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Geopolitical Calendar: Week of Jan. 13, 2014


Analysis


EUROPE
Jan. 13: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet in Paris to discuss the situation in Syria.
Jan. 13-16: The European Parliament will hold a plenary session.
Jan. 14: Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades will visit the United Kingdom and is expected to meet with British Prime Minister David Cameron. The Cypriot foreign, energy and finance ministers are also expected to visit the United Kingdom while Anastasiades is there.
Jan. 16: French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will discuss the cost of France's military operations with the finance committee of the National Assembly.
Jan. 16: Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is expected to present Greece's goals for its time as EU president to the European Parliament.
Jan. 16-17: A European Parliament delegation will be in Ireland to meet with Irish government officials and discuss the country's experience with the bailout program.
Jan. 18: EasyJet cabin crew members in Italy are expected to strike.

FORMER SOVIET UNION
Jan. 15: The decision on the resumption of production at Kazakhstan's Kashagan oil field will be made after this date.
Jan. 16: The Ukrainian Parliament is expected to adopt the national budget for 2014.

ASIA-PACIFIC
Jan. 13: Bangkok is expected to shut down while the anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee holds a major rally.
Jan. 12-15: Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev will visit China at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

SOUTH ASIA
Jan. 13: This is the U.S. deadline for the indictment of senior Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade on visa fraud charges.
Jan. 15-18: South Korean President Park Geun Hye will visit India and hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Jan. 16: The Indian and Pakistani commerce secretaries will meet on the sidelines of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Ministerial Meeting in New Delhi to discuss trade normalization.
Jan. 16: Bangladesh will hold a second round of voting in 392 polling centers across eight constituencies, following its Jan. 5 elections.

MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA
Jan. 14-15: Egypt will hold a referendum on the amended constitution.
Jan. 15: A conference on Syrian refugees will be held in Kuwait.
Jan. 15: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will visit the country's Khuzestan province as his first provincial trip and will attend to the issues of the province.
Jan. 17: A vote will be held among the Syrian National Coalition on whether to participate in the Syria peace talks.

AMERICAS
Unspecified date: Colombia's second main coal exporter, Drummond, will have to fully suspend operations until its port for coal direct loading is ready.
Jan. 13: Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will visit U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington.
Jan. 13: Peace talks between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, will resume in Havana, Cuba.
Jan. 15: FARC's unilateral cease-fire will end.

AFRICA
Unspecified date: The Nigerian Senate will resume activities next week. A mass defection of members of the People's Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress is expected.
Unspecified date: Rwanda will send a military contingency of 800 soldiers to help peacekeeping operations in the Central African Republic.
Unspecified date: The Kenyan central bank will issue several bond sales totaling 9 billion shillings (about $100 million).
Jan. 13: The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa will meet with representatives of Northam Platinum Ltd. under the aegis of the Council for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
Jan. 15: The hearing for the Westgate Mall terrorist attack suspects will begin in Nairobi, Kenya.
Jan. 15: The Somali federal government and the administration of Somaliland are scheduled to resume negotiations in Ankara, Turkey.
Jan. 13-15: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Mozambique, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast and Oman.

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