What's Happening Today - Tuesday 4 January

Japan:

Japan Prime Minister Naoto Kan to hold news conference.

South Korea: 

US special representative for North Korea Stephen Bosworth, US envoy to six-party talks Sung Kim visit Seoul (4-5), to meet chief nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac tomorrow; go on to Beijing (5-6) and Tokyo (6) to discuss ways to ease tensions and resume six-party talks on denuclearization of North Korea

Thailand: 

Royalist Yellow Shirt supporters rally in eastern border province of Sa Kaeo to call for release by Cambodia of seven detained Thais, including a Yellow Shirt leader; they were detained on 29 December and charged with illegal entry 

Pakistan:

An Afghan High Peace Council [HPC] delegation arrives in Pakistan in a bid to create “an atmosphere of confidence”. The group is led by Borhanoddin Rabbani, the chairman of the HPC, at the invitation of the Pakistani prime minister, Yusuf Raza Gillani.

Russia:

A rescue operation in Sea of Okhotsk is to start [Three ships with over 400 fishermen on board are trapped by ice]

Ukraine:

Former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko's appeal against his arrest will be heard by a court

Iraq:

Northern Iraq witnesses impressive partial solar eclipse; also visible in many parts of Europe, North Africa and Central Asia

Kuwait: 

Mongolian Prime Minister Suhbaataryn Batbold visits for talks with Shaykh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah 

Qatar:

Court case of eight Bahrain-based fishermen arrested in Qatar accused of violating national borders

Lebanon: 

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Masha'i, visits to meet President Michel Sulayman

Libya:

Libyan delegation to the Arab League has called for meeting of the supreme five-member committee on a ministerial level  in Tripoli. [The five-member committee includes Iraq, Qatar, Libya, Egypt and Yemen] 

Sudan: 

President Umar al-Bashir visits South Sudan capital Juba for talks with regional leader Salva Kiir Mayardit on 9-15 January independence referendum; Al-Bashir also delivers speech 

Tunisia: 

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas visits to brief President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on latest Palestinian developments; second and final day; part of efforts to rally regional and international support for Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders

Sudan:

The Arab League mission for monitoring the referendum of South Sudan arrives

Zambia:

Preliminary court hearing for Xiao Li Shan, 48, and Wu Jiu Hua, 46, facing 12 counts of attempted murder after workers at a Chinese-run coal mine in Zambia were fired on following a dispute over pay.

South Africa:

Johannesburg High Court hearing in appeal of bail refusal by accused terrorist Henry Okah. Hearing expected to take two days; no date given for decision. [Okah will not be in court]

Nigeria:

Four economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) leaders who visited Cote d'Ivoire yesterday are to brief Nigerian President and current ECOWAS chairman Goodluck Jonathan on outcome of their mission to persuade President Laurent Gbagbo to cede power peacefully to internationally recognized election winner Alassane Ouattara; delegation included Beninese President Yayi Boni, Sierra Leone's Ernest Bai Koroma, Cape Verde's Pedro Pires and Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga

Kosovo:

Vote Recount Centre completes its work

Germany:

Federal Labour Agency releases December unemployment figures.

Spain: 

Chinese Vice-Premier Li Keqiang begins visit (-7) as part of tour which also includes Germany, UK (both 7-12) 

Cuba:

Cuba will begin applying labor readjustment measures Jan. 4 to eliminate approximately 500,000 state jobs at the ministries of Agriculture, Sugar Industry, Construction, Public Health and Tourism

Cuba:

Afro-Cuban Santeria priests hold news conference to deliver predictions for 2011.

US: 

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi continues 

US:

Former US counterterrorist ambassador Michael Sheehan was named assistant secretary of defence for special operations and will help coordinate the US campaign of special operations raids and unmanned aerial strikes [aka extra-judicial killings]

US:

A Preliminary hearing into manslaughter charges against Michael Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray.
 
US:

Florida, with new Governor Rick Scott, considers adopting Japanese shinkansen high-speed railway system ahead of visit by Japanese PM

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