WORLD AGENDA DECEMBER 2013

December 1, Dhaka: A 77% increase in wages -- from $38 to $68 a month -- for garment workers in Bangladesh comes into effect. Demonstrations led to the closure of 400 factories following April's collapse of the Rana Plaza complex that killed 1,100 people.

December 2, Los Angeles: The Desolation of Smaug, the second in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy, has its world premiere. Ian McKellen will reprise his role as Gandalf.

December 3, Strasbourg: Allegations that Poland hosted a secret CIA jail, to detain and interrogate al-Qaeda suspects outside the jurisdiction of the U.S. legal system, will be heard by the Court of Human Rights. Warsaw denies involvement.

December 4, London: An ivory carving of a Madonna and child, found on an elderly nun's mantlepiece, is expected to fetch up to £1.2m at auction. The 13th-century work of art has survived centuries of travel and remains in almost perfect condition.

December 8, Caracas: President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government faces a major test of its rule in Venezuela's municipal elections as bitter politicking rages in the economically polarised nation. Maduro replaced his mentor Hugo Chavez, who died in March after 14 years at the helm.

December 15: Deadline for many Americans to sign up for healthcare coverage from January 1 under Barack Obama's controversial "Obamacare" programme. Ongoing glitches on the website have resulted in much lower-than-anticipated enrolment figures and a waning of Democrat political support amid revelations that insurance companies have cancelled millions of existing policies despite the president's repeated promises to the contrary.

December 15, Dublin: Ireland, emerging from one of the deepest recessions in the eurozone, is due to leave its three-year €85bn EU-IMF bailout. Finance Minister Michael Noonan says he hopes to outline a medium-term economic strategy by December 25.

December 15: Orbital Sciences Corp. is poised to launch the first of eight cargo runs to the ISS under a $1.9bn contract with NASA. It is the second U.S. firm to fly cargo to the station following the retirement of the space shuttles in 2011.

December 15, Santiago: Socialist Michelle Bachelet is expected to win a run-off presidential vote. Attempts at reform during her first term, from 2006 to 2010, met deadlock because Chile's constitution, dating from Augusto Pinochet's rule, gives the right significant power in Congress.

December (undated), Manila: The relief effort in the Philippines, where Typhoon Haiyan killed thousands and left around 500,000 homeless, continues. The World Health Organisation says the spread of disease, particularly cholera and typhoid, is a huge post-disaster threat.

Early December (undated), Beijing: David Cameron leads a trade delegation to China to improve business relations after Chinese leaders took offence in May when the British Prime Minister met the Dalai Lama. The visit is expected to take in the capital and Shanghai.

December (undated), Cape Canaveral: Scientists expect Comet ISON to become visible to the naked eye. The ball of ice and dust, remains from the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago, is travelling at 234 miles (377km) per second.

December (undated), United Nations: The 193-nation UN General Assembly is expected to call for an end to excessive electronic surveillance and data collection. Germany and Brazil drafted a resolution following revelations that the U.S. monitored German Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone.
/ENDS