A selected calendar of key events for 2016 has been presented by Bloomberg News reporters in 128 cities. The stories that matter most, which they plan to cover in the year, are as follows:
January
* Taiwan holds an election and may choose its first female president.
* US begins production of liquefied natural gas for export from Cheniere Energy’s terminal in Louisiana, the first since 1969.
* World leaders gather for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
* Vietnam’s Communist Party Congress convenes to make leadership changes and set policy.
* UN monitors conclude that Iran has implemented all steps required under the July nuclear accord, allowing the US and Europe to lift sanctions.
February
* The race to elect America’s 45th president kicks off with the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. The caucuses in Nevada and the primary in South Carolina will also be closely watched.
* Pope Francis visits Mexico.
* Academy Awards in Los Angeles
March
* China’s National People’s Congress, the country’s top lawmaking body, meets and the government releases details of its new five-year plan.
* Deadline for Colombian government negotiators and FARC rebels to reach a peace deal in Havana, which ends a five-decade-old conflict.
* US holds so-called Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia and Wyoming.
* The civil war in Syria enters its fifth year.
April
* The Panama Canal opens a $5.3 billion expansion.
* The UN holds a signing ceremony for the Paris climate accord.
* South Korea organizes parliamentary elections.
* Peru holds the first round of presidential elections. Unless a candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, there will be a runoff in June with parliamentary elections on the same day.
May
* The Philippines elects a legislature and president.
* Scotland votes for members of its parliament.
* G-7 leaders meet in Japan’s Mie Prefecture, home to the 2,000-year-old Ise Shrine.
* North Korea’s Workers Party holds congress.
June
* US Federal Reserve releases annual stress tests of the nation’s banks.
* US Supreme Court session ends, with rulings expected on closely watched cases on affirmative action, immigration reform, abortion and voting rights.
* The UK’s referendum on leaving the European Union could come as early as mid-2016, though no official date had been set by the end of 2015.
July
* Puerto Rico, in talks with creditors to ease its $70 billion debt burden, faces payments of $1.98 billion on bonds sold by the US territory and its agencies.
* The race for the White House heats up, as Republicans and Democrats select their presidential candidates at party conventions.
* Japan is expected to hold upper house election. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could also call a snap poll for the lower house.
* NASA’s Juno spacecraft begins visit to Jupiter.
August
Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro
September
* Russia holds the election for lower house of parliament.
* Annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York
* G-20 world leaders hold their summit in China for the first time.
* Hong Kong’s legislative council election.
* China marks the 40th anniversary of Mao Zedong’s death.
October
* Nobel Prizes announced in Stockholm.
* World Bank/IMF meetings convene in Washington D.C.
November
* Americans elect a president and determine control of Congress.
* The Democratic Republic of Congo holds an election.
* APEC leaders head to Lima, Peru, for their 28th annual gathering.
* ASEAN/East Asia leaders meet at a summit in Laos.
December
* Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his annual press conference in Moscow, an event that typically lasts for about three hours.
* India expects to start operations at the strategic Chabahar Port in Iran, which will give it access to Afghanistan and bypass Pakistan.
