International news of the week

Saturday

Berlin: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says he is "worried" about the future of the Parliamentary system in the wake of a complete washout of the winter session of Parliament on the 2G spectrum issue.

Cancun: The UN climate conference here reaches a "compromise" to set up a $100 billion 'Green Fund' to fight global warming, a decision India described as an "important step forward", but there was no agreement on extending the landmark Kyoto Protocol on emissions cuts beyond 2012.

Sunday

Washington: US President Barack Obama slams WikiLeaks for releasing thousands of classified US government documents and has termed the act of whistleblower website as "deplorable".

Cancun/Berlin: Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has come in for praise from German Chancellor Angela Merkela and a Maldivian minister for his "important contribution" and for bridging gaps on contentious issues at the UN climate conference.

Monday

Beijing: Terming Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to New Delhi as a "big event" in Sino-India relations, China says it would address the contentious issues like stapled visas to residents of Jammu and Kashmir as well as India's bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

New York/New Delhi: One of India's top most diplomats, Hardeep Puri, Ambassador to the United Nations, was asked to remove his turban during an airport 'pat-down' search in the US in yet another incident of Indian envoys subjected to humiliating process.

Tuesday

Los Angeles: Oscar winning Indian musician AR Rahman is in the race to win his second Golden Globe after being nominated in the Best Original Score category for his music in the Danny Boyle directed film '127 Hours'.

Dhaka: A devastating fire tore through a multi-storeyed garment factory near here killing at least 24 people and trapping over 100 others on the roof of the building.

Wednesday

London: Sweden's appeal against the bail granted to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on rape charges will be heard in the High Court here tomorrow, even as his lawyers complained that the prison authorities were making it difficult for them to meet him for preparing his legal case.

Washington: Frank Ruggiero, a career civil servant who served under late Richard Holbrooke, has been made the Acting US Special Representative to the Af-Pak region and will be assisted by two deputies, one of them an Indian-American.

Thursday

Washington: Noting that the challenges remains tough in Af-Pak, President Barack Obama says that the US is on track to achieve its goals in the war against terrorism against al-Qaeda in the region, even as he asked Pakistan to do more to dismantle terrorist "safe havens" inside its territory.

London: Julian Assange, the founder of whistle-blowing website Wikileaks who is fighting extradition to Sweden over sex charges, was granted conditional bail by a British court today and is expected to be freed soon.

Friday

London: Fearing that his freedom may be "short lived", WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says that the US is preparing to indict him on espionage charges and it was likely that he may be extradited.

Washington: In controversial comments, Rahul Gandhi has told US Ambassador to India Timothy Roemer that growth of "radicalised Hindu groups" posed a bigger threat to the country than militant groups like LeT, according to a leaked American diplomatic cable.