Condoleezza Rice
Whistlestop tour
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits Brazil and Chile. In Brasilia, Rice is expected to meet President Lula and Foreign Minister Celso Amorim to discuss topics including cooperation in biofuels. In Santiago, she will meet President Michelle Bachelet and her Chilean counterpart, Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley. (US State Department website)
Tony Blair
Japan hosts G8 Gleneagles Dialogue
Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair addresses the opening of the Fourth ministerial meeting of the G8 Gleneagles Dialogue in Chiba, Japan. This meeting includes the G8 powers plus Brazil, China, India and other major greenhouse gas emitters. Discussions will focus on global warming mainly in terms of innovative technology, financing and the creation of a post-Kyoto Protocol framework (Japanese media sources).
Alan Garcia
Garcia meets Fukada in Tokyo
Peruvian President Alan Garcia visits for talks with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda; relations were strained after then Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori fled to Japan following a corruption scandal in Peru in 2000, and Japan refused to hand him over (Japan's largest news agency Kyodo).
Mikheil Saakashvili
Georgian President visits US
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili will visit Washington for talks with his US counterpart George Bush. (BBC Monitoring)
Pranab Mukherjee
Nuclear love-in
Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee visits the United States. He is expected to present IAEA safeguards agreement on his country's civilian nuclear facilities to his counterpart Condoleezza Rice. The agreement is a condition for implementation of the India-United States civil nuclear cooperation agreement (The Times of India).
John McCain
McCain in Europe
Having secured his nomination as Republican Party presidential candidate, John McCain is to embark on a tour of West European countries. He is hoping to use the trip as an opportunity to emphasise his foreign policy credentials in preperation for the next phase of his White House bid. (Reuters)
Cypriot Flag
Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders meet
Recently elected Cyprus President Dhimitrios Khristofias meets Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat fof the first time (Greek Cypriot news agency CNA).
Gates and Rice
US-Russia relations
Fresh from her visit to Latin America, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel with Defence Secretary Robert Gates to Moscow. There they will meet with their respective counterparts Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defence minister Anatoliy Serdyukov. (Russian state news agency ITAR-TASS).
Viktor Zubkov
Russian Prime Minister visits Belarus
Council of Ministers session of Russian-Belarusian union state, attended by Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov and Belarusian Prime Minister Syarhey Sidorski. (BBC Monitoring)
Sergey Lavrov
Russia diplomacy
Russian Foreign Minister tours Syria, Israel and Palestinian Territories to discuss Palestinian-Israeli relations and solution to humanitarian crisis in Gaza Strip. (Russian state news agency ITAR-TASS)
Moroccan Flag
Western Sahara talks
Fourth round of talks between Morocco and Polisario Front on future of Western Sahara, at Manhasset near New York (Algerian newspaper El Moujahid)
Dick Cheney
Cheney tour
US Vice-President Dick Cheney will embark on a tour of the Middle East which is expected to take in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank and Turkey. He is aiming to reaffirm the White House's commitment to achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians before the end of the current administration (White House website and regional sources).
Angela Merkel
Merkel in Israel
German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits Israel for talks with her counterpart Shimon Peres (Regional sources).
