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.

Monday 4 February

President Hollande, hosts US Vice President Joe Biden in Paris for talks on Monday, likely to be focused significantly on the mission in Mali, as well as the conflict in Syria. This follows talks between Biden and Russian Foreign Minister on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference. Biden’s next and final stop is London, where similar issues are likely to come up.

Europol, meanwhile, is scheduled to hold a press conference in the Netherlands to announce the results of its investigation into football match fixing.

Finally, there is talk of a three-way summit between Prime Minister David Cameron, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in London (confirmation pending).

Tuesday 5 February

On Tuesday, EU ministers are due to meet in Brussels to discuss the training mission to Mali, which could become operational as early as 12 February, according to its head Brigadier General Francois Lecointre.

Joe Biden, as mentioned earlier, is due to visit London where he will holds talks with Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

Finally, French President Francois Hollande, is scheduled to address a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Wednesday 6 February

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague will be grilled on Britain’s relationship with the EU by MPs on Wednesday, when he appears before the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Hague’s cabinet colleague George Osborne, meanwhile, will join OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría at the launch of the OECD’s economic survey of the UK.

Finally, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected in Paris to meet French leader Francois Hollande. The anticipated travel comes as the two nations’ football teams square up in a friendly match, which they may attend.

Thursday 7 February

In the US, President Barack Obama’s nominee to lead the CIA, John Brennan, will be grilled in an open session of the Senate Intelligence Committee to consider his nomination. Republicans will no doubt focus on the 11 September attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Tripoli. While Democrats are more likely to be interested in drone attacks and extrajudicial killings (which, incidentally, are the subject of a UN inquiry launched last month).

Incoming Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will appear on Thursday before the UK Treasury Select Committee. The Canadian central banker has already been making waves ahead of his arrival, with provocative policy suggestions and expensive housing requirements.

Friday 8 February

On Friday Samuel Mullet, the delightfully-named leader of an Ohio Amish group found guilty last year of federal hate crimes after cutting off the beards of a rival group, is due to be sentenced alongside his co-defendants.

Also Friday, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will be discussing prospects for growth in Europe at an event in Singapore.

Saturday 9 February

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah are said to be planning to hold a further round of reconciliation talks in Cairo.

Images courtesy of ldambies / Frontpage / Shutterstock.com

By Nicole Hunt

US President Barack Obama hosts Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki for talks in Washington on Monday, with discussions focusing on strengthening the ‘strategic partnership’ between the two countries. The summit comes ahead of a looming 31 December deadline for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.

Following last week’s European Council meetings, the focus early this week is, predictably, still the euro zone debt crisis. Experts from the IMF, the European Central Bank and the EU begin their sixth review mission to Athens, hoping that this time around they’ll be able to stick around until the scheduled end of the visit on Friday.

The venue changes but the topic stays the same on Tuesday, with Spain, Italy and France in the limelight. Spain’s Congreso de los Diputados convenes for the first time since elections on 20 November, though new Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy won’t formally take up his post until he’s sworn in by King Carlos later this month.

In Rome, Parliament is scheduled to begin debating Prime Minister Mario Monti’s austerity measures, which he issued by decree on 4 December. MPs are expected to approve the measures well before the 60-day deadline.

Meanwhile, French unions have planned a nationwide day of protests against their government’s austerity measures. Thousands are expected to take the streets in Paris, where the largest demonstration takes place outside of the Assemblée Nationale.

Under Egypt’s complicated election laws, another parliamentary vote is held on Wednesday, with polling taking place in nine governates, including Giza and Suez. The elections on 28 November, which were held despite violent protests only days before, covered nine provinces, including Cairo and Alexandria. A third round of voting takes place on 3 January.

In New Orleans, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management holds the first oil and natural gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico since the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.

A Paris court is expected to issue its verdict on Thursday in the long-running corruption trial of former French President Jacques Chirac. Chirac is accused of misusing public funds and creating false job contracts during his time as Mayor of Paris. He settled a €2.2m civil suit with the city of Paris in August 2010.

Thursday also sees two meetings taking place which will be viewed very differently by Russia. President Dmitry Medvedev attends the EU-Russia Summit in Brussels, but the visit will be coloured by expressions of concern from the EU over allegations of unfair voting practices in Russia’s 4 December parliamentary elections, which saw Medvedev’s United Russia party win a majority despite heavy losses.

Over in Geneva, the World Trade Organisation holds its eighth Ministerial Conference, where delegates are expected to hold a long-awaited vote on Russian accession to the WTO.

TIME Magazine announces its annual Person of the Year on Friday. Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg was 2010’s winner; leaders in this year’s online poll (which don’t have any bearing on the final choice) include Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, footballer Lionel Messi, The 99%, Anonymous, Steve Jobs, and the Arab Youth.

The US army begins an Article 32 hearing for Private First Class Bradley Manning, which is expected to last just over a week. The hearing is to determine whether there is enough evidence to proceed with a court martial against Manning, who is accused to leaking a 2007 video to WikiLeaks which showed a military operation in Baghdad in which two Reuters reporters were killed.

As Saturday happens to be Manning’s 24th birthday, an international day of solidarity has been organised, with protests planned worldwide. Occupy London protesters have already pledged to take part.

Though it hardly seems possible as Egypt works through elections and protests and killings rage on in Syria, Saturday also marks the one year anniversary of the self-immolation of Tunisian fruit and vegetable seller Mohamed Bouazizi, an event that has been singled out as the catalyst for the Arab Spring movement as it kicked off Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution.