WORLD AGENDA NOVEMBER 2009

November 2-6, Barcelona: Tension is expected to run high at the UNŐs final five days of negotiations on climate change before DecemberŐs pivotal summit to secure a new global agreement. Stark differences on financing between developed and developing nations remain.

November 7, Kabul: Afghan President Hamid Karzai faces a run-off vote against opposition candidate Abdullah Abdullah in presidential elections. The government-backed Independent Election Commission announced the decision after a UN-backed watchdog invalidated tens of thousands of votes for Karzai in AugustŐs fraud-marred first-round.

November 9, Berlin: Thousands of gigantic dominos will be knocked down in the German capital on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The symbolic act will be part of celebrations, dubbed the Ňfreedom partyÓ, at the Brandenburg Gate.

November 12-18, Tokyo: U.S. President Barack ObamaŐs debut Asia tour kicks off in Japan. He will attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Singapore before continuing to China and South Korea.

November 16, Washington: The U.S. deadline for deciding whether to continue to put Guantanamo prisoners on trial in the much-criticised military tribunals started by President George W. Bush or in civilian courts. The administration aims to close the detention camp by January.

November 16-18, Rome: The number of hungry people rose sharply to more than one billion this year and an extra $23bn is needed to boost agricultural production, Action Aid will tell the UN World Food Summit. High food prices are to blame.

November 21, Vatican City: Pope Benedict hosts up to 500 artists from five continents in the Sistine Chapel in an effort to restore strained relations between the Vatican and the contemporary art world. Painters, sculptors, architects, poets and directors have been invited.

November 29, Honduras: Presidential elections threaten volatile Central American tensions as ousted leader Manuel Zelaya, deposed in a coup in June, stands against de facto president Roberto Micheletti. Foreign donors have pulled millions of dollars of aid since the coup.

November 29, Zurich: Switzerland holds a referendum on banning the building of minarets after the far-right Swiss PeopleŐs Party gathered enough signatures to force a vote. A handful of the countryŐs mosques have the tower but applications to build more prompted the campaign.

November 30, Munich: Alleged Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk, accused of helping to kill 27,900 Jews during World War Two, goes on trial. The 89-year-old denies he was a guard at the Sobibor death camp in Poland.
/ENDS