WORLD AGENDA AUGUST 2005

August 3, Tehran: IranÕs hardline president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad takes office. The former Revolutionary Guardsman will immediately face scrutiny over his countryÕs nuclear ambitions at talks on the issue with the United States and the European Union in August.

August 5, Jakarta: The Indonesian unit of the worldÕs biggest gold producer, Newmont, and its American boss Richard Ness, go on trial accused of dumping toxic waste into the sea causing neurological disorders and severe skin conditions to nearby residents.

August 6/9, Japan: Ceremonies wil mark the 60th anniversaries of the U.S. nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in which 210,000 people were killed and thousands more died from the effects of radiation.

August 15, Gaza Strip/West Bank: Violence is expected to intensify as the four-week evacuation of 9,000 Israelis from all 21 Gaza and four West Bank settlements begins. More than 40,000 soldiers will oversee what Israel is calling the disengagement.

August 15, Finland: A peace agreement to end a 30-year war which has killed 15,000 people will be signed by the Indonesian government and Aceh rebels. Pressure to end the conflict intensified after last DecemberÕs tsunami ravaged the province.

August 19, Hamburg: As the west comes to terms with the July 7 London bombings, a verdict is due in the retrial of Moroccan Mounir El Motassadeq, the first person ever convicted in connection with the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

August 30, Jakarta: Indonesia launches a vaccination campaign to halt a polio outbreak after 122 children became infected, dealing a blow to United Nations efforts to eliminate the disease by the end of 2005.

August (undated), Iraq: Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari has said the trial of Saddam Hussein may begin as early as this month. The new leader is thought to want the ousted dictator, who faces up to 500 charges, in the dock before December elections.

August (undated), Japan: Astro-EII, the M-5 rocket blasted into EarthÕs orbit from Uchinoura on July 10 to study black holes and galaxies, is due to begin relaying data. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency scientists hope to discover clues about the evolution of the universe.

August (undated), Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia, which faces a chronic labour shortage after deporting hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, is to introduce mandatory medical examinations for foreign workers in an effort to stop the spread of diseases.

August (undated), Washington: The spice that makes curry yellow may help fight cancer, according to the monthÕs issue of the journal Cancer. In laboratory tests researchers found that curcumin, found in tumeric, made melanoma skin cells more likely to self-destruct.

Presidential elections in Burundi (Aug 19).
/ENDS