Digest of International news for the week

Saturday

Islamabad: Pakistan has not backtracked on the issue of giving India Most Favoured Nation-status and officials of the two countries will work out modalities for normalising bilateral trade relations, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar says.

Washington: A crucial trilateral dialogue involving India, US and Japan to discuss regional issues is expected to be held by the year-end, the Obama administration says, recognising New Delhi's "powerful economic presence" in Asia.

Sunday

London: Miss Venezuela, Ivian Lunasol Sarcos Colimenares, is crowned the 2011 winner of the Miss World beauty pageant at a glittering final ceremony in London.

Mecca: Dressed in white seamless clothes, millions of Muslims from across the globe, including India, chanting "God is Great" stone pillars representing Satan in Mina, just outside Mecca, marking the last ritual of the world's largest annual human assembly, Hajj pilgrimage.

Monday

Islamabad: Amid reports that US may dismantle Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, the American Embassy says there are "potential threats" to Islamabad's atomic weapons from terrorists and that the country could still improve its nuclear security programmes.

Cairo: As tensions mount in the Persian Gulf over accusations that Iran is close to making nuclear weapons, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad warns of any attacks against his country.

Tuesday

Los Angeles: Michael Jackson's doctor Conrad Murray is found guilty of involuntary manslaughter over the King of Pop's 2009 death, in an emotional climax to a six-week trial.

Athens: Power-sharing talks between Greece's prime minister and the opposition leader drags on, with senior government officials saying a deal is close but European leaders ratcheting up the pressure for a resolution.

Wednesday

Beijing: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi holds candid talks with Chinese leaders, specially on contentious issues like presence of PLA troops in POK, terrorist training camps in Pakistan and prolonged detention of 22 diamond merchants from Gujarat on charges of smuggling.

Addu (Maldives): In the backdrop of "shrinking" trust deficit, India and Pakistan discus the key issue of terrorism, which has dogged the bilateral ties for years, with New Delhi asking Islamabad not to allow terrorism from its soil and seeking speedy trial of 26/11 case.

Thursday

Addu (Maldives): India and Sri Lanka agree that the Joint Working Group on Fisheries should meet and discuss steps to ensure that peace and harmony prevails in the waters between the two countries and Indian fishermen are not attacked by Lankan navy.

London: Under fire on the raging phone-hacking issue, News International chairman James Murdoch insists that he has been kept in the dark about the culture of criminality in the now-defunct News of the World, prompting a leading MP to label him a "mafia boss".

Friday

Washington: Alarmed by a series of self-immolations by desperate Tibetans, including monks and nuns, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asks China to respect the human rights of its people.

Islamabad: Pakistan and China will hold a two-week long joint military exercise with focus on anti-terror cooperation in Pakistan from November 16.