December 2: John Kitzhaber, governor of the U.S. state of Oregon, plans to apologise to hundreds at a human rights day for their forced sterilization. Under eugenics laws 2,600 Oregonians Ð including epileptics, homosexuals and unwanted children Ð were sterilized between 1917 and 1981.

December 7: The Miss World Pageant goes ahead in London after being relocated from Nigeria following the deaths of over 200 people in violent disturbances linked to the beauty contest in the northern city of Kaduna.

December 8: The deadline, laid down by a UN resolution aimed at averting war, by which Iraq must disclose the locations of all its chemical and biological weapons and nuclear-weapon-development facilities.

December 9: A peace treaty to end one of the worldÕs longest-running wars, between Indonesia and resource-rich Aceh province, is due to be signed in Switzerland. The 27-year conflict has claimed 12,000 lives in the past decade Ð 1,500 this year alone.

December 12: A siren suit and half smoked cigar, trademark items of Winston Churchill, will be auctioned by SothebyÕs in London alongside a revolver and hip flask BritainÕs wartime leader was carrying during his escape from a Boer prison camp in 1899.

December 12: Tensions will be high during state elections in Gujarat, site of IndiaÕs worst religious clashes in decades last February when more than 1,000 people died. The polls are a test for IndiaÕs governing Bharatiya Janata Party, also rulers in Gujarat.

December 12-13: An entry date into the European Union for Cyprus, Malta and eight East European nations is expected to be announced at a Copenhagen summit. Cyprus membership depends on a peace plan to reunite its Greek and Turkish communities.

December 27: President Daniel arap Moi, who has ruled Kenya for 24 years but is barred by the constitution from standing in the countryÕs general election, has chosen Uhuru Kenyatta, 41, son of KenyaÕs first president Jomo Kenyatta, as his successor.

Parliamentary elections in The Seychelles (Dec 4-6). Presidential elections in Serbia (Dec 8) and South Korea (Dec 19). Presidential and parliamentary elections in Kenya (Dec 27).