WORLD AGENDA NOVEMBER 2014

November 1, Brussels: The new European Commission takes office with Jean-Claude Juncker as President for a five-year term. As Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013, he is the longest-serving head of government of any European Union country.

November 2, Ukraine: Pro-Russian rebel leaders in Donetsk and Luhansk hold their own elections, in defiance of Kiev. The Ukraine capital had offered three years of "self-rule" to parts of the breakaway eastern regions and elections on December 7.

November 3, New York: Al-Qaeda's Abu Anas al-Libi, aged 50, goes on trial in connection with the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 224 people. His co-defendants are Adel Bary and Khalid al-Fawwaz. Al-Liby, 50, was snatched from the streets of Tripoli, Libya, by U.S. forces a year ago.

November 4, United States: Republicans are predicted to capture a narrow majority in the Senate and hold on to the House of Representatives in mid-term elections. The outcome is set to further weaken President Barack Obama's beleaguered Democrat administration.

November 9, Madrid: Catalonia votes on a non-binding consultation on independence from Spain after dropping plans for a referendum. The northeastern region's long-standing battle to break away has gathered pace with Spain's economic crisis.

November 12, Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama meet to agree the wording of a Bilateral Investment Treaty. Cyber security may prove a sticking point with the U.S. recently alleging Chinese hackers attacked U.S. companies.

November 12, Space: In one of the most dramatic manoeuvres in the history of spaceflight, Europe’s Rosetta probe aims to drop a robotic lander onto the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in what would be the first ever landing by a spacecraft on a comet.

November 15-16, Brisbane: The international spotlight falls on Vladimir Putin's attendance at the G20 summit. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he will confront the Russian president about Kremlin involvement in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in July.

November 23, Tunis: Twenty-seven candidates stand in presidential elections in Tunisia, a model for democracy in the region since its 2011 uprising. Incumbent Moncef Marzouki and five former ministers from ousted autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's government are on the ballot.

November 30, Zurich: The Swiss vote on limiting immigration in the country's second referendum on the issue in nine months. The initiative, opposed by the government which fears damaging its ties with the European Union, would reduce immigration by more than 75 percent.

Guinea, mid-November (undated): Clinical trials of the anti-influenza drug Avigan as a treatment for Ebola are conducted by France and Guinea. No treatment specifically for Ebola currently exists and large-scale use is expected if the trials support its safety and efficacy.
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iGRAPHIC EXTRAS  

November 1, 8, 15 and 23, Kobe, Tokyo, Romania and Georgia: Japan play four rugby internationals despite the absence of eight of their best players, seven because of injury. They host the Maori All Blacks in Kobe and a week later in Tokyo before travelling to Europe.

November 1, Jakarta: New president Joko Widodo increases subsidised gasoline and diesel prices by around 50 percent, possibly as early as the beginning of the month, in a bid to tackle the budget deficit. Indonesia has a fuel subsidy bill of $23 billion.

November 3-5, Vienna: The international community must do more to provide landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) with agricultural and industrial technology, the second UN conference on LLDCs will hear. The world's 32 LLDCs are overly reliant on exporting low-value commodities.

November 4, Los Angeles: Latina singer and actress Jennifer Lopez publishes her first book, True Love, an autobiography focussing on a two-year emotionally challenging period of her life. It's written as a diary and comes out in English and Spanish.

November 6, New York: A Marc Chagall painting belonging to the actress Joan Fontaine, who died last December aged 96, is expected to sell for $400,000-$600,000 at a Christie's auction. The Russian artist painted Vase of Flowers in the Window in 1935-36.

November 10-11, Beijing: Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hopes to improve strained ties with China and South Korea at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. He is expected to have ice-breaking talks with Chinese PM Xi Jinping and to meet South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

November 17, New York: Hollywood director Bill Condon makes his Broadway debut with Side Show, a musical about British conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton who toured the U.S. vaudeville circuit in the 1930s. The twins are played by Emily Padgett and Erin Davie.
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