Calendar 2023

January

Croatia adopts the euro and becomes the 20th member state of the eurozone, in the first enlargement of the monetary union since Lithuania’s entry in 2015.

Chinese New Year is celebrated, as the year of the rabbit begins.

Campaigners on both sides of America’s abortion divide mark the 50th anniversary of the Roe v Wade ruling.

February

Tutmania! Egyptologists of all ages observe the centenary of the unsealing of Tutankhamun’s burial chamber by Howard Carter.

Nigeria holds presidential and parliamentary elections.

President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan will mark Peace Memorial Day. It is the anniversary, known as “2.28”, of the massacre of thousands of protesters in 1947 by troops of China’s Kuomintang government, which had taken over the island in 1945.

March

The 95th Academy Awards take place in Los Angeles.

The annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress, takes place. Xi Jinping will be made president for a third term.

April

Parliamentary elections are held in Finland.

Accra becomes unesco’s World Book Capital for a year. Mobile libraries will extend access to marginalised groups, workshops will be held to promote reading and writing in different Ghanaian languages, and training centres will be established for unemployed youths.

May

King Charles III is crowned in London.

The Eurovision Song Contest is held in Liverpool. Ukraine won the competition in 2022 but is not considered a safe venue for the event.

The eu’s much-delayed ees (entry/exit system) is due to come into force. It will register non-eu travellers as they enter and leave the bloc.

June

Turkey holds parliamentary and presidential elections. A presidential run-off will follow in July if necessary.

Presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Sierra Leone.

Qatar hosts the Asian Cup, a quadrennial football competition in which 24 teams will compete.

July

Cambodia holds parliamentary elections. The ruling Cambodian People’s Party holds all 125 seats in the national assembly after the main opposition party was banned in 2018.

The fifa Women’s World Cup kicks off in Australia and New Zealand.

“First light” is expected at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a powerful sky-mapping telescope in northern Chile.

August

The uci Cycling World Championships, a new quadrennial event that brings together all the cycling world championships, takes place in Glasgow and at venues across Scotland.

India is due to launch its delayed space probe, Chandrayaan-3, to deliver a lander and a rover to the lunar surface. A software glitch caused its predecessor, Chandrayaan-2, to crash into the Moon in 2019.

September

The Rugby World Cup kicks off in France, with the hosts taking on South Africa, the defending champions. Russia has been banned from competing following its invasion of Ukraine.

Around 350 competitors gather for the World Stone Skimming Championships on Easdale Island, a tiny island off the Scottish coast.

October

The Pan American Games begin in Santiago, Chile.

The Walt Disney Company celebrates the centenary of its founding by Walt and Roy Disney. It was originally known as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio.

Turkey celebrates the centenary of its founding as a republic by Kemal Ataturk.

November

The cop28 climate conference takes place in the United Arab Emirates.

The msg Sphere (a giant, spherical venue lined with digital screens) is due to open at the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas, with a performance by the rock band U2.

The eu’s etias system, the eu equivalent of the American eSTA, is expected to begin operation. Non-eu citizens will have to apply in advance and pay €7 ($7) to enter the bloc.

December

Presidential and parliamentary elections are held in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mexico is due to complete the 1,550km Maya Train project, which consists of two routes that encircle the Yucatán peninsula, linking tourist destinations on the coast to Maya sites inland. ■