China: US Attorney-General Eric Holder begins two-day visit; to raise issue of jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo China: The People's Bank of China raise interest rates for the first time in nearly three years from today (increase from 5.31 percent to 5.56 percent) South Korea: Seoul hosts Chiefs of Defence conference (-22); senior defence officials from 27 countries, including USA, Japan, Russia and India, participate Indonesia: Anti-government demonstrations held in Jakarta to mark first anniversary of government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice-President Boediono. Indonesian police offers have been authorized by a new regulation to shoot rioters on sight to control violence during the rally Russia: Second and final day of Munich Security Conference meeting in Moscow, focusing on European security; attendees include Security Council secretary Nikolay Patrushev, Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Kyrgyzstan: Sanjar Bakiyev (ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's nephew) and other four defendants go on trial on charges of inciting ethnic rioting and attempting to seize power (Kyrgyz Radio 1) Afghanistan: TENTATIVE preliminary results of 18 September parliamentary elections may be announced today; announcement had previously been postponed from 9 to 17 October. Afghan election officials will void about 1 million votes, roughly 23 percent of the total ballots, due to fraud Afghanistan: The Afghan government said it has ordered an audit of all private banks in the country, starting today Armenia: Two-day Forum for Future of Democracy concludes in Yerevan; attendees include Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland, Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) Chairman Mevlut Cavusoglu, Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg Iran: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez meets with counterpart Mahmud Ahmadinejad, other senior officials (-21) Iran: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamene'i visits holy city of Qom (-27); meets seminary students (21), members of Qom Theological Lecturers Association (23), Supreme Council of Qom Theological Seminary (26) Iraq: National Alliance and Kurdistan Blocs' Alliance holds talks on formation of new cabinet Iraq: Auction for right to develop three gas fields Qatar: Eighth annual Doha Conference on Interfaith Dialogue continues (-21) Turkey: German President Christian Wulff visits (-22); meets counterpart Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (19); visit comes after Chancellor Angela Merkel's remarks about failure of multiculturalism in Germany, which hosts large Turkish community Syria: DELAYED Representatives from rival Palestinian factions Hamas, Fatah were to meet for talks in Damascus; meeting postponed amid disagreements over venue Yemen: Muhammad al-Khudr, deputy head of security of Mudia, Abyan province, said rebels have been using hit-and-run tactics, using the mountains surrounding the towns of Mudia and Loder to infiltrate the towns and attack military posts. He sadi Abd ul-Monem al-Fahtani is hiding in Thououba, a village near Mudia and will be attacked today. Israel: Three-day Israeli Defence (ISDEF) 2010 trade show ends Egypt: Outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki visits, meets President Husni Mubarak to discuss formation of Iraqi cabinet, bilateral issues Egypt: South African President Jacob Zuma visits for talks with counterpart Husni Mubarak; agenda includes Middle East peace process, oil exploration by South African firm, PetroSA in Egypt; second and final day Egypt: Middle East and North Africa food security conference organised by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Sudan: Following up after SPLM called for the immediate withdrawal of Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) troops from Unity state in Southern Sudan (Simon Mayiik claims SAF troop numbers in Parieng county, Unity state, have increased) South Africa: The majority of South African public sector unions have accepted a government wage hike offer, bringing an end to the strike of about 1.3 million workers Nigeria: An Israeli man kidnapped by a gang in Nigeria has been released, Haaretz reported. It is assumed that after negotiations, the $170,000 ransom the kidnappers demanded for Ilan Digauker was paid by the construction company where Digauker was employed. Guinea: The leader of Guinea's military junta has named a fellow general as head of the election commission. Gen. Sekouba Konate named Gen. Siaka Toumany Sangare as the new election commission chief, replacing Louceny Camara, who faced accusations of bias from one of the candidates in a dispute that halted election preparations and prompted street violence. Albania: European Council President Herman Van Rompuy visits, meets Prime Minister Sali Berisha Serbia: Russian army chief General Nikolay Makarov completes two-day trip Holland: Far-right Party of Freedom (PVV) MP Geert Wilders appears in court in The Hague in case brought by Imam Fawaz Jneid; Wilders used fragments of imam's interview in his 2008 anti-Koran film Fitna France: Trade unions continue demonstrations, strikes against proposed pension reform France: Council of Europe conference on Roma held in Strasbourg France: France welcomes a security and defense partnership with the UK France: France has begun to import electricity because of reduced output caused by striking Electricite de France workers, buying 6,388 megawatts (MW) on Oct. 18 and 7,939 MW on Oct. 19. Nuclear power stations may have to shut. France: Israeli Minorities Minister Avishay Braverman to give a briefing to French Socialists and Middle East experts on prospects for peace with Syria (0700).
France: Senate due to vote on pension bill.
France: Rwandan rebel leader Collixte Mbarushimana appears in court over rapes and killings in Democratic Republic of Congo, ahead of his possible extradition to The Hague. UK: Government announces results of comprehensive spending review; watching international reaction to changes in funding of foreign policy, defence US: Third round of US-Pakistan strategic dialogue starts in Washington (-22); Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Army Chief Ishfaq Pervez Kayani, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attend US: UN Fund launches new report "State of the World Population 2010". US: Reporters Without Borders' Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2010 launched.
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