WORLD AGENDA JULY 2013

July 1, Zagreb: Croatia will become the EU's 28th member state and only the second entrant, after Slovenia, of the republics that emerged from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s.

July 8, Washington: Talks on a trade pact between the U.S. and the European Union, possibly the biggest ever bilateral deal, are set to begin. The deal could boost both economies by over $100 billion a year.

July 11, London: Sir David Attenborough, the face and voice of BBC natural history programmes, starts a six-week speaking tour of Australia. The 87-year-old presenter postponed the trip in June to have emergency heart surgery.

July 12/26, Rome: Verdicts are due in the trials of three associates of Silvio Berlusconi, accused of procuring prostitutes for parties held by the then prime minister, and of Berlusconi himself, charged with paying for sex with a minor and abuse of office.

July 13, London: Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince William expect their first child, who will be third in line to the throne. The date falls in the middle of Queen Elizabeth's Coronation Festival, marking 60 years since she was crowned monarch.

July 20, London: Iconic automotive brand Aston Martin celebrates its centenary with a line-up of over 500 cars in Kensington Gardens – the largest gathering of Aston Martins in the company's history.

July 22-29, Brasilia: Pope Francis visits Brazil on his first trip abroad as pontiff. The trip comes as the world's largest Catholic nation leads an exodus across Latin America away from the Catholic Church because of its strict positions on sex and divorce, and as the country is gripped by the largest anti-government protests for at least two decades.

July 24, Jerusalem: The election of two new chief rabbis is held as the outgoing Yona Metzger is accused of bribery, fraud and money laundering. The chief rabbis, who have supreme spiritual authority in Israel, are elected for a 10-year period.

July 28, Bamako: Presidential elections in Mali seal a democratic transition after a Tuareg separatist uprising early last year was hijacked by al-Qaeda forces which were then crushed by the French military. The vote would unlock billions of euros in donors' pledges.

July 31, Zimbabwe: The election date set by President Robert Mugabe but disputed as unconstitutional by the prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Mugabe, 89, Africa's oldest head of state, has clung to power since independence from Britain in 1980.

July (undated), Geneva: A peace conference on Syria remains on the table amid tension between the brokers, Russia and the United States, as each threatens to arm opposing sides. It is the first attempt in a year to find a diplomatic solution.
/ENDS