WORLD AGENDA NOVEMBER 2002

November 1: Former South African President Nelson Mandela will visit Althorp House, in Northamptonshire, central England, where Princess Diana is buried on an island in a lake, Òto pay a personal tribute to Diana as a person and her humanitarian workÓ.

November 2: The aircraft carrier Constellation with 72 warplanes aboard heads for the Gulf, the United StatesÕ latest military manoeuvre off Iraq. Other preparations in November include training Iraqi opponents of President Saddam Hussein, moving battle staff to Qatar and vaccinating troops.

November 4: A United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Chile will consider the reinstatement of a legal trade in ivory. The move has been proposed by Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia but is opposed by conservationists.

November 6: Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi makes a state visit to Greece during which he may return a fragment of the statue of Peitho, goddess of persuasion and seduction, part of the 5th century BC Parthenon Marbles.

November 6: Thousands of protesters from all over Europe gather for a 5-day anti-globalisation meeting in Florence. Between 100,000 and 200,000 are expected at the anti-war demonstration on November 9. Italy said it will reintroduce border controls to keep hooligans away.

November 8: ChinaÕs President Jiang Zemin is expected to announce his retirement and other key leadership changes at the Communist Party Congress in Beijing. The President, who will hand power to Vice President Hu Jintao, is expected to stand down next year.

November 14: Security arrangements for the World Trade Organisation meeting in Sydney have been stepped up following the Bali bombing. Australia, under pressure to focus more on local terrorist threats, may withdraw its 150 commandos from the coalition in Afghanistan.

November 15: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second film based on British author JK RowlingÕs boy wizard, is released in Britain and North America. The first, which grossed $1 billion, is the second biggest earner in movie history.

November 21: At the 19-nation NATO summit in Prague, up to 10 new members are expected to be invited to join, including Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Romania. Several former Soviet countries joined in 1999.

November 21: Princess Anne and her husband Tim Laurence are due to appear
before a west London court after one of their two bull terrier dogs allegedly bit
two children, aged 7 and 12, in Windsor Great Park in April.

November (undated): In an experiment to discourage homosexuality in Thai prisons, 922 female inmates in a prison in the northern Nakhon Sawan province are to be allowed into the menÕs zone. They will not, however, be housed together.

Parliamentary elections in Turkey (Nov 3), Austria (Nov 24).