WORLD AGENDA JUNE 2008

June 1, Pakistan: Clocks move forward an hour, to GMT+6, in an effort to reduce the impact of acute power shortages throughout the country. The move aims to maximise the use of daylight following electricity supply cuts for several hours a day.

June 3, United States: Will Hillary Clinton bow out of the Democrat presidential nomination race when the primary season comes to an end? The final votes are held in Puerto Rico on June 1, and Montana and South Dakota on June 3.

June 7, Austria, Switzerland: Europe looks forward to a feast of football as UEFAÕs Euro 2008 tournament kicks off.

Jun 9-16: During his last trip to Europe as U.S. President, George W. Bush will mark the 60th anniversary of the Marshall Plan -- the massive aid programme to rebuild Europe after World War II -- and the Berlin Airlift, in which Allied forces supplied West Berlin during the Soviet blockade.

June 10, Beirut: Lebanon holds presidential elections, the 20th attempt at such a ballot amid the worst political unrest since the 1975-1990 civil war. Army commander General Michel Suleiman is expected to fill the post which has been vacant since last November.

June 12, Paris: Afghanistan will ask for $50 billion in international aid at a donorsÕ conference. The country, one of the worldÕs poorest, depends on aid for 90 percent of its spending following 30 years of war.

June 15-18, China: Plans for the Olympic torch to travel through Sichuan, where a 7.9 magnitude earthquake killed more than 50,000 people and left five million homeless, have been postponed until the week before the GamesÕ opening ceremony in August to allow for relief work in the quake-torn province.

June 22-29, Jerusalem: A breakaway summit of 280 Anglican bishops, who dispute gay priests and same-sex unions, deepens the threat of schism in the 400-year-old church. The conservatives from Africa, Asia and Latin America claim to represent half of the 77 million-strong faithful.

June 27, Harare: ZimbabweÕs presidential run-off is due to take place, despite fears that election violence makes a fair second round impossible. Official results showed opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the first round, but not by enough to avoid a run-off with President Robert Mugabe

June, World: Intense efforts to find solutions to the global food crisis take place with discussions due among United Nations finance ministers in Rome on June 3, Nobel Prize winners in Petra, Jordan, on June 17 and European Union leaders in Brussels on June 19.

June (undated), Myanmar: Efforts will continue to persuade the countryÕs military rulers to allow more international aid and relief workers to enter areas devastated by Cyclone Nargis. The storm struck the southwestern Irrawaddy Delta killing, according to official figures, 134,000 people.

June (undated), Tokyo: Japan is expected to announce it will aim to cut its current level of greenhouse gas emissions by 60-80 percent by 2050. The worldÕs fifth largest polluter hopes to encourage industry-focused global targets.
/ENDS