WORLD AGENDA December 2016

Dec 8-9, Belgium: NATO foreign ministers meet in Brussels to polish the plan to project stability beyond the Alliance’s borders. Their newest headache might be Donald Trump: the U.S. president-elect has repeatedly
questioned the relevance of NATO

Dec 4, Italy: Prime Minister Matteo Renzi plans a referendum on constitutional changes that he argues will make the country more governable. Opposition parties and dissidents in his own party say they will reduce democratic checks and balances

December, South Korea: A special prosecutor is expected to investigate a corruption scandal that has rocked the administration of South Korean President Park Geun-hye and could lead to her impeachment

Dec 31, U.S.: Contenders in Google’s $30m Lunar X Prize competition must line up a 2017 Moon mission by the end of 2016 to stay in the race.
Three teams, Moon Express in the U.S., SpaceIL from Israel and international team Synergy Moon, have so far met the deadline

Dec 12, Israel: The first U.S. F-35 stealth fighter jets arrive. Israel, the only country allowed to customize the software and weapons of the F-35s, is the first U.S. ally to receive the advanced aircraft

Dec 7, U.S.: Japanese warplanes bombed the Pearl Harbor Naval base 75 years ago, killing 2,400 Americans and drawing the U.S. into World War II. Survivors of the attack will be among those attending ceremonies
in Hawaii

Dec 4, Austria: The re-run of the presidential election could give the EU its first far-right head of state. Freedom party candidate Norbert Hofer lost by less than 1% to Green Party-aligned Alexander van der Bellen in May

Dec 15, Japan: Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Prime Minister Shinzo Abe amid reports of a possible resolution of the dispute over
the Kurile Islands, which has prevented the two countries from signing a
World War II peace treaty

Sources: Newsahead, Julie Mullins

Pictures: AP, Getty Images, Newscom