News Prospects for week beginning:
27th June - 8th July 2001

"By scanning foreign media, including live broadcasts, news agencies and press, BBC Monitoring provides a unique economic and political information service. The Weekly Diary provides you with a list of just some of the events we expect to cover in the next few days."

Former Soviet Union

30 UKRAINE: Last days of Cossack Express-2001 British-Ukrainian exercise at Yavoriv training ground in Lviv Region, involving 400 troops from the 43rd Infantry Brigade and 5th Division of the British armed forces (Ukrainian news agencies Intelnews, UNIAN)

29 CENTRAL ASIA/GERMANY: Servicemen from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan wind up command-post exercises in Germany under NATO's Partnership for Peace programme (Russian news agency ITAR-TASS, Kazakh Khabar TV)

29 RUSSIA: Final days of tour by Britain's Prince Michael of Kent (Russian news agency ITAR-TASS)

27 BELARUS: Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Aleksiy II ends visit to Minsk, other cities (Belarusian TV, Russian news agency Interfax)

27 UKRAINE: Last day of visit by Pope John Paul II (Ukrainian news agency UNIAN, Ukrainian television, Russian news agencies Interfax, ITAR-TASS)

29 BELARUS: Luca Barbone, World Bank director for Ukraine and Belarus, continues consultations to work out a bilateral cooperation strategy for 2002-2004 with the Belarusian government (Belarusian radio, Russian news agency Interfax)

28 MOLDOVA/BELGIUM: Moldova's President Vladimir Voronin in Strasbourg to take part in PACE session (Russian news agency Interfax)

30 RUSSIA/GEORGIA: Russian military delegation headed by Deputy Defence Minister Col-Gen Aleksandr Kosovan in Tbilisi to resolve issues related to the transfer of the 137th military base facilities in Vaziani to Georgia (Russian news agency RIA)

31 RUSSIA: Over 1,000 CIS servicemen taking part in training exercises codenamed Combat Commonwealth-2001 in Astrakhan Region, supervised by Anatoliy Kornukov, Russian air force commander and chairman of CIS air defence coordination committee (Russian AVN Military News Agency web site)

27 RUSSIA/UKRAINE: First Deputy Prime Minister Oleh Dubyna in Moscow for talks with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko on resuming the parallel work of the two countries' power grids (Ukrainian news agency UNIAN)

27-28 LATVIA: Ranjit Singh Kalha, Indian Foreign Ministry state secretary, visits Riga for talks with Foreign Minister Indulis Berzins, other officials. Bilateral economic agreement to be signed during the visit (Baltic news agency BNS)

27-29 BALTIC/USA: Air Force Gen Joseph Ralston, NATO Supreme Commander in Europe, visiting Lithuania on 27 July, Latvia on 28 July and Estonia on 29 July to familiarize himself with defence systems and preparation for NATO membership (Baltic BNS news agency, Latvian news agency LETA)

27 Jun - 7 Jul RUSSIA: Delegation of Buddhist Association of China visits Russia's Buryatia, Tyva and Kalmykia republics (Russian news agency ITAR-TASS)

28 UKRAINE: Constitution Day. Ukraine without Kuchma public organization plans protest march down Kiev's main central thoroughfare, Khreshchatyk (Russian news agency Interfax)

28 MOLDOVA: Moldova becomes a member of the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe, the first former USSR state to do so (Moldovan news agency Infotag)

29 RUSSIA: Gazprom shareholders elect new board of directors at their meeting in Moscow (Russian news agency RIA)

1-3 RUSSIA: French President Jacques Chirac visits for talks with President Vladimir Putin (in St Petersburg on 1-2 July) on strategic stability, regional conflicts, the Russian-US summit in Ljubljana and the coming G8 summit in Genoa. Three cooperation agreements to be signed. Chirac will also visit Samara Region (Russian news agencies Interfax, ITAR-TASS)

3 BELARUS: President Alyaksandr Lukashenka to attend military parade in Minsk on Independence Day (Belarusian news agency Belapan)

3-4 RUSSIA: The minister of foreign affairs in the internationally-recognized government of Afghanistan, Dr Abdullah, plus other officials visit Moscow for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov on the conflict in Afghanistan (Russian news agency Interfax)

3-5 RUSSIA: Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri heads a large economic delegation on a visit to Moscow to "enhance the political and economic dialogue" between the two countries. Middle East situation on the agenda (Russian news agency ITAR-TASS)

4 RUSSIA: People's Patriotic Union of Russia holds a nationwide protest action against the government-proposed land code passed by the State Duma (lower house) in the first reading in draft form on 15 June (Russian news agency Interfax)

4-6 UKRAINE: NATO Secretary-General George Robertson visits Kiev to attend an international symposium under the Partnership for Peace programme. Representatives from 19 NATO members states and 26 states involved in the Partnership for Peace programme expected to attend. Robertson expected to make a speech on 5 July (Ukrainian news agency UNIAN)

4-8 RUSSIA/URUGUAY: Foreign Minister Didier Opertti visiting to discuss bilateral cooperation in science, technology, trade and investment (Russian news agency ITAR-TASS)

5-6 UKRAINE: Sea Breeze naval exercise in the Black Sea involving units from five state (Ukrainian news agency UNIAN)

5-7 GEORGIA: Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski paying an official visit, including a meeting with President Shevardnadze (Georgian Kavkasia-Press news agency)

5-7 KAZAKHSTAN: Turkmen President Saparmyrat Niyazov visits the Kazakh capital, Astana, for bilateral talks. Cooperation agreement up to the year 2010 to be signed during the visit. Various intergovernmental accords on trade and investment have been prepared for signing (Turkmenistan.ru Internet newspaper web site)

8-12 RUSSIA/GEORGIA/CIS: The 43rd session of the CIS border guard ministers in Tbilisi will be attended by Russian Federal Border Guard Service director Konstantin Totskiy (Russian news agency RIA)

8-16 RUSSIA/CANADA: Prime Minister Jean Chretien visiting Moscow for the 112nd session of the International Olympic Committee, which will elect a new president and choose the venue for the 2008 summer Olympics (Russian news agency Interfax)

Europe

27 AUSTRIA: Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova visiting (Austrian newspaper Die Presse)

27-28 CZECH REPUBLIC: Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg Lydie Polfer visits for talks with President Vaclav Havel, Prime Minister Milos Zeman and Senate Speaker Petr Pithart on the process of EU enlargement (Czech news agency CTK)

27 CZECH REPUBLIC: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visits for talks with Prime Minister Milos Zeman on security policy in relation to NATO and membership of the EU; they are likely to speak about a prepared meeting of representatives of the Visegrad Four and the Benelux countries (Czech news agency CTK)

27 GERMANY: President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki visits for talks with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on South Africa's self-help programme for fighting AIDS (South African newspaper Independent)

27 NORWAY: Kuwaiti oil minister Adil Khalid al-Sabih visits to look at "cooperation with international oil giants" (Kuwaiti news agency Kuna)

28 AUSTRIA: Foreign ministers Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Macedonia and Slovenia, the five successor states to the former Yugoslavia, sign an umbrella succession agreement providing for the division of assets (former Yugoslavia sources)

28 PORTUGAL: Regular meeting of the Socialist International Council, an international organization of social democrat, labour and socialist parties, takes place in Lisbon (European sources)

28-29 SPAIN: President elect of Peru Alejandro Toledo visits for talks with Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar on bilateral relations; Toledo will try to reassure Spanish authorities about the future of Spanish investments in Peru (Spanish newspaper ABC)

28-29 SWITZERLAND: The annual Crans Montana forum takes place; this year's themes include globalization, international trade and development potential in Africa and the Balkans; guests include presidents and prime ministers from the former Soviet bloc, Africa and the Balkans (Czech news agency CTK)

28- 1 July TURKEY: Indian Home Minister L.K. Advani visits for a meeting with Interior Minister Rustu Kazim Yucelan; will sing extradition treaty and hold talks on the situation in Afghanistan and Indian-sponsored draft international convention on terrorism (Indian news agency PTI, Indian Doordarshan TV)

29 BELGIUM: European Commission and the World Bank hold donors conference for Yugoslavia in Brussels; the USA has made its participation in the conference conditional on former President Slobodan Milosevic's extradition to the Hague war crimes tribunal (Yugoslav news agency Tanjug)

29 FRANCE: Appeals court delivers ruling on a request to have President Chirac put under formal judicial investigation for fraud during his time as mayor of Paris (French sources)

30 SPAIN: ETA supporters plan to organize "day of struggle" event in Irun (Spanish newspaper ABC)

30 ITALY: Far-right group Forza Nuova stages protest in Genoa against forthcoming G8 summit on 20-22 June (Italian newspaper Il Sole-24 Ore )

1-7 BRITAIN/FRANCE/SWITZERLAND: South Korean Foreign Minister Han Seung-soo visits for talks with British and French counterparts Jack Straw and Hubet Vedrine on Korean peace process and bilateral ties; will hold talks in Geneva with UN officials in anticipation of becoming president of the 56th UN General Assembly in September (South Korean news agency Yonhap)

1-3 AUSTRIA: World Economic Forum holds two-day European Economic Summit in Salzburg; heads of government and business leaders from across Europe attend; EU enlargement and EU relations with non-accession countries will be discussed; opponents of globalization are planning to disrupt the summit (German newspaper Welt am Sonntag)

2-3 GERMANY: South Africa's Deputy President Zuma visits to attend the South Africa-German Binational Commission which he co- chairs; the relationship with Germany is important given that there are about 370 German companies based in South Africa, providing jobs to 65 000 South Africans (South African news agency SAPA)

3-5 GERMANY: Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase visits for talks with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, Economics Minister Werner Mueller and Interior Minister Otto Schily, leaders of Bavaria and big business representatives on bilateral ties and EU and NATO enlargement (Romanian news agency Rompres)

3-4 FRANCE: Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visits for talks with President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin on bilateral relations, economic recovery and G8 summit in Genoa (Japanese sources)

6-8 PORTUGAL: Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique visits for talks with Foreign Minister Jaime Gama in the Azores on the development of bilateral relations and future cooperation prospects (Spanish news agency Efe)

7 ITALY: G8 finance ministers meet in Rome to prepare the agenda for the 20-22 July G8 summit in Genoa (Italian sources)

8 ALBANIA: Second round of parliamentary elections takes place in constituencies which did not produce a clear winner in the first round on 24 June; the Socialist Party claimed victory after the first round but as many as 45 out of 140 parliamentary seats will have to be decided in the second round; an additional 40 seats are allocated to parties in proportion to their share of the vote (Albanian sources)

Asia and Pacific

1 July CHINA: Taipei City Cultural Affairs Bureau Director Lung Ying-tai continues cultural exchange visit to Shanghai (Taiwanese news agency CNA)

28 INDIA/USA: Congress party president and leader of the Indian opposition Sonia Gandhi continues talks, to include US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage (Indian news agency PTI)

29 NEW ZEALAND/PHILIPPINES: Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid flies in to Christchurch (27) from Australia for talks with Governor-General Dame Sylvia Cartwright, Prime Minister Helen Clark and Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton. Wahid will return home via Darwin (28) and the Philippines (29) (New Zealand government web site, Radio Australia, Indonesian press)

1 TAIWAN/USA: Former President Lee Teng-hui visits his alma mater, Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York State. Centrepiece is the dedication of a scientific research centre carrying his name (Taiwanese Central News Agency web site)

3 July GERMANY/TURKEY/UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Indian Home Minister L.K. Advani travels on to Turkey (28-1) from Germany to meet Interior Minister Rustu Kazim Yucelen. Will sign extradition treaty and hold talks on situation in Afghanistan and Indian-sponsored draft International Convention on Terrorism. During a stopover in Dubai on his way home, Advani will discuss the possible extradition of criminals wanted in India in connection with terrorist and criminal activities and reportedly hiding in the UAE (Indian news agency PTI, Indian Doordarshan TV)

27 TAIWAN: Legislative Yuan holds extraordinary session to debate six financial bills the cabinet says need to be passed before next regular session begins in September (Taiwanese Central News Agency web site)

30 CHINA: National People's Congress Standing Committee holds bi-monthly legislative session to consider eight draft laws, including amendments to the criminal code and controlling desertification (Chinese news agency Xinhua)

27-29 SAMOA: Pacific Islands Forum trade ministers hold latest round of negotiations on establishing free trade area (Papua New Guinea Post-Courier newspaper web site)

28 FIJI: Suva High Court hears case brought by Citizens' Constitutional Forum challenging President Iloilo's decision in March to dismiss elected Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, dissolve the pre-coup parliament and reappoint the military-selected Laisenia Qarase administration in a caretaker capacity. Ruling is expected early July (Radio New Zealand International)

28 BHUTAN: Seventy-ninth session of National Assembly opens (Bhutanese newspaper Kuensel)

28 INDIA: Diplomats and military officers from India and China meet for ninth time to discuss disputed border between the two countries. Expected to exchange views on the maps they swapped last November covering middle part of the border between Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal in India (Indian news agency PTI)

28-4 SWITZERLAND: Chinese working group holds new round of talks with member countries of World Trade Organization on Beijing's application to join (Chinese news agency Xinhua)

29 CHINA: Construction begins on Qinghai-Tibet railway with ceremonies held simultaneously in Beijing, Lhasa in Tibet and Golmud in Qinghai. Railway will be 1,956 km long and the highest in the world (Chinese news agency Xinhua)

29 AUSTRALIA: Archbishop Peter Hollingworth is sworn in as 23rd governor-general (Radio Australia)

30-4 TAIWAN: Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade leads ministerial delegation. Will sign joint communique with Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian and visit the Taichung Experimental Farm, Taipei World Trade Centre and Nankang Science Park (Taiwanese Central News Agency web site)

30-5 JAPAN/USA/BRITAIN/FRANCE: Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and US President George Bush hold first summit at Camp David (30), to discuss a new framework of economic relations, Japanese economic restructuring, global trade issues, Bush's recent trip to Europe, Kyoto Protocol, as well as the Japan-US security alliance and US missile defence plan. In preparation for the G8 summit in Genoa (20-22 July), Koizumi will then travel to Europe for talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair (2), French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin (3) and French President Jacques Chirac (4) (Japanese news agency Kyodo)

1 CHINA: Anniversary of founding of the Chinese Communist Party (1921) and anniversary of Hong Kong handover to mainland (1997) (Chinese and other media)

1-8 CHINA: President Guido de Marco of Malta visits at invitation of Chinese counterpart Jiang Zemin (Chinese news agency Xinhua)

2 FIJI: Coup leader George Speight and brother Jim report back to Suva court on efforts to find lawyer for their treason trial (Fiji Village web site)

2-4 BANGLADESH: Officials from India and Bangladesh hold another round of border talks (Indian news agency PTI)

2-8 VIETNAM/USA: Vietnamese, US businessmen attend first joint trade fair to be held in Vietnam (Voice of Vietnam radio)

3-5 MONGOLIA: Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan visits (Mongolian news agency Montsame, Chinese news agency Xinhua)

3-8 JAPAN/USA: Japanese minister in charge of Okinawa affairs Koji Omi visits for talks on issues related to US military presence in the southern prefecture, including relocation of Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station and setting a 15-year time limit on US use of a planned new airport (Japanese news agency Kyodo)

5 PAKISTAN: Elections are held in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir for 40-member Legislative Assembly (Pakistan TV)

5 SOUTH KOREA: Umbrella labour group Korean Confederation of Trade Unions plans general strike to protest against government's crackdown on unionists during action beginning 12 June. Large-scale automobile unions, such as Hyundai, Kia and Ssangyong, as well as teachers and unionists from heavy industries are expected to take part (South Korean news agency Yonhap)

5 FIJI: Navin Naidu, refused permission to represent coup leader George Speight in his treason trial, reappears in court on charges of making false statements and attempting to pervert the course of justice (Radio Australia)

8-11 SOUTH KOREA/CHINA: Secretaries-general of the three parties in Japanese ruling coalition - Taku Yamasaki of the Liberal Democratic Party, Tetsuzo Fuyushiba of the New Komeito party and Takeshi Noda of the New Conservative Party - visit Seoul (8-9) and Beijing (10-11). Three officials hope to ease mistrust in South Korea and China over Tokyo's approval of a controversial history textbook and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's vow to visit a shrine in August which honours war criminals (Japanese news agency Kyodo)

Middle East and North Africa

27 ALGERIA/EU: Eleventh round of Algerian-EU talks continues in Brussels (Algerian radio)

28 ALGERIA: National People's Assembly discussing the recent unrest in Berber areas. The parliament will continue the debate in plenary sessions after Prime Minister Ali Benflis's address on 26 June (Algerian radio)

29 SUDAN: Joint parliamentary delegation of EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries visits (Sudanese news agency Suna)

27 SYRIA/FRANCE: Syrian President Bashar al-Asad ends official visit to France (Syrian TV). To hold news conference at 0900 gmt (French sources)

27 ISRAEL/USA: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon meets US Congress leaders in Washington before leaving the USA for Israel (Israeli, regional sources)

27 EGYPT/USA/MIDDLE EAST: US Secretary of State Colin Powell arrives, holds talks with President Mubarak. (Egyptian newspaper Al-Jumhuriyah)

28 PALESTINIANS: "Jerusalem Day" marking the anniversary of Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem (1967). Palestinian Legislative Council calls on the people to take part in Jerusalem Day activities (Palestinian news agency Wafa)

28 ISRAEL/MIDEAST: US Secretary of State Colin Powell arrives in Israel, holds talks with Israeli government and Palestinian officials. (Israeli, Palestinian sources)

30 SUDAN: Anniversary of the National Salvation Revolution in 1989 when President Umar Hasan al-Bashir took power (Sudanese sources)

3 July IRAN: Anniversary of the shooting down of Iranair Airbus by the USS Vincennes in 1988 (Iranian sources)

5 ALGERIA: Independence Day (1962)) (Algerian sources)

Sub-Saharan Africa

27 SOUTH AFRICA/USA: South African President Thabo Mbeki visiting (South African news agency SAPA web site)

29 MALI: Foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) member countries meet in Bamako (Radio Mali, Iranian radio, Egyptian news agency MENA)

27-28 TANZANIA: Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and DRCongo President Joseph Kabila hold talks in Arusha on the DRCongo crisis and normalizing relations between their countries (Ugandan newspaper The New Vision)

28 June-28 July SOUTH AFRICA: South African Communist Party launches its month-long anniversary celebration at the Johannesburg City Hall (South African news agency SAPA web site)

28-29 NIGERIA/MALI/COTE D'IVOIRE: French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine visits (Nigeria 28, Mali Cote d'Ivoire 29) (French news agency AFP)

28 ZAMBIA: Parliamentary by-elections to fill seats left vacant by deaths, defections and expulsions from ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) (Zambian newspaper The Post web site)

30 DRCONGO: Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and Foreign Minister Louis Michel visit for Independence Day celebrations (Belgian newspaper Le Soir)

4 ZAMBIA: Ministerial committee meeting to prepare for the Organization of African Unity (OAU) summit in Lusaka (Regional sources)

5 COMOROS/FRANCE: Donors meeting sponsored by World Bank in Paris to discuss ways of assisting Comoros in national reconciliation process. (RFO Mayotte radio)

Americas

28 CUBA: First anniversary of the return to Cuba of Elian Gonzalez (Cuban sources)

1 July ARGENTINA: Anniversary of the death of former President Juan Domingo Peron (1974) (Argentina sources)

3-6 BAHAMAS: Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom) heads of government meet in Nassau for 22nd summit meeting; regional security, crime, political unity, HIV/AIDS and coming international trade and economic negotiations, are some of the major agenda issues (Caribbean news agency CANA)

4-8 BRAZIL: European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy visits (Brazilian newspaper Jornal do Brasil)

5 USA: President of Guatemala Alfonso Portillo visits for talks with President George W. Bush (Guatemalan sources)

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