Week ahead in Asia & Pacific from July 19

Following are some of the main Asia and Pacific news events
expected this week (all times GMT).

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SATURDAY, July 19

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SUNDAY, July 20

SYDNEY - Pope Benedict to close the Catholic church's world
youth festival with a mass.

BEIJING - Traffic restrictions and factory closures come
into effect in a last ditch attempt to turn the often smoky and
dusty Chinese capital into the promised pollution-free venue
for next month's Olympics.

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MONDAY, July 21

MUMBAI/JOHANNESBURG - Deadline for exclusive talks between
India's No. 2 mobile operator Reliance (RLCM.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) and South
Africa's MTN Group (MTNJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) after it was extended last week.
Talks are on to create a top-10 global telecoms group, but a
claim on shares by the Reliance Communications chairman's
estranged elder brother has marred the negotiations.

HONG KONG - Release of a new WWF report analysing China's
growing carbon market, from the perspective of China's booming
energy markets. The report, "The value of Carbon in China",
will be the first to assess the carbon issue from the Chinese
perspective.

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TUESDAY, July 22

NEW DELHI - The Indian government faces a vote of no
confidence in parliament after its communist allies withdrew
support to protest a nuclear deal with the United States. With
the vote too close to call, government allies have even
temporarily released some MPs in prison for murder to shore up
parliamentary support. If Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's
coalition loses, it will face early elections and the probable
demise of the landmark nuclear deal.

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WEDNESDAY, July 23

JAKARTA - Court hearing of a civil case filed by the
attorney-general's office against Tommy Suharto for a failed
car project. Indonesian prosecutors are suing the former
president's son for more than $400 million over a business deal
involving his national car project.

WELLINGTON - New Zealand's central bank rate review. The
central bank is expected to leave rates unchanged at a record
8.25 percent but the decision will be a close call given the
need to cope with a rapidly slowing economy and inflation.
Recent data has shown the economy is slowing sharply,
convincing many that it may already be in recession.

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THURSDAY, July 24

SYDNEY - Deadline for Australian competition watchdog's
ruling on bidding for Australia's Dairy Farmers. Italy's
Parmalat's (PLT.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) is competing with National Foods, owned by
Japan's Kirin Holdings (2503.T: Quote, Profile, Research), for the Australian milk and
cheese producer owned by some 2,000 farmers.

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FRIDAY, July 25

SEOUL - South Korea to publish second quarter GDP data. The
Bank of Korea's advanced estimates will show which sectors are
suffering most from the impact of a U.S. slowdown and
inflation. The finance ministry recently slashed its 2008
economic growth forecast while raising its consumer inflation
expectations.

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's central bank rate review. Some
economists expect the central bank to raise rates for the first
time since 2006 to contain rising inflationary pressures as
consumer prices in June are expected to top 6 percent, the
highest in 26 years.

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