International news of the week

A look at theheadlines that dominated the newspapers around the globe this week

Saturday

Colombo: The 34 Indian fishermen, released by Sri Lanka, left for India after spending a night in Jaffna. "Five boats with 34 Indian fishermen have started sailing off towards International Maritime Border Line (IMBL)," an Indian official here says.

Caracas: Late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has been laid to rest at a military museum after an emotional final journey through the streets of Caracas watched by hundreds of thousands.

Sunday

Bern: Switzerland says it is "profoundly shocked" by the gangrape of a Swiss tourist in India and demanded that those responsible for the "tragic incident" be quickly identified and punished.

London: A 56-year-old India-born football fan was beaten up badly by seven men and punched in the face and head more than 18 times on a packed tram in UK, as 200 onlookers did nothing to save him from the racist attackers.

Monday

Brussels: The European Union's (EU) foreign service reacted cautiously to a decision by India's top judge to strip Italy's ambassador of his diplomatic immunity.

Tuesday

Baghdad: A wave of bombings tore through Iraq, killing 65 people on eve of the 10th anniversary of the US-led invasion and showing how unstable Iraq remains more than a year after the withdrawal of American troops.

Beijing: China's new President Xi Jinping unveiled a five-point formula to improve ties with India, proposing accommodation of each other's core concerns and proper handling of differences while seeking peace on the border as a resolution of the dispute "won't be easy".

Wednesday

Jerusalem: Barack Obama landed in Israel on his first visit to the Jewish state as US President in what is expected to be a show of America's unwavering support to its closest ally in the region which is grappling with the Syrian crisis and Iran's nuclear programme.

Islamabad: Pakistan will go to polls on May 11, marking the first democratic transfer of power in the country that has witnessed several coups in its 66-year existence.

Dhaka/Singapore: Bangladesh President Mohammad Zillur Rahman, a close aide of the country's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, died at a Singapore hospital where he was being treated for kidney and respiratory problems, officials say.

Thursday

Rome: Italy says it will send back to India two marines to face trial for killing two fishermen after receiving an assurance from the Indian government about the protection of their fundamental rights.

Geneva: India along with 24 other countries backed a US-sponsored resolution at UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) against Sri Lanka asking it to conduct an "independent and credible" probe into allegations of human rights violations, an issue on which DMK pulled out of the ruling UPA alliance.

Ramallah/Jerusalem: US President Barack Obama, on a historic trip to the West Bank, told Israel that its settlement activities were "not constructive" for peace in the region, and pledged his commitment to a two-state solution as Palestinians "deserve a state of their own".

Friday

Islamabad: Pakistani prosecutors have approached a court seeking voice samples of seven men, including LeT commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, charged with involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, saying the measure will speed up their prosecution.

Karachi: Clearing the way for his homecoming, a Pakistani court granted former military ruler Pervez Musharraf pre-arrest bail in several cases in some of which he has been declared a proclaimed offender.

Dhaka: A powerful tornado ripped through more than a dozen rural villages in eastern Bangladesh, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 100, officials says.