WORLD AGENDA 2008

JANUARY
Landmark elections in Pakistan are due to take place less than two weeks after the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. Rival opposition leader Nawaz Sharif says he will boycott the elections.

The international spotlight will fall on Kosovo if, as expected, newly elected leader Hashim Thaci declares independence from Serbia.

Slovenia assumes the presidency of the European Union, while Cyprus and Malta join the euro zone.

FEBRUARY
ÒSuper-duper TuesdayÓ sees a score of U.S. states hold primaries which are likely to give a clear indication as to who will win the presidential nominations.

Hollywood hands out its coveted Oscars to the film worldÕs finest for the 80th time.

The £2m London Bridge Experience, charting the siteÕs 2,000 year history -- including the executions of ÒBraveheartÓ William Wallace and Guy Fawkes -- and including a tour of tombs beneath it, opens.

An extra day on February 29 as 2008 is a leap year.

MARCH
Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir PutinÕs preferred successor, is in poll position to be elected RussiaÕs next President. Putin himself is banned from running for a third term but is expected to become prime minister.

President Robert Mugabe, whose policies have led to ZimbabweÕs severe economic crisis, seeks re-election for a further term. The 83-year-old has ruled the country since independence in 1980.

APRIL
People around the world will mark the 40th anniversary of the assassination of U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King.

Pope Benedict visits the United States for the first time with events scheduled in Washington and New York.

MAY
Israel celebrates its 60th birthday. The Jewish state was formed on May 14, 1948, after thousands of years of Jewish dispersal. By contrast, Palestinians mourn the nakba (catastrophe).

JUNE
Nigeria is due to complete the handover to Cameroon of Bakassi, a 3,000 square kilometre peninsula with oil-deposits which has long been the subject of dispute between the two countries.

UEFAÕs Euro 2008 football tournament takes place in Austria and Switzerland.

JULY
Japan hosts the G8 summit of leading industrialised nations in Toyako, Hokkaido.

The U.S. and Iraq aim to reach agreement on their long-term bilateral relationship, including troop presence and economic ties.

AUGUST
Beijing hosts the Olympic Games, providing an opportunity for the Chinese government to highlight its emergence as a world power and the press to focus on the countryÕs environmental and human rights records.

The Philippine government and rebel group the Moro Islamic Liberation Front aim to reach a final pact on ending 40 years of brutal conflict.

SEPTEMBER
Seven Nasa astronauts onboard the space shuttle Atlantis launch the fifth and final servicing mission to Hubble, designed to keep the orbiting space telescope in operation until 2013.

OCTOBER
China plans to conduct its first space walk when it launches its third manned rocket, Shenzhou VII, into space, with three astronauts on board.

NOVEMBER
Will the U.S. elect its first woman or its first black President? Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are among the frontrunners in AmericaÕs 55th quadrennial presidential elections.

DECEMBER
The target date set at Annapolis, the first formal peace talks in seven years, held in November 2007, for Israel and Palestine to reach an agreement on Middle East peace.
/ENDS