WORLD AGENDA NOVEMBER 2007

November 4, New York: EthiopiaÕs Gete Wami attempts a unique double in marathon running only five weeks after winning in Berlin. The 32-year-old stands to pocket the top $500,000 prize in the inaugural World Marathon Majors which links the worldÕs five big marathons.

November 14, London: Eurostar will launch train services from the fully-renovated St Pancras International station. The new high-speed line will take just two hours and 15 minutes to reach Paris, and links to EuropeÕs 3,750km high-speed rail network.

November 15, Annapolis, Maryland: U.S. officials remain optimistic that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will agree to start formal peace talks ahead of a scheduled conference on Palestinian statehood. This month marks the 90th anniversary of BritainÕs Balfour Declaration, which advocated a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Iran is calling on Muslims to boycott the U.S.-sponsored international conference, and Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in June, has ruled out taking part.

November 28, Jakarta: Indonesia attempts to repair its reputation as one of the biggest contributors to deforestation by attempting to plant 79 million trees in a single day. The initiative is part of a UN campaign to plant one billion trees worldwide.

November 28, London: A Faberge egg never before seen in public is expected to fetch a record $18.26 million at auction house ChristieÕs. The translucent pink egg, containing a diamond-encrusted cockerel, was made in 1902 by top Russian jeweller Peter Carl Faberge for the Rothschild banking family.

November 30, Chicago: Media tycoon Conrad Black, found guilty of defrauding Hollinger International, the global newspaper group he ran, of $2.9 million, is sentenced. The Canadian citizen who became a British peer, faces up to 35 years in jail.

November (undated), Myanmar: The countryÕs ruling junta has agreed to allow a visit by top UN human rights official Paolo Sergio Pinheiro, who has been refused permission to travel to the country for the last four years. The visit, ahead of the ASEAN summit on November 17, is seen as an attempt to deflect ASEAN condemnation of the recent crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

November (undated), Namibia: The founding father of Namibia steps down as president of the ruling Swapo party after 47 years at the helm. Sam Nujoma led the country to independence and became its first president in 1990.

November (undated), Egypt: The mummy of Tutankhamun goes on display in LuxorÕs Valley of the Kings, allowing visitors to see his face for the first time. The mummy will be removed from its golden sarcophagus and placed in a climate-controlled plexi-glass case. The boy pharaoh, who died before reaching adulthood, ruled between around 1361 and 1352BC.

November (undated), United States: Details of the worldÕs smallest radio are published in the American Chemical Society's ÒNano LettersÓ after University of California scientists discovered a detector thousands of times smaller than the diameter of a human hair.

November (undated), Philippines: Scientists exploring the deep ocean basin of the Celebes Sea are expected to report the discovery of previously undiscovered species. A tentacled orange worm and an unusual black jellyfish are among the specimens collected.
/ENDS