WORLD AGENDA NOVEMBER 2008

November 2, Brazil: Lewis Hamilton requires only a top five finish to become Formula One's youngest champion at the grand prix finale in Sao Paulo. The 23-year-old British McLaren driver, who has a seven-point lead, lost a 17-point lead in the last two races last season.

November 3, New York: The theory that high-quality art is a haven for investors amid the credit crisis will be tested at Sotheby's. 'Suprematist Composition', by Kazimir Malevich, is expected to fetch more than $60 million, a new record for a Russian work.

November 4, United States: Will America elect its first black president? Barack Obama is poised to make history if the Democrat candidate defeats the racist vote against Republican John McCain when the race to the White House reaches the finishing line.

November 4, California: A key ballot in the United States election will be a vote on same-sex marriage in the second U.S. state, after Massachusetts, to permit such unions. Proposition 8 seeks to define marriage as only between a man and a woman.

Early November, Washington: World leaders will look at ways of reforming the global financial system at a crisis summit. The meeting has been called as the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression continues to batter markets and consumer confidence.

November 9, Cairo: A meeting of all 13 Palestinian factions seeks to end the schism between the Fatah-controlled West Bank and Hamas-run Gaza that has blocked efforts to found a Palestinian state. Hamas Islamists are demanding membership of the umbrella Palestinian Liberation Organisation.

November 17-24, Marrakesh: Conservation groups will call for tough new rules on tuna fishing at a meeting of the industry's global body, the Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna. The huge Mediterranean bluefin, prized as a delicacy, faces extinction without drastic measures.

November 18, Geneva: Talks between Russia and Georgia, over the latter's Moscow-backed breakaway regions, are scheduled to resume after breaking down in October. A five-day war erupted in August over South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Mid November, Vienna: Oil refiners in Europe and Asia will learn how big the cuts for December will be in crude supplies from Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members. The cartel, which pumps around 40 percent of the oil produced worldwide, agreed in October to cut output by 1.5 million barrels a day following a sharp slide in oil prices amid the deepening financial crisis.

November (undated), Caribbean Sea: Western navies will monitor joint military exercises between Russian warships and U.S. foe Venezuela. The latest show of strength by Moscow, as it builds links with one of Washington's fiercest critics, will be the closest yet to U.S. shores.
/ENDS