July

On 1 July, Canadian Mark Carney replaces Mervyn King as the head of the Bank of England. Carney has already caused quite the stir in the world of central banking by suggesting banks could have GDP – as opposed to inflationary – targets, so his arrival at The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street may inject some much needed pizzazz into the monthly policy briefings.

The same day, Croatia is scheduled to become the 28th member of the European Union. Despite the likely continued financial and economic challenges facing the region, expect much EU back-slapping as it welcomes its latest member into the fold.

The issue of whether to allow women to be ordained as bishops in the Church of England is set to be revisited at the church’s summer General Synod, which runs from 5-9 July. It was immensely embarrassing for the CoE that proposals were voted down in November 2012 and leaders are highly unlikely to allow a repeat.

Finally, at precisely 8am on 7 July, Spanish and international lunatics will once again willingly put themselves at risk of horrific injuries when the annual Pamplona bull run kicks off.

August

An extradition hearing is scheduled to open on 12 August in New Zealand in the case of the larger-than-life founder of Megaupload, Kim DotCom (née Schmitz). Since his arrest the German-born tycoon with a penchant for preposterous self-portraits has endeared himself to New Zealanders, becoming something of a celebrity, particularly after he earned a public apology from Prime Minster John Key after it emerged he had been surveilled illegally.

Meanwhile, in New York Abu Hamza is due to go on trial on 26 August, following his extradition from the UK in 2012. The Egyptian-born radical preacher faces allegations that he was involved in hostage taking in Yemen in 1998, attempting to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon from 1999-2000, and ‘facilitated’ violent jihad in Afghanistan. If found guilty on the first charge, he could face the death penalty.

Finally, 28 August marks the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.

September

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosts G20 leaders, including his US counterpart Barack Obama, in St Petersburg from 5-6 September.

Two days later, on 7 September, the International Olympic Committee opens its 125th session, the highlight of which will be the announcement of which city will be hosting the Olympics in 2020. Contender cities are: Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo.

Germany’s Angela Merkel faces an election this month, with 22 September seen as a possible date (the election window runs from 8 September to 27 October). The leader of the Christian Democrats seems likely to remain leader of Eurpoe’s largest economy, however she is likely to replace her coalition partners the Free Democrats with the Social Democrats.

October

With the global economy, and more precisely its poor performance, still likely to be at the top of the agenda, the IMF and World Bank meetings take place from 11-13 October in Washington DC.

From 18-19 October, Panama will host leaders from the Iberian Peninsula and Latin American for the 23rd Ibero-American Summit.

Lastly this month, there are elections (on a date yet to be announced) in Azerbaijan, where current President Ilyam Aliyev hopes to be re-elected. The lack of meaningful opposition in the oil-rich nation means his wish is likely to become reality.

November

From 5-21 November, UNESCO will hold its biennial General Conference in Paris with the Palestinian Authority in attendance as a full member.

In Chile, elections take place on 17 November. President Sebastián Piñera’s popularity has plummeted since the remarkable events at the San Jose mine back in 2010; in particular he has faced vocal opposition from the country’s students. There are rumours that the country’s first female and highly popular president, Michelle Bachelet, may be tempted to return to Chilean politics to challenge Piñera.

A day later, on 18 November, NASA will launch its latest mission to Mars, the MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) spacecraft from Cape Canaveral in Florida. It will not arrive at the Red Planet until Autumn 2014.

Finally, on 30 November, Hondurans will go the polls to elect a new president. The current leader Porfirio Lobo, who replaced Manuel Zelaya following a controversial ‘coup’ in 2009, has indicated he does not plan to run. In reality, both Lobo and Zelaya may well be candidates.

December

On December 10, the winner of the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize will pick up the accolade at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway.

In the United States, meanwhile, Newtown, Connecticut, will mark the anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, in which 20 students and six teachers were killed by Adam Lanza. It remains to be seen whether the country’s gun laws will be meaningfully modified. Previous shooting-sprees have resulted in little or no action being taken.

Finally, British Prime Minister David Cameron has promised that by December 31, UK troop levels in Afghanistan will have been reduced to just over five thousand ahead of NATO’s withdrawal by the end of 2014. Despite claims by politicians of significant progress, many commentators are anticipating a total implosion once foreign troops leave the Graveyard of Empires.

Images courtesy of Mark III Photonics / Shutterstock.com

By Nicole Hunt

After a false start on 9 February and another postponement on 15 February, euro zone Finance Ministers are using their regularly-scheduled meeting on Monday to discuss whether to release the next tranche of Greece’s bailout loan in light of the new austerity measures approved in Athens last week. Ministers are also expected to sign the Treaty for the European Stability Mechanism, so that the ESM can take effect from 1 July, six months earlier than planned.

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency begin their second visit to Iran in as many months to meet with Iranian government officials. The visit comes on the heels of Iran’s 15 February announcement that it had inserted domestically-produced nuclear fuel rods into its reactor, raising western concerns about the progress of its nuclear programme.

Monday also marks the one year anniversary of the beginning of protests in Morocco, one of the more peaceful campaigns of the Arab Spring movement. There have been rumblings of protests to mark the anniversary by members of the February 20 Youth Movement unhappy with the speed of democratic reforms.

Just over a year after the beginning of considerably less smooth protests in Yemen, which saw nearly 2,000 people killed by the time a power-transfer agreement was brokered in November 2011, Yemenis go to the polls to officially approve the transfer of power from long-time President Ali Abdullah Saleh to Vice President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi. Hadi runs unopposed as the consensus candidate for the country’s major parties, and will lead the country through a transition period before further elections can be held.

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who has been tipped to replace President Hu Jintao in the leadership shuffle this autumn, continues an overseas jaunt that has seen him visit the US and Ireland with a short trip to Turkey to meet with President Abdullah Gul. The meeting could be a bit tense, though, as Turkey have been vocal proponents of international action on Syria, while China recently joined Russia in blocking a UN Security Council resolution condemning President Bashar Al Assad’s regime.

The Committee to Protect Journalists launches its annual Attacks on the Press report right here at the Frontline Club.

The Pakistani Supreme Court Commission investigating the so-called ‘memogate’ incident sits again on Wednesday, hoping to finally hear testimony from Mansoor Ijaz, the man responsible for revealing the existence of the memo in an FT op-ed. Ijaz has failed to appear before the Commission on three previous occasions, citing safety concerns, and has been allowed to record his testimony from the Pakistani High Commission in London this time around.

Megaupload founder Kim DotCom (aka Kim Schmitz) is back in court in New Zealand, this time to face his first extradition hearing, having been twice denied bail since being arrested in January. DotCom is fighting extradition to the US on suspicion of ‘running an international organised criminal enterprise allegedly responsible for massive worldwide online piracy’.

London hosts the International Conference on Somalia on Thursday. Ministers from around the world convene to discuss piracy, protection of ships in the Gulf of Aden, Islamic extremists, the causes of conflict and instability in Somalia, and how to support surrounding countries. Kenya hosted a regional conference on 9 Febraury as part of preparations, while Foreign Secretary William Hague visited Somalia on 2 February, becoming the first UK Foreign Secretary to do so in 20 years.

Following his much-publicised preliminary hearing in December, Private First Class Bradley Manning returns to Meade, Maryland for a formal arraignment hearing, the first step in his eventual court-martial for allegedly passing information to WikiLeaks.

Tunisia hosts the first Friends of Syria meeting on Friday, with confirmed attendees including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. The meeting is reminiscent of the Libya Contact Group conferences that were organised as the campaign against Muammar Gaddafi intensified there, though the first LCG on 13 April, 2011 came just two months after the protests in Libya began; the Friends of Syria will meet as the Syrian protests approach their one year anniversary.

G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors hold their first meeting of the year in Mexico City on Saturday and Sunday. As always these days, the European debt crisis is likely to be high on the agenda, though ministers will also be discussing a $500bn increase in IMF funding to help the Fund cope with the demands of the crisis. Mexican Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade said earlier this month that a consensus on the funding was ‘unlikely’ this month.

Normally-quiet Sunday is actually a day of big decisions this week, though some are considerably bigger than others. In Los Angeles, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announces their Oscar-winning choices.

In Senegal, voters decide who will be the country’s President for the next seven years, or at least who will take part in a second round runoff. Incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade’s candidacy was approved by the Constitutional Court last month, despite protests from his opponents that he should be ineligible for a third term. Senegal’s constitution limits leaders to two presidential terms, but Wade argued that since the term limit was introduced after he’d already been elected the first time, it shouldn’t apply to his first term.

Finally, Syrian President Bashar al Assad announced on 15 February that the country’s constitutional referendum, not expected until March, would take place on Sunday. The new constitution would allow for changes to Syria’s electoral system, which currently reserves the majority of parliamentary seats for supporters of Assad’s Baath party.