WORLD AGENDA
DECEMBER 2021

1 Dec 6-9, Germany: Social Democrat Olaf Scholz is expected to be sworn in
as chancellor, leading a new governing coalition that aims to modernise Europe’s largest economy and bring the curtain down on Angela Merkel’s era

2 Dec, U.S.: President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion bill
to expand the social safety net heads to the Senate, where Democrats aim to rally wavering moderates to pass the bill by year end despite Republican opposition

3 Dec 24, Libya: The entry of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of deposed dictator Col. Muammar Gaddafi, into the presidential election is expected to further complicate efforts to hold the ballot in a country emerging from civil war

4 Dec 6, India: Prime minister Narendra Modi welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin, with defence and trade pacts expected to be signed at a summit that coincides with the delivery of the first batch of Russian S-400 air defence systems to India

5 Dec 19, Chile: Far-right politician José Antonio Kast (right) and leftist congressman Gabriel Boric (left) face off in a presidential runoff. It follows an unusually turbulent period in what was formerly one of South America’s most stable and prosperous democracies

6 Dec 2, UAE: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah united to found the Gulf state 50 years ago. Ras al Khaimah joined in 1972

7 Dec 22, French Guiana: NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, which will allow astronomers
to peer into the farthest reaches of the universe, is due to lift off from the Kourou spaceport

8 Dec 4, Russia: GES-2, a former power plant converted into a modern art museum by architect Renzo Piano, opens in Moscow. It could become as important on the art circuit as Tate Modern in London or the Centre Pompidou in Paris


Sources: NewsAhead, Julie Mullins
Pictures: Getty Images, Newscom, V-A-C Foundation
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