WORLD AGENDA DECEMBER 2004

Early December, China: Construction begins on the worldÕs tallest tower, the 600-metre Guangzhou TV Tower in Guangdong province, due to open in 2008. The building will surpass the current record holder, the 553-metre CN Tower in Toronto, built in 1976.

December 2, Thailand: A commission investigating the October 25 deaths of 87 Muslim protestors, campaigning for independence in the Tak Bai province, is due to reveal its findings. Most of those who died suffocated in trucks after being rounded up by police.

December 6, Buenos Aires: Implementing the Kyoto Protocol next February will be discussed at climate talks on the 10th anniversary of the entry into force of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The pact was given the go-ahead when Russia ratified it in November.

December 7, Guantanamo Bay: Osama bin LadenÕs driver is due to stand trial charged with conspiracy. Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a 34-year-old Yemeni who says he earned a pittance driving the al-Qaeda leader, denies he was part of the terror network and is not charged with any violent act.

December 7-8, New Delhi: Pakistan and India hold talks on a proposed bus link between the capitals of the parts of Kashmir they control, followed by talks on trade (Dec 9-10) and, in Islamabad, talks on nuclear and military confidence-building measures (Dec 14-16).

December 9-13, Yangon: Thirty of the 40 countries invited to the World Buddhist Summit are boycotting the event, in protest at MyanmarÕs sacking and house arrest of reformist prime minister General Khin Nyunt.

December 11, Rabat: Ministers from more than 20 Arab and North African countries plan to attend a Forum for the Future on Middle East peace with G8 nations, though the Washington-inspired project has been treated with reserve in the Arab world.

December 14, Tokyo: The Japanese government must decide whether to continue its reconstruction mission in Samawa, south of Baghdad, where security is deteriorating. A 24-year-old Japanese hostage was beheaded in October and critics say the deployment violates the countryÕs pacifist constitution.

December 21, U.S.: A 59-year-old great-grandmother who had her fallopian tubes tied 30 years ago, is due to give birth to twins after a surprise pregnancy. Frances Harris, from Sylvester, Georgia, has five children, 14 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

December 27: Campaigning starts in the West Bank and Gaza for Palestinian elections to succeed the late Yasser Arafat. PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas has the support of old guard leaders and the Fatah faction; but opinion polls show Marwan Barghouti Ð currently serving five life sentences in an Israeli jail Ð is the peopleÕs favourite.

December 31, Khartoum: The date by which the Sudanese government and southern rebels have promised the United Nations Security Council they will reach a peace deal to end the countryÕs 21-year civil war. Sudan has also pledged to end the fighting in the troubled Darfur region, described by the UN as the worldÕs worst humanitarian disaster.

Parliamentary elections in Mozambique (Dec 1-2); Ghana (Dec 7); Taiwan (Dec 11); Turkmenistan (Dec 19); Pitcairn Islands (Dec 24) and Uzbekistan (Dec 26). Presidential elections in Mozambique (Dec 1-2); Niger (second round, Dec 4); Ghana (Dec 7); Romania (second round, Dec 12) and Ghana (second round, Dec 28).