International news of the week

Saturday

Cairo: Egypt's streets continue to simmer with anger with 10 lives lost over three days, as fuming protesters clashed with police over its failure to prevent Port Said's unprecedented football violence.

Washington: Seeking strong ties with both India and China, the US has said that its relations with the two Asian giants are not a zero-sum game.

Washington: A host of bilateral and regional issues, including the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, Iranian sanctions and Pak-Afghan situation, are expected to figure prominently in talks Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai will have with top US officials during his visit here next week.

Sunday

Washington: Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney secures an overwhelming victory in the Nevada caucuses, recording his second straight win that cemented his position as the party front-runner to take on President Barack Obama in the November 6 polls.

London: Public unease has given way to increasing fury here over giving millions of pounds in aid to an increasingly prosperous India, as the David Cameron government continues to resist pressure to stop it despite being in the throes of an economic crisis.

Monday

London: Britain defends its multi-million pound aid to India, amid demands by ruling Conservative party MPs and others to end it, saying "now is not the time to quit".

Islamabad: Acknowledging that Pakistan "cannot afford wars" in the 21st century, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani says the Kashmir issue will have to be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.

Tuesday

Beijing: A wide range of bilateral and global issues, including trade and developments relating to Syria and Iran, are likely to figure in talks External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will have with top Chinese leaders during his visit here to inaugurate the new $10 million Indian embassy building.

Islamabad: Pakistan's Supreme Court admits for hearing a petition asking it to restrain the government from sacking army chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and ISI head Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha.

Colombo: Describing India's Sri Lanka policy as "too north-centric", Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy seeks more Indian engagement in developmental projects in this country, even as he advocated the need for a political solution to the Tamil issue.

Wednesday

Washington: Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai meets Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and holds a series of meetings at the State Department and the White House on a range of bilateral, regional and global issues.

Washington: The Indo-Iran rice trade will not be "sanctioned" under the American curbs on Tehran as food and medical exports were exempted from the measures, a top US official says, amid reports that the Islamic republic was defaulting on rice payments to India.

Beijing: Describing Tibet issue as an internal affair of China, India says it was "willing to offer any help" to ease the recent spurt in tensions, striking a cautious note on the self immolations by Buddhist monks and subsequent violence.

Thursday

Washington: India's insistence on continuing to buy Iranian oil defying US sanctions, drawing common approach on China, Af-Pak situation and peace negotiations with Taliban dominate the talks of Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai who concludes his maiden bilateral visit.

Beijing: Concerned over the Chinese troop presence in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, India takes up the issue with the top leadership.

Friday

Beijing: Describing the situation in Tibet as "grave", China orders authorities there to prepare themselves for "a war against secessionist sabotage" by the Dalai Lama amid reports that security forces shot dead two Tibetan protesters.

Washington: US immigration authorities, in the past four years, have increased denial of work-related visas, with India-born professionals being refused at higher rates than nationals of other countries, an American think tank says in a report.