WORLD AGENDA SEPTEMBER 2013

September 1, Ankara: The Kurdistan Workers Party's deadline to the Turkish government to take concrete steps to advance the peace process or face it grinding to a halt. The rebels are demanding Kurdish-language education rights and the abolition of a terrorism law.

September 5, St Petersburg: President Vladimir Putin hosts a summit of G20 leaders amid strained relations with the United States following Russia's decision to grant asylum to Edward Snowden, the whistleblower on the run from U.S. authorities.

September 7, Canberra: After six years at the helm, the Labor party's increasingly tenuous grip on power is likely to be handed to Tony Abbott's conservatives when Australia goes to the polls. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's government holds 71 seats in parliament, the opposition 72.

September 7, Buenos Aires: The International Olympic Committee will announce the host city for the 2020 Summer Games, with Tokyo -- hoping to host the Games for a second time -- hoping to beat Madrid and Istanbul. The IOC is under pressure to keep escalating budgets in check.

September 9, Islamabad: Mamnoon Hussain is sworn in to the largely ceremonial role of president of Pakistan. An election in May marked the first transition between civilian governments in a country ruled by the military for more than half its history.

September 19, Texas: The state is due to execute its 12th inmate of 2013 as supplies of pentobarbital, used in lethal injections, are due to run out and pharmacies prove reluctant to provide more. Just 10 executions have taken place throughout the rest of the United States.

September 22, Berlin: Angela Merkel looks set to win a third term in office in Germany's parliamentary elections. The 59-year-old, described as the "de facto leader of the European Union", is the world's second most powerful person, according to Forbes magazine.

September 30, Kiev: The mediation mandate on Ukraine's ties with Europe expires as pressure increases on President Viktor Yanukovych to allow his jailed opponent Yulia Tymoshenko to go to Germany to receive medical treatment. Softening his stance is crucial to landmark EU agreements.

September (undated), Tokyo: A summit may go ahead between Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, and China's president, Xi Jinping, following months of hostilities. Relations between the world's second and third largest economies soured over the sovereignty of islands in the East China Sea.
/ENDS