Monday 8 April

US Secretary of State John Kerry continues his visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories on Monday (and Tuesday) where he is holding talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, meanwhile, will meet on Monday with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy in Madrid.

In Chile, a team of investigators will exhume the body of Pablo Neruda to verify whether the poet did, in fact, die from cancer in 1973, or whether he was assassinated, as some claim.

Finally, US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew will be in Brussels for talks with key EU officials, at which the crisis in Cyprus and its potential impact on economic stability of Europe is likely to be discussed.

Tuesday 9 April

On Tuesday, Jacob Lew is scheduled to continue his travel in Europe, with stops in Berlin and Paris for talks with his counterparts Wolfgang Schauble and Pierre Moscovici.

In New York, the UN Security Council is scheduled to discuss the situation in the Central African Republic after the Seleka rebels took the capital Bangui, deposing President Francois Bozize.

Iran will celebrate its National Day of Nuclear Technology.

Wednesday 10 April

Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague will host his G8 counterparts for a two-day meeting in London.

Finally, back in New York, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde is scheduled to deliver a major address in New York City.

Thursday 11 April

Capital controls imposed in Cyprus in the wake of the bailout agreement and designed to prevent a catastrophic bank run are scheduled to be lifted on Thursday, after they were extended by a week. Most analysts expect them to be extended again.

Italy, meanwhile, is scheduled to hold a sovereign debt auction, which will provide an opportunity to see whether the continuing political gridlock inside Italy and developments outside are rattling markets’ confidence in Europe’s fourth largest economy.

Separately, US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Martin Dempsey are testifying at Senate hearing on Thursday.

Friday 12 April

On Friday, the nine South African police officers charged in connection with the death of a Mozambican taxi driver who was filmed being dragged behind a police van are due back in court.

John Kerry will be in Seoul for talks with counterparts as he begins the Asian-leg of his seven-nation trip. Once again, North Korea will dominate.

Lastly, in Dublin, Eurogroup finance ministers are due to meet, with Cyprus and the Memorandum of Understanding on the bailout agreement top of the agenda. Finance Ministers from all 27 EU member-states will meet that afternoon and on Saturday.

Saturday 13 April

North Korea will again be on the agenda when John Kerry pays his first visit to Beijing since taking over from Hillary Clinton.

Sunday 14 April

Venezuelans will on Sunday return to the polls to elect their President in the wake of Hugo Chavez’s passing on March 5. His appointed successor, former bus driver Nicolas Maduro is expected to defeat opposition candidate Henrique Capriles.

John Kerry will wrap up his Asia visit with a stop in Tokyo where he meets his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida

In Cameroon, for the first time there will be an election for 70 members of the country’s 100-member Senate, with the remainder selected by President Paul Biya.

On Sunday, Canada’s opposition Liberal Party is scheduled to appoint its new leader. There has been much excitement about the candidacy of Justin Trudeau.

By Nicole Hunt

Though it’s sometimes difficult to keep track of which Silvio Berlusconi trial is currently in court, Monday sees the resumption of the most infamous of his four cases, in which he faces charges for abuse of power and paying for underage sex. The Italian Senate has approved a motion to move the case from Milan’s court to a special minister’s court, but the case remains in Milan while the Constitutional Court mulls the Senate’s request.

The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly opens, with more attention than usual being paid this time around. On Tuesday, the Assembly debates a motion that would recommend taking action against pre-natal sex selection in Europe, particularly in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, where the ratio of girls to boys in the population is dropping. On Thursday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the assembly.

Following a meeting of Eurogroup Finance Ministers on Monday, all EU Finance Ministers convene in Luxembourg on Tuesday, with the focus, as with many things this week, squarely on Greece. Discussions are also expected on an EU financial transaction tax, after the European Commission published proposals last week.

In direct response to the austerity measures being so closely watched by the European Finance Ministers, Greek public sector workers hold a 24-hour strike on Wednesday, calling the cuts ‘barbaric’. A general strike is also planned for 19 October.

Meanwhile, in Brussels, German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends the weekly meeting of the European College of Commissioners. At NATO headquarters, NATO Defence Ministers hold a regular meeting to discuss operational issues, with Libya topping the agenda.

Former Bosnian-Serb Army Commander Ratko Mladic is back in court in The Hague on Thursday. Since his last appearance on 25 August, Mladic’s lawyers have requested the names of all 7,000 victims of the Srebrenica massacre as part of their opposition to the indictment.

In Johannesburg, the African National Congress’ disciplinary committee resumes hearing the charges against controversial youth leader Julius Malema, who is accused of interrupting an ANC Officials meeting alongside three other men. Malema faces separate charges of bringing the ANC into disrepute and sowing divisions within ANC ranks, which will be heard separately once this case has concluded. It’s currently scheduled to last two days, but has already been delayed several times.

Friday is, oddly, both the 10 year anniversary of the beginning of the War in Afghanistan and also the date for the announcement of the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. Anti-war activists hold mass demonstrations in London and Washington on Saturday, while the Peace Prize will be presented to the winner on 10 December.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu celebrates his 80th birthday and a year since he stepped down from public duties. Three days of celebrations are being held in Cape Town, and a new biography is being released to mark the day.

Spanish ‘indignant’ activists who have marched 1500km from Madrid are scheduled to arrive in Brussels on Saturday to hold a demonstration against unrepresentative politics. The protesters, who are joined by counterparts from across Europe, plan to hold a week of events, culminating in a large rally on 15 October.

Two elections take place on Sunday: voters in Poland elect 460 members to their lower house and 100 members to their upper house of parliament, while in Cameroon voters elect their president for the next seven years. Incumbent Paul Biya is only the second president since independence in 1960, and has held the post since 1982.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is in Zimbabwe on Sunday, making him the first high-profile UK official to visit the country since 2001. The visit is part of a three-country pastoral tour which also includes Malawi and Zambia. Williams is expected to meet with President Robert Mugabe, and is scheduled to hold a special service for members of the Anglican Church who have not joined a splinter movement set up by the former Bishop of Harare.

The wildcards The International Criminal Court This is the only thing people are talking and thinking about in Sudan right now. What will happen when, as widely expected, the global court turns Sudan’s president into a wanted man? Expected: Any day now President Obama Will he follow President Bush’s lead and keep the "normalisation" talks going with Sudan? Or will he follow President Clinton’s lead and start ordering missile strikes on pharmaceutical factories? Expected: 20/01/2009

I’ve been enjoying Wronging Rights: Very serious commentary on very important issues for some time now. There are frankly enough pompous, self-serving blogs about genocide, misery and African development so Wronging Rights always brings a refreshing new take. If you can’t laugh about human suffering, what can you do? Take this recent example… Because Sometimes an Anti-Genocide T-Shirt Just Isn’t Enough

Does your distaste for the targeted slaughter of entire groups of people compel you to do more than wear one of our (oh-so-trendy) "I [do not heart] Genocide" t-shirts? Do you feel the need to take a bolder, more committed stance? Will your justifiable feelings of outrage carry you through the arduous process of clicking on a link, waiting for a page to load, and then clicking on a "vote" button?

Primal Sneeze always makes me smile too…

For a couple of months now I have been hearing pub-talk about signs appearing on building sites in Poland saying “No Irish”. A kickback to the “No Irish need apply” signs that appeared in the UK after the war and the “No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs” signs on boarding houses in the 1960s.

As does Ourman in Cameroon, who’s experience of Africa seems eerily similar to mine (albeit with worse food)

Things to look out for if you want your Spotter’s Badge: * The roadside second hand clothes store – you want clothes here – they’re going to be second hand. * The dust – it’s everywhere right now and will only get worse. My colleague swears it will not rain again till March 15th. If that’s when it’s due then I’ll imagine it won’t actually start till April. People here are still organising New Year parties. * The furniture maker and his sofas (where I got mine). * The (also) second hand kitchen appliances * The Nesquik van

So that’s Google Reader almost cleared. Now for the 47 messages on my phone…