WORLD AGENDA AUGUST 2011

August 1, Tripoli: Ahmet Davutoglu, foreign minister of mediator country Turkey, hopes for a "framework solution" to the five-month crisis in Libya by the start of Ramadan. The pledge came amid rumours that Muammar Gaddafi, in power for four decades, will step down.

August 2, Washington: Will the world's biggest economy run out of cash? The United States must raise the government's $14.3 trillion borrowing limit or default by this date.

August 3, Cairo: Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, overthrown in February by a popular uprising in which 840 people died, goes on trial. The 83-year-old is charged with abusing power and ordering the killing of protesters.

August 4, Paris: A French court decides whether to open an inquiry into the role of International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde in an arbitration payout. It is further embarrassment for the IMF whose previous head, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, resigned after being charged with assault.

August 5, Cape Canaveral: Nasa launches Juno, a spacecraft that will orbit Jupiter to learn more about its origins, structure, and atmosphere. It will take five years to reach the giant gas planet with the mission set to conclude in 2017.

August 13, Cuba: A gay rights activist and a transsexual marry on former president Fidel Castro's 85th birthday. Ignacio Estrada and Wendy Iriepa's state-authorised ceremony marks a step forward for the Communist island's once-persecuted homosexual community.

August 27, South Korea: South African Paralympic gold athlete Oscar Pistorius is set to become the first ever amputee sprinter to compete in the World Championships. The so-called "blade runner", who has carbon fibre prosthetics, has long sought to compete in able bodied competition.

Auguts 28, Washington: A major memorial to Martin Luther King Jr., the first on the National Mall to honour a non-president, will be dedicated on the 48th anniversary of King’s stirring “I Have a Dream” speech.

August (undated), Manila: Tensions may rise in the South China sea as wrangling continues over the sovereignty of Pagasa. The island is part of the Spratlys, claimed in totality by China, Taiwan and Vietnam and in part by Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines.

Mid-August (undated), Florida: The trial begins of Tyler Hadley, accused of bludgeoning his parents to death with a hammer then throwing a party. The 17-year-old allegedly killed Blake and Mary-Jo Hadley before locking their bodies in a bedroom and inviting friends round.

August (undated), London: The effects of the collapse of Rupert Murdoch's British media interests, rocked by a phone-hacking scandal, continue to unfold. The media baron's global television and publishing empire will be closely watched after revelations of illegal and unethical practices.
/ENDS