WORLD AGENDA SEPTEMBER 2014

September 1, Samoa: Low-lying atolls in the South Pacific are in danger of being wiped off the earth by rising sea levels, an international conference will hear. The third Small Island Developing States (SIDS) meeting focuses on the world's most vulnerable regions.

September 3, Tallinn: U.S. President Barack Obama meets leaders from Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia on his way to a Nato summit in Wales. The stopover signals to the Baltic states and Moscow that the U.S. remains active in the region.

September 4-5, Wales: A Nato summit seeks to end the 13-year war in Afghanistan as violence continues amid an impasse over who won the country's presidential election. President Barack Obama, Chancellor Angela Merkel and 60 world leaders are expected to attend.

September 18, Edinburgh: Scotland votes on becoming an independent country 307 years after it formed the United Kingdom with England. Polls show the "yes" vote closing on the "no" as the referendum approaches though it has never been ahead during the campaign.

September 24, Space: The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), India’s first interplanetary expedition, is due to reach Mars orbit. If the satellite orbits the Red Planet, India’s space agency will become the fourth in the world, after the U.S., Russia and Europe, to undertake a successful Mars mission.

September 25, Ottawa: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and EU President José Manuel Barroso release final details of a trade deal. The agreement makes Canada the only major economy with preferential access to the two largest economies, the EU and the United States.

Early September, Cairo: For the third time in five years, international donors will be asked to fund the reconstruction of Gaza. Hosts Norway and Egypt expect the conference in the first week of September, providing Israel and Hamas can agreed a sustainable ceasefire.

September (undated), Liberia: An Ebola vaccine by NewLink Genetics is set to be tried on volunteers working in West Africa. The largest outbreak of the disease in history has killed more than 1,000 people in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

September (undated), Zurich: Michael Garcia is due to deliver his report on allegations of corruption by Fifa in the World Cup bidding process. The probe relates to the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, awarded to Russia and Qatar.

September (undated), Taipei: Taiwan's Sunflower Student Movement is likely to re-emerge as the cross-strait trade pact with China is reviewed. The campaign began in March in protest at Beijing's increasing influence over the island.

September (undated), Juba: Famine hangs over South Sudan amid ethnic violence that has killed more than 10,000 people since December. Around 40% of the population, which won independence from Sudan in 2011, is estimated to be in need of emergency humanitarian assistance.
/ENDS