THE WORLD IN FEBRUARY 2004
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1
OSLO: Deadline for nominations for the 2004 Nobel Peace
Prize.
HOUSTON, Texas: Super Bowl XXXVIII
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2
NAIROBI: Meeting of Ethiopia and Eritrea's Military
Coordination Commission (MCC), which is due to approve a plan to set up local MCCs to prevent incidents along their dispute border flaring into wider conflict between the two former foes. The MCC is the only forum where top officials from the two countries regularly sit around a table together.
HANOI: Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia make a state visit to Vietnam (to February 7).
ISLAMABAD: EU-Pakistan ministerial troika.
ARLINGTON, Virginia: Dedication of a memorial for the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia, with NASA Adminstrator SeanO'Keefe.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3
BRUSSELS: The European Commission probe into a state aid deal between Ryanair and Belgium's Charleroi airport is
published.
BELFAST: Review of Northern Ireland Good Friday agreement to begin.
PYONGYANG: South and North Korea to hold ministerial talks (to February 6).
NEW DELHI: EU-India ministerial troika.
OSLO: Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio makes state visit to Norway (to February 5)
ALGIERS: Chinese President Hu Jintao makes two-day official visit to Algeria, during which the two countries are to sign economic and technological cooperation agreements (to February
4).
THE HAGUE: War crimes trial of former Bosnian Serb parliament speaker Momcilo Krajisnik to start.
SARAJEVO: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) launches Transition Report 2003, its annual update on the progress made by the countries of central and eastern Europe and former Soviet Union on democracy and market economy
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4
BRUSSELS: European People's Party (EPP) holds sixteenth congress (to February 5).
OSLO: Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio speaks about EU enlargement at the Norwegian Nobel Institute
NEW DELHI: Sustainable Development Summit 4th annual meeting of world leaders (to February 7)
http://www.teriin.org/dsds/2004/introduction.htm
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5
STOCKHOLM: Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson attends economic growth conference
BERLIN: 54th annual Berlin International Film Festival (to
February 15).
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6
MUNICH: Annual Munich conference on security policy 2004 begins (to February 8).
http://www.securityconference.de/index.php?sprache=en&
NEW YORK New York: Fall 2004 Fashion week (to February 13).
MUNICH, Germany: NATO defence ministers hold informal
meeting
STOCKHOLM: Estonian Prime Minister Juhan Parts visits Sweden to meet Prime Minister Goran Persson- 1100 GMT
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7
MUNICH: Continuation of the Annual Munich conference on security policy 2004 (to February 8); US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is to be expected.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, N.Y.- 46th Grammy awards
MUNICH: Continuation and ending of the Annual Munich
conference on security policy 2004.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9
STRASBOURG, France: European Parliament holds plenary session
(to February 12).
GABORONE: Botswanan government presents 2004/05 budget.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10
ALGIERS: Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting. (Date proposed during December 4 meeting in Vienna).
ISTANBUL: NATO Business and Security Forum -First Secretary of US Department of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, The new NATO General Secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Turkish Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Head of Security of 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Russian ex-foreign minister Yevgeni Primakov and delegates from some other countries will attend the meeting, (to February 12).
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11
IRAN: 25th anniversary of foundation of Islamic Republic.
PRETORIA: President Thabo Mbeki to announce the date for South Africa's third democratic elections.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13
DUBLIN: Meeting of the advisory forum of the European Food Safety Authority.
KIGALI: Officials of Africa's economic revival plan, the New
Partnership for Africa's Development, hold a governance summit where up to twenty heads of state from the NEPAD steering and APRM (African peer review mechanism) committees are expected (to February 15).
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14
LONDON: Start of London Fashion Week. (To February 19)
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15
LONDON: British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) presents annual film awards. www.bafta.org
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17
LONDON: The Brit Awards with Veteran pop band Duran Duran to received an "Outstanding Contribution" Award. Glam rock band The Darkness leads the field with four nominations.
KAPRUN, Austria: Verdict expected in trial of persons
accused of responsibility for the November 2000 ski train fire
that killed 155 people.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18
BERLIN: German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, French
President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair meet to prepare a summit of EU heads of state and government due to take place in March.
PARIS: Annual meeting of the Economics and Security
Committee of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation)
Parliamentary assembly Committee and the Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
CAPE TOWN, South Africa: South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel unveils the 2004 budget.
BRUSSELS: The European Commission to examine Germany's updated budget plan under European Union procedures for member states with excessive deficits.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20
ANKARA: Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and ambassadors from European Union nations to discuss Turkey's bid to win a date in December to begin entry talks with the bloc.
IRAN: National parliamentary elections.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21
RIO DE JANEIRO: Rio Carnival (to February 24)
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22
MILAN: Milan Womenswear for Autumn/Winter 2004 show, 'Milano Moda Donna' (to March 1). www.cameramoda.com
LOS ANGELES: 10th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.
www.sagawards.org
LONDON: The Laurence Olivier Awards, Britain's leading
theatre honours, presented at the Hilton Park Lane.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23
BRUSSELS: European Union foreign ministers meet (to February 24).
THE HAGUE: The International Court of Justice, known as the World Court will hold hearings on the legality of a barrier in
the West Bank
ANKARA: German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder visits Turkey.
BRUSSELS: EU-Croatia ministerial troika.
BRUSSELS: EU-OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) ministerial troika.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24
NEW ORLEANS: Mardi Gras Day
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25
BRUSSELS: European Parliament holds plenary session (to February 26).
WASHINGTON: Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili makes an official visit to the United States.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26
TAIPEI: Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian to speak at
American Chamber of Commerce dinner- 1000 GMT
JACKSON, Mississippi: German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder makes two-day visit to the United States. He is to open an exhibition on Baroque art from the German city of Dresden. Schroeder is expected to meet with U.S. President George W Bush, who is also invited to the exhibition (to February 27).
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 29
CALIFORNIA: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents 76th annual Academy Awards, winners ceremony. www.oscars.org
Source: Reuters