The World This Week

Today: Chirac in Germany. British Foreign Office minister meets representatives of exiled Iraqi opposition groups

Today: Chirac in Germany. British Foreign Office minister meets representatives of exiled Iraqi opposition groups. Ecofin and EU agriculture council meetings in Brussels. British Foreign Secretary visits Slovenia. Czech PM visits Slovakia. Opposition Bangladeshi Nationalist Party holds mass hunger strikes. Argentina hosts second Hemispheric Conference on Terrorism in Mar del Plata. President of Kyrgyzstan visits Czech Republic. Croatian President in Greece. South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission begins amnesty hearings.

Tomorrow: Romanian President meets Santer in Brussels. Foreign ministers of Slovakia and Hungary sign agreement in Bratislava. Officials of European Trade Union Confederation meet officials of European Central Bank in Frankfurt. Committee to Protect Journalists presents 1998 International Press Freedom Awards in New York.

Wednesday: WTO disputes settlement body hears complaint against EU from US. Deadline for Croatia and Slovenia to resolve outstanding disputes or face international arbitration. State elections in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram in India. Pakistani PM starts launches new loan scheme for young poor. UN launches anti-violence against women campaign in India. Netanyahu in Switzerland. OPEC ministerial meeting in Vienna. Spanish officials meet members of Herri Batasuna. EU Agriculture Commissioner in Hungary. Russian Defence Minister in India. Chinese President in Japan.

Thursday: Franco-African summit in Paris. Thanksgiving in US. EU Youth Council meets in Brussels.

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Friday: EU telecoms council in Brussels. Teams from Hungary and Slovakia meet in Bratislava over ruling of International Court of Justice on hydro-electric dam. Meeting of leading European stock exchanges in Paris on potential structure for pan-European exchange. Pacific island of Kiribati holds a presidential election. Moldovan-Russian-Ukrainian summit begins in Kiev.

Saturday: Japan and South Korea hold ministerial talks. Indian PM inaugurates Indian Council for International Co-operation conference of parliamentarians of Indian origin in New Delhi.

Sunday: World Economic Forum hosts "India Economic Summit" in New Delhi. Conference on securing food supplies for next century in Rome, organised by Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN's FAO. Oracle `98 technology convention in Tel Aviv. Israel, US and Turkey hold naval exercises.

Ireland

Tuesday: National Forum on Development Aid, organised by the Department of Foreign Affairs, on "Strengthening Civil Society - the Role of the NGOs", at the Royal Hospital, Dublin.

Wednesday: Hurricane Mitch appeal at FXB restaurants, in conjunction with Trocaire. Tel: (01) 285-1622. Thursday: Blair addresses Houses of the Oireachtas.

Irish events should be received by David Shanks, Foreign Desk, on the Friday before publication