WORLD AGENDA AUGUST 2020
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Aug, U.S.: Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden and Republican incumbent Donald Trump are formally nominated. Biden supporters convene in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, while Trump hosts a virus-reduced, half-day rally in Charlotte, North Carolina
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Aug 9, Belarus: Alexander Lukashenko, president since 1994 and dubbed Europe’s last dictator, looks certain to be re-elected, but some loyalists have turned on him
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Aug, China: Military drills will reportedly simulate the seizure of Taiwan’s Pratas Islands, a cluster of atolls known in China as the Dongsha Islands. The plan has sparked fear in Taiwan and alarm in Washington
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Aug 2, U.S.: Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken are due to return to Earth, completing the first crewed test of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule to the ISS
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Aug 28, U.S.: Civil rights activist Rev Al Sharpton has called for a new March on Washington on the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream ...” speech, to fight for policing and criminal justice reforms
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Aug 29-Sep 20, France: The Tour de France gets underway, two months late because of coronavirus. Authorities are under pressure to ban the usual crowds amid the ongoing risk
of infection
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Aug 6-9, Japan: The atomic bombings 75 years ago of Hiroshima and Nagasaki left the world aghast. The anniversary falls amid escalating political and military tensions between the U.S., Russia and China
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Aug, U.S.: Start-up company Hyperion plans to unveil its zero-emissions, hydrogen-powered XP-1, based on technology originally developed for NASA. There are few details on how and where owners will be able to refuel
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Sources: NewsAhead, Julie Mullins
Pictures: Associated Press, Getty Images, SpaceX, Hyperion
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