WORLD AGENDA JUNE 2016

June 2, Vienna: Oil-producing nations are unlikely to agree on curbing oil output at the next OPEC summit, to be held in Austria, due to ongoing political differences among participants and their desire to protect national interests.

June 7, U.S.: Six states hold primary elections or caucuses, with delegate-rich California the top prize. This day will be the last chance for the presumptive presidential candidates, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, to nail down nomination.

June 7, Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes an official visit to Russia, 25 years after the restoration of diplomatic relations. He and President Putin are expected to discuss key issues in the Middle East, including Syria and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as Russian-Israeli cooperation.

June 7, Beijing: Microsoft is expected to shut its portal in China, further shrinking operations in the country. The U.S. software giant says it remains committed to China but has come up against stiff competition from local players such as Sina Weibo, and been hampered by government censorship laws.

June 9, Thailand: The world'slongest-serving monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, marks 70 years on the throne. The anniversary comes at a time when the health of the widely revered 88-year-old king is a matter of public concern.

June 10: Euro 2016 takes place in France. The UEFA European Championship, now expanded to include 24 teams, will see 51 matches played at 10 venues over four weeks. The final is at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, on July 10.

June 12, London: The Mall in London is transformed for its largest ever street party as the culmination of a weekend of national events marking Queen Elizabeth's official 90th birthday. The party celebrates the Queen's patronage of over 600 charities and organisations, and will be attended by 10,000 guests.

June 17, Vienna: Athletics' ruling body, the IAAF, decides whether Russia has reformed its anti-doping operation enough for inclusion in the Rio Olympics. The country was banned from competition last November after a report confirmed widespread state-sponsored doping and corruption.

June 17, London: The Switch House, a radical new extension to Tate Modern, opens in London. The £260m building is again designed by Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, who 20 years ago were surprise choices to convert London’s Bankside power station into a gallery.

June 17-19, Baku: Azerbaijan stages its first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix. The FIA, F1's governing body, and supremo Bernie Ecclestone have backed the race to go ahead despite the recent flare-up in fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, saying it posed no risk to the event.

June 17, Los Angeles: Rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, who have sold more than 60 million albums worldwide and won six Grammy Awards, release their first record in five years, The Getaway

June 22, Glastonbury: Britain's Glastonbury festival will pay tribute to David Bowie and Prince, who died earlier this year. The festival, which has long been the home of iconic and influential artists, is set to remember the pair with an Aladdin Sane-inspired lightning bolt sculpture and late-night Prince parties'.

June 23, UK: Prime Minister David Cameron holds his promised referendum on Britain's renegotiated European Union membership, hoping to persuade Britons to stay in the 28-member bloc.

June 23-26, Melbourne: The Basketball without Borders camp is held in Melbourne, its first foray into Australia. Run by the NBA, the sport’s governing body in North America, and world governing body FIBA, the camp offers tuition to prospects from the Asia-Pacific region, some of whom will graduate into NBA teams proper.

June 26, Madrid: Spanish voters return to the polls in a re-run of December's inconclusive election, which ended domination by the PP and Socialist parties stretching back to soon after dictator Francisco Franco's death in 1975. Newcomers Podemos (We Can) and Ciudadanos (Citizens) benefited from widespread anger over a recently-ended economic slump and high-level corruption.

June 26, Wolfsburg: Details of the compensation package Volkswagen will offer to U.S. buyers in settlement of the diesel emissions scandal will be revealed. The deal is expected to include substantial financial compensation and a buyback offer for nearly 500,000 2.0-litre vehicles.

June 30: Rodrigo Duterte will be sworn in as president of the Philippines. The controversial former mayor of Davao City has vowed to reintroduce the death penalty after winning a landslide election victory in May.

Mid-June: Senegal's Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura starts work as Fifa's first female secretary general. Samoura, 54, who spent 21 years working for the United Nations, succeeds former secretary general Jerome Valcke, who has been banned from football-related activity for 12 years.

June, undated:Google faces a record antitrust fine of about 3 billion euros from the European Commission. The EU has long accused Google of promoting its own shopping service in internet searches at the expense of rival offerings.
/ENDS