What's Happening Today - Wednesday 16 February

New Zealand: 

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard addresses House of Representatives today - first foreign leader to do so 

Japan:

Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara gives speech on economic diplomacy (2300).

Japan:

Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma to hold a presser at the Japan National Press Club to talk about the economic ties between the two Asian giants (0200).

Japan:

The Fourth Asia-Pacific Intelligence Chiefs Conference. Senior officials from South Korea, Japan and China meet in Tokyo to hold cooperation talks and prepare for other trilateral events planned for this year

North Korea:

State celebration for 69th birthday of its leader Kim Jong-il.

Singapore: 

Mongolian Prime Minister Suhbaataryn Batbold starts visit (-19) for talks with counterpart Lee Hsien Loong, gives lecture at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, opens exhibition on heritage of Genghis Khan

Sri Lanka:

Test runs on the  new Galle-Matara railway expressway begin – part of national project to restore network after 30 years of neglect

India: 

Japanese army chief of staff Yoshifumi Hibako visits for talks with Army Chief Vijay Kumar Singh, Defence Minister A. K. Antony

Pakistan: 

US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry visits for talks with top officials; seen as effort to restore relations after a US diplomat shot dead two Pakistanis in Lahore in January

Turkmenistan: 

US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake visits region to participate in mid-year review of Annual Bilateral Consultations with government of Turkmenistan, also holds consultations in Uzbekistan, attends Uzbek-American business forum in Tashkent (18)

Kygyzstan: 

Secretary-General of Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Nikolay Bordyuzha visits for talks on cooperation; third and final day; CSTO member states are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan 

Azerbaijan: 

Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen Sebahattin Isik Kosaner visits 

Iran:

Turkish President Abdullah Gul wraps up visit to Tehran for talks with counterpart Mahmud Ahmadinejad; comes as part of Turkish mediation efforts weeks after latest round of talks between world powers and Iran on its controversial nuclear programme

Iraq:

Council of Representatives meets for 33rd session, after last attempt was cancelled due to lack of quorum – session to include first reading of the draft law for amending the law for the election of the vice president 

Iraq:

Body of Kurdish veteran politician Shaykh Iz-al-Din Husayni expected arrives in Iraqi Kurdistan Region; mourning ceremony to take place in Sweden's Uppsala.

Jordan: 

Campaign for Change (Jayyin) holds sit-in outside King Abdallah's residence Raghadan Palace, demanding wider freedoms 

Lebanon: 

Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah gives speech to commemorate "Islamic Resistance Martyrs"

Israel:

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to address the annual Conference Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations.

Israel: 

East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta continues visit of region for talks with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Palestinian National Authority leaders (-19) 

Egypt: 

Supreme Council of Armed Forces (which assumed power after President Husni Mubarak stepped down) meets editors-in-chief of private and state-run newspapers; yesterday, fresh protests and strikes flared as demonstrators demand better pay and conditions 

Sudan: 

South Sudan All Parties' Conference

Sudan:

The chairman of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-Unity), Uthman al-Bushra, to hold a press conference at the Friendship Hall in Khartoum to announce the start of arrangements for Darfur internal peace agreement recently signed

South Africa: 

National Defence Force holds "air border safeguarding operation" in Northern Limpopo Province (-23)

Ivory Coast:

Gbagbo's minister requests registration of Ivorian workers affected by crisis, if they want to keep their jobs.

Ukraine:

Ukrainian Parliament debates pension reform, measures include, amongst others, raising the retirement age for women to 60 from 55. This is required by the USD 15 bn IMF stand-by arrangement agreed on in July 2010.

Moldova:

IMF winds up a two-week visit to Moldova and will give a verdict on reforms in one of Europe's poorest countries and whether it is doing enough to secure between $77-100 million credit.

Italy:

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visits . 

Holland:

Experts debate 'urban shrinkage' in Amsterdam – to focus on causes and consequences of urban shrinkage in different parts of Europe. Takes place in Roeterseiland

Belgium:

Next round of negotiations in Belgium on forming new government ends. On 2 February, Didier Reynders, finance minister in the caretaker government, was named as 'Informateur' or pre-negotiator in the latest round of the Belgian political crisis. 

Belgium:

Crans Montana Forum on Africa & the Arab World 2011 begins, aims to address the challenges of the Arab-African cooperation. 

Spain:

Polish cyclist Krystian Herba, who in October cycled to the top of Millennium Tower in Vienna, plans to cycle up the stairs to the top of the 210 metre Gran Hotel Bali, in Benidorm, Spain.

Ireland:

Leaders' debate takes place ahead of general election in Ireland

UN:

UN Security Council to discuss recent developments in Kosovo

US:

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko wraps up visit Washington to attend meeting of joint commission for strategic partnership

US:

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner testifies to Senate Finance Committee on President Barack Obama's budget request, revenue proposals.

US:

Somali pirate Abduwali Muse is to be sentenced after pleading guilty to taking part in the hijacking of the U.S. ship Maersk Alabama.

Peru: 

POSTPONED Summit of South American - Arab Countries was to be held in Lima (-16); delayed due to continuing volatility in Middle East; delayed until 19-20 April 

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