITED KINGDOM - British Summer Time begins - clocks across the European Union go forward. [20070207 155939 GMT]
MONDAY, MARCH 26
HEILIGENDAMM, Germany - G8 Development Ministers Meeting (to March 27).
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.
TUESDAY, MARCH 27
NASSAU - Inquest into the sudden death of Daniel Smith, the 20-year-old son of former Playboy Playmate and oil heiress Anna Nicole Smith.
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.
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