What's Happening Today - Thursday 24 February
New Zealand:22-member Taiwanese rescue team arrives in Christchurch, the largest city on New Zealand's South Island.Japan: Third and final day of Asia-Pacific Operational Drug Enforcement Conference in Tokyo Taiwan: China's top envoy to Taiwan, Chen Yunlin, continues visit (-28) South Korea: Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi visits for talks with counterpart Kim Sung-hwan; expected to focus on differences over North Korea's nuclear programme; second and final day Indonesia:Abu Bakr Bashir faces his second trial under terrorism act.Brunei:President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will make a two-day working visit India:Indian Government unveils budget for state monopoly Indian Railways (0630). Pakistan: Deadline for government to meet 10 demands put forward by opposition party Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz Russia:Russia votes on 2010 Person of the YearRussia:President Dmitry Medvedev meets Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan. Russia: King of Spain Juan Carlos visits St Petersburg, accompanied by Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez Garcia-Herrera and Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade Miguel Sebastian Gascon; meets President Dmitriy Medvedev for dinner (-25) Russia: New-generation Glonass-K navigation satellite launched from Plesetsk CosmodromeAzerbaijan:Hungarian Foreign Ministry State Secretary Zsolt Nemeth to visit Azerbaijan: US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon visit from Armenia UAE:Tenth annual International Defence Exhibition and Conference concludes (IDEX) Oman: UK Prime Minister David Cameron continues regional tour of Oman Qatar, Egypt and Kuwait Bahrain: Deadline set by opposition for government to resign; opposition threatens to start civil disobedience if not metJordan: Islamist groups including Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic Action Front prepare for pro-reform rallies on "Friday of Rage" (25); protesters plan to set up camp outside Al-Husayni Mosque tonight Israel: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk visiting for talks on cultural, education, health and military cooperation Egypt: German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle visits Egypt: Stock market expected to re-open; was closed on 28 January after the benchmark Egyptian index lost about 17 per cent of its value in two days of trading.Libya: Watching developments after Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi yesterday fought to maintain hold on west while protesters consolidated control over cities in east Libya:Iskenderun ferry arrives in Libya to start evacuating thousands of Turkish expats.Algeria:Butafliqa may change ministers who have remained in government for a long time, may deliver a speech on the occasion of the anniversary of the nationalization of hydrocarbons
South Africa:The African National Congress and its trade union and communist partners will hold an alliance summit. South Africa: Finnish President Tarja Halonen visits South Africa, has talks with counterpart Jacob Zuma; the two co-chair meeting of UN High-Level Panel on Global SustainabilityUkraine:'Guam' foreign ministers from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine meet in Kiev Ukraine:Nato secretary general visits UkraineBulgaria:EU Defence Ministers Meeting (Informal)Romania:European Council President Herman Van Rompuy meets Romanian President Traian Basescu.
Albania:Lawmakers to vote on lifting the immunity of former economy minister Dritan Prifti, accused of corruption, a week after they lifted immunity for former deputy premier Ilir Meta, paving the way for him to be investigated in a case that has triggered a severe political crisis. Parliament session starts at 0900 GMT. Austria:Press round-table with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis, whose country currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. 1445 GMT. Germany:Italian President Giorgio Napolitano meets Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Christian Wulff. A Joint news conference to follow (1515).Germany:Finance minister speaks in Frankfurt. Wolfgang Schaeuble is scheduled to speak on "the relationship between state and financial markets-learning from the crisis" at the Centre for Financial Studies in Frankfurt at 14:00 GMT. Belgium: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin meets European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Brussels for discussions on energy, trade foreign policyFrance:France releases unemployment figures France:President Nicholas Sarkozy meets rival Dominique de Villepin over G8 and G20UK: Belmarsh Magistrates Court in London delivers ruling in Sweden's extradition case against Wikileaks website founder Julian Assange UK:Research predicts world's biggest mud volcano in Indonesia will keep erupting for 26 yearsCanada: Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) leaders from Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Russia conclude meetings to develop a common Inuit position on resource development in the Arctic UN:Launch of UN Women takes place in New York. The speakers are due to include the General Assembly president, Joseph Deiss, the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, and the UN Women executive director, Michelle
Bachelet. The event begins at 18:00.UN:Security Council debates East Timor and Middle EastPanama:Latin American Cities conference takes place in PanamaArgentinaArgentine President Cristina Fernandez will hold talks with her Uruguayan counterpart Enrique Mujica in Buenos Aires.
Albania:Lawmakers to vote on lifting the immunity of former economy minister Dritan Prifti, accused of corruption, a week after they lifted immunity for former deputy premier Ilir Meta, paving the way for him to be investigated in a case that has triggered a severe political crisis. Parliament session starts at 0900 GMT. Austria:Press round-table with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis, whose country currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. 1445 GMT. Germany:Italian President Giorgio Napolitano meets Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Christian Wulff. A Joint news conference to follow (1515).Germany:Finance minister speaks in Frankfurt. Wolfgang Schaeuble is scheduled to speak on "the relationship between state and financial markets-learning from the crisis" at the Centre for Financial Studies in Frankfurt at 14:00 GMT. Belgium: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin meets European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Brussels for discussions on energy, trade foreign policyFrance:France releases unemployment figures France:President Nicholas Sarkozy meets rival Dominique de Villepin over G8 and G20UK: Belmarsh Magistrates Court in London delivers ruling in Sweden's extradition case against Wikileaks website founder Julian Assange UK:Research predicts world's biggest mud volcano in Indonesia will keep erupting for 26 yearsCanada: Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) leaders from Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Russia conclude meetings to develop a common Inuit position on resource development in the Arctic UN:Launch of UN Women takes place in New York. The speakers are due to include the General Assembly president, Joseph Deiss, the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, and the UN Women executive director, Michelle
Bachelet. The event begins at 18:00.UN:Security Council debates East Timor and Middle EastPanama:Latin American Cities conference takes place in PanamaArgentinaArgentine President Cristina Fernandez will hold talks with her Uruguayan counterpart Enrique Mujica in Buenos Aires.
