WORLD AGENDA JULY 2014

July 5-27, UK/Belgium/France: The 101st Tour de France begins in Yorkshire, northern England, with the 2013 winner, Kenyan-born Briton Chris Froome, the favourite. The race, in 21 stages, covers 3,664 kilometres, ending in Paris.

July 8, Florida: The launch of Diagon Alley, a new attraction at Universal Orlando's enormously popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park, is expected to draw record crowds. The new section recreates the wizarding business district in JK Rowling's books. 

July 9, Jakarta: Indonesia elects a new president with Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and ex-general Prabowo Subianto the frontrunners in the battle for votes. The winner takes over running Southeast Asia's biggest economy whose once stellar growth has started to slow.

July 13, Rio: Millions of people around the globe will tune into the World Cup Final at Maracana Stadium. Around 715 million people watched the 2006 final in Germany and in 2010 the event in South Africa was broadcast to 204 countries.

July 14-18, London: The British government's mass surveillance of private online messages comes under scrutiny at an Investigatory Powers Tribunal brought by civil rights groups who say the practice is illegal. The extent of the interceptions came to light in June. 

July 15-17, Fortaleza: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa meet for the sixth annual BRICS meeting of major emerging economies. The group, which represents 3 billion people with a combined GDP of U.S.$16 trillion, will discuss adding Argentina. The summit will be the first occasion for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to meet his fellow leaders.

July 17, Global: World Day for International Justice commemorates the 1998 treaty which established four international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. The Rome Statute was the foundation for the International Criminal Court.

July 20, Tehran: The deadline for Iran to reach agreement with global powers on curbing its nuclear programme in exchange for an end to sanctions is expected to lapse without a deal. Each side has accused the other of making unrealistic demands.

July 28, Sarajevo: One hundred years after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, commemorations take place to mark the outbreak of World War I, which left indelible images of trench warfare and slaughter on a vast scale.

July (undated), Baghdad: The prospect of full-blown sectarian war hangs over Iraq as Sunni extremists the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) continues its advance. A civilian death toll of 3,000 in June was more than double the May figure.

July (undated), Johannesburg: A walkout by 200,000 members of South Africa's main manufacturing union looms if wage negotiations collapse. Possible action by the National Union of Metalworkers comes as the country teeters on the edge of recession.
/ENDS