WORLD AGENDA DECEMBER 2008

December 1, Pyongyang: North Korea closes its land border with South Korea following growing tensions between the states since hardline conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office in Seoul in February. The move threatens to end 10 years of slowly thawing relations.

December 1-10, Poznan: Poland hosts 190 nations at UN climate change talks aimed at crafting a global agreement by December 2009 on carbon-capping mechanisms to succeed the Kyoto Protocol in 2012. U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has said he will not attend.

December 2, Washington D.C.: The bosses of America's top three automotive firms, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, submit a detailed plan to Congress for spending $25 billion they have requested to rescue their companies. The "Big Three" argue that their collapse could lead to millions of Americans losing their jobs.

December 3, Oslo: The U.S., China and Russia are expected to refuse to be among the more than 100 countries to sign an international treaty to ban cluster bombs. The weapons scatter bomblets, threatening lives for many years after conflict.

December 8, Horn of Africa: The EU launches an air and naval force to guard one of the world's busiest -- and now most dangerous -- shipping lanes. At least 35 ships and 600 sailors have fallen victim to pirates off the coast of Somalia this year.

December 10, Bangkok: Thailand's exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra raises the political temperature when he addresses a rally at the 35,000-seat Supachalasai stadium. The move comes amid a growing campaign to oust the current administration.

December 12, Sydney: The renaming of Mount Niggerhead, a rocky outcrop in Victoria that has been the centre of debate for decades, will fail to end the controversy. Aboriginal group the Dhudhuroas says the new name, Jaithmathangs, is just as offensive.

December 16, Bloemfontein: Dissidents from South Africa's ruling party, the ANC, launch a new party. Members of the Congress of the People, led by former Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota (left), are upset by the election last year of Jacob Zuma to replace Thabo Mbeki as ANC president.

December 20, Zurich: Evander Holyfield aims to become the oldest man to claim a world heavyweight boxing title and the first to win it five times when he returns to the ring aged 46. He takes on 35-year-old Russian Nikolai Valuev.

December 28, Dhaka: Sheikh Hasina and Begum Khaleda Zia, former premiers of Bangladesh and bitter rivals who have both spent time in jail on corruption charges, are the main contenders in parliamentary elections. The military-backed government hopes the poll will return the country to democracy.

December 31, United Nations: The mandate for peacekeeping in Congo, widely criticised for ineffectiveness, is up for renewal. Diplomats say MONUC, the UN's largest mission, needs greater autonomy from the Congolese army.

December, Global: Measures to shore up world markets continue. The European Union is due to endorse guaranteed bank deposits, OPEC discusses further cuts in oil production and a World Trade Organisation meeting on stalled Doha talks is likely.
/ENDS