WORLD AGENDA MARCH 2003

March 1, Cairo: Arab leaders will attempt to adopt a common policy on the Iraq crisis during the Arab League summit in the Egyptian capital. Major rifts have developed between traditional U.S. allies and those nations who oppose American involvement in the region.

March 3, Athens: The trial begins of 18 alleged members of the Greek terrorist group November 17, which eluded police for decades but disbanded last year. They are charged with 23 murders, including diplomats and military officials, as well as bomb and rocket attacks.

March 3, King George Island: 116 runners set off on the worldÕs coldest marathon, off the tip of the Antarctic peninsula. ItÕs the only opportunity for athletes to compete in the 26-mile run on the so-called seventh continent.

March 3, St Louis: The worldÕs largest brewer Anheuser-Busch launches Bacardi Silver O3, a new ÒmalternativeÓ which combines the flavours of rum and orange in a premium-priced beer.

March 6, Moscow: In the wake of the loss of the space shuttle Columbia, Russia is stepping up its Soyuz missions to the International Space Station. An extra two-member crew will be named to go to the ISS in early May.

March 7, New York: Chief U.N. inspector Hans Blix presents his next report by to the Security Council, just days before the U.S. and Britain are expected to force a vote on a second resolution endorsing military action in Iraq. Nine votes and no veto are required for any resolution to be passed.

March 9, Kiev: Nationwide demonstrations will call on the scandal-tainted Ukrainian president to resign. The increasingly authoritarian Leonid Kuchma is believed to have been complicit in the murder of an opposition journalist and to have authorised the sale of arms to Iraq.

March 11, The Hague: Inauguration of the first permanent world tribunal to prosecute individuals for gross human rights violations. The International Criminal Court treaty was ratified by 87 countries, but not the U.S. which has sought to have its citizens exempted from trial.

March 19, Harare: ZimbabweÕs one-year suspension from the Commonwealth ends. Nigeria and South Africa want the suspension lifted but Australia, the third member of the troika charged with dealing with Zimbabwe, says it should be continued.

March 23, Grozny: A constitutional referendum to keep Chechnya under Russian control is being presented by the Kremlin as an attempt to end the second war in the region in a decade. Human rights groups say a fair vote cannot be held during war.

March 29, Liverpool: The house where John Lennon spent his childhood and wrote some of The BeatlesÕ first hits opens to the public. Mendips, where Lennon lived with his Aunt Mimi after his parents separated, was bought last year by his widow Yoko Ono.

March 30, Amsterdam: The Netherlands celebrates the birth 150 years ago during the Industrial Revolution of Vincent Van Gogh in Groot Zundert. Two exhibitions, VincentÕs Choice and Van Gogh Modern, commemorate the artist at the cityÕs Van Gogh Museum.

Mid-March, United States: With the field of Democratic presidential candidates growing to eight, eyes are now turning to retired Army General Wesley Clark, the former NATO supreme commander, as a 2004 challenger to President Bush. Clark, a military analyst on CNN, is likely to get extensive publicity if the U.S. goes to war with Iraq.

Parliamentary elections in Finland (March 16) and Estonia (March 2)
/ENDS