Wereldgebeurtenissen gepland voor januari
BY JORDI BOU
January 1, 2021 – January 31, 2021 – Each month Graphic News publishes a World Agenda of forthcoming events that will shape the world in the month ahead. Events in January include Joe Biden’s inauguration as the 46th U.S. President, the Christian Democratic Union’s leadership election in Germany, and the 63rd Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
January 4, United Kingdom: Westminster Magistrates Court is expected to deliver a ruling in Julian Assange’s extradition trial. U.S. prosecutors have indicted Assange on 17 espionage charges and one of computer misuse over the publication of secret military documents related to military action in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2010-11.
January 11-15, Ethiopia: The 34th African Union Summit can celebrate the continent’s escape from the worst of Covid-19, hints of peace in Libya and Sudan, and a major new trade agreement. But flare-ups in northern Ethiopia and Western Sahara, and Egypt’s dam dispute with Ethiopia, will give cause for concern.
January 15-16, Germany: The Christian Democratic Union’s delayed leadership election brings Norbert Roettgen, Armin Laschet and Friedrich Merz into contention to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel as both the leader of the CDU party and its candidate in the federal election in September 2021.
January 15-February 22, New Zealand: The PRADA Cup Challenger Selection Series in Auckland will determine which of three crews will take on Emirates Team New Zealand, the defender, for the 36th America’s Cup in March. The challengers are INEOS Team UK, Italy’s Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, and New York Yacht Club American Magic.
January 15, United States: Donald Trump plans to withdraw the first tranche of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq by this date, five days before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. The drawdown has alarmed NATO, and even key Trump supporters. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the plan “a mistake.”
January 20, United States: Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th U.S. President. He will take the oath on the steps of the Capitol in the traditional way, but a scaled-back event for safety’s sake during the pandemic is likely to see the usual large crowds and parades replaced with virtual activity in states all across the country.
January 26, Switzerland: Virtual meetings will shrink the usual stratospheric networking opportunities at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Its title, The Great Reset, embodies the idea that the wipeout conditions of the pandemic have created a blank slate to build a “more fair, sustainable and resilient future.”
January 31, United States: The 63rd Grammy Awards ceremony should result in a few more gongs for Beyoncé, who topped the list of nominees with nine nods in a year that celebrated female artistry right across pop genres. The Weeknd and Bob Dylan, both tipped to be nominated, were surprise omissions from the list.
