Christopher Hill
Hill's East Asian Tour
US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill is expected to visit East Timor. East Timor is the third stop on Hill's East Asian tour which has also taken in Seoul and Bali. (South China Morning Post)
Kevin Rudd
Kev's World Tour
Continuing his first world tour as Australian Prime minister, Kevin Rudd will this week be stopping in China. He is expected to meet senior leaders including President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao as well as the "new generation of leadership emerging from 17th Party Congress". Topics for discussion will include climate change and trade in services (Australian PM's website)
Helen Clark
Free Trade First
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark is expected to fly to Beijing this week to sign a free trade agreement between China and New Zealand. The agreement will is China's first ever bilateral free trade agreement with a developed country. (Regional Sources)
Alyaksandr Lukashenka
Belaraus Vietnam Relations
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka will visit Vietnam to help boost economic ties between the two countries. (Regional Sources)
Mahinda Rajapakse
Back for seconds?
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse makes his second trip to Beijing in a year. His last visit resulted in a deal to develop a new port at Hambantota as well as a number of other lucrative trade and investment agreements. (BBC)
Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama in the US
The Dalai Lama will fly to the United States, stopping in Japan en route. (BBC)
George W. Bush
Love-hate relationship
On what must surely be one of Bush's longest foreign tours, the US President will drop in on Vladimir Putin. Relations between Russia and the US have chilled significantly since the two men first met, and Bush's recent pronouncements on NATO expansion won't have helped. However, with both Presidents in the final days of their premierships many are predicting a rekindling of old flames. (Regional sources)
17th Expedition to the International Space Station
Blast off!
A Russian built Soyuz TMA spacecraft will this week blast off from from the Baykonur space centre in Kazakhstan. The mission will deliver the 17th expedition to International Space Station. (Regional sources)
Jose Manuel Barroso
Accession Talks
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn will visit Turkey for talks with President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Turkish news agency Anatolia)
Carl Bildt
Mideast talks
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt will travel to Egypt this week to hold discussions with his counterpart Ahmad Abu-al-Ghayt about the prospects for peace in the Middle East.
General David Petraeus
Iraq Update
The commander of US-led forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and the US's ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, will be in Congress delivering their latest update on the situation in Iraq. (Regional sources)
