Today:
Franco-German summit begins in Potsdam. EU Transport Council meets. US state department holds Middle East donors conference in Washington. Annan visits Algeria. PNG PM in China. US State Department hosts conference on Nazi-looted assets from the Holocaust. Parliamentary assembly of WEU meets in Paris. Italian PM in London. Russian Duma impeachment committee against Yeltsin hears evidence from former defence minister. EU Development Council meets. Syria holds parliamentary elections. Quebec holds legislative elections. Regional elections expected in north-eastern Caprivi region of Namibia. Commissioner Mary Robinson gives lecture in London on the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Tomorrow:
IAEA holds board of governors meeting in Vienna. EU Economic and Finance Council meets in Brussels. Iranian foreign minister in Italy. French and German foreign ministers begin visit to Croatia and Yugoslavia. Menem in Japan. German president in UK. PM of Pakistan in US. Governing council of European Central Bank meets in Frankfurt. Chernobyl nuclear plant closes reactor for repairs. World AIDS Day.
Wednesday:
EU Parliament begins two-day plenary session in Brussels. OSCE holds ministerial meeting in Oslo. UNESCO holds fifth session of International Bioethics Committee. International Day for the Abolition of Slavery.
Thursday:
Annan in Tunisia. Blair in France. Moroccan PM in China. EU Justice and Home Affairs Council meets in Brussels. NASA launches Endeavour spacecraft. WCC meets in Zimbabwe. Anniversary of Bhopal gas disaster. International Day of the Disabled.
Friday:
EU Education Council in Brussels. Iran begins naval and army exercises in the Gulf.
Saturday:
Taiwan holds parliamentary and mayoral elections. Nigeria holds local elections. Iraqi trade minister in Egypt. US secretary of state hosts 1998 Kennedy Centre Honours.
Sunday:
St Petersburg holds city assembly elections after death of Galina Starovoitova. Gabon holds presidential election. Venezuelan presidential election. Arab Economic Unity Council in Cairo. Russian PM in India.
Ireland
Today: Dail debate on UN Human Rights Year.
Irish events of a world news interest for this column should be received by David Shanks, Foreign Desk, on the Friday before publication.