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Geopolitical Calendar: Week of July 28, 2014

 


Europe

  • July 29: The General Affairs Council, comprising EU foreign ministers, will meet in Brussels.
  • July 30: Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Catalonia regional President Artur Mas will meet at Rajoy's Moncloa residence in Madrid to discuss the issue of independence for Catalonia.

Asia-Pacific

  • July 23-30: Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird will visit China, Mongolia and Japan.
  • July 25-31: U.S., Indian and Japanese warships will hold joint naval exercises in the Pacific. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force will take part.
  • July 28-31: Canadian and Japanese negotiators will meet in Ottawa for another round of talks on a free trade agreement between the two countries.
  • July 29: Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera will meet with his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, to discuss expanding military cooperation, particularly in the development of submarine drones.
  • July 29: In a hearing, the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance is likely to address its growing deficit against South Korea for the past two years since their trade agreement went into effect.
  • Aug. 1: Brazil and Japan are expected to sign oil deals at the end of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Latin America tour.
  • Aug. 1-3: Thai and Myanmar authorities will meet in the southern Myanmar city of Mergui to discuss the potential repatriation of Myanmar refugees living in Thailand.

South Asia

  • July 28: Pakistan's special assistant to the prime minister on foreign affairs, Tariq Fatemi, will end a visit to Washington that began July 21.
  • July 31: This is the deadline for India to approve a World Trade Organization agreement on trade facilitation. India said it would not support the agreement unless concerns about food subsidies are met.
  • July 31: India's lower house must pass its annual budget before this date.
  • Aug. 3: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Nepal for a two-day visit.

Middle East/North Africa

  • July 21-31: A Turkish delegation led by the undersecretary of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioglu, will visit the United States.
  • July 25-Aug. 1: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has called for a week of protests in memory of those killed during previous sit-ins.
  • July 28-29: The Kuwaiti Civil Service Commission said Eid al-Fitr, a three-day holiday marking the end of Ramadan, will begin on one of these two dates.

Americas

  • Unspecified date: Venezuela's vice president for the economic area, Rafael Ramirez, will travel to New York to meet with representatives of private banks.
  • July 28: The Democratic Unity Roundtable, a Venezuelan opposition coalition also known by its Spanish acronym, MUD, will meet in Caracas.
  • July 28: The Peruvian government will announce new labor measures.
  • July 28: Peruvian President Ollanta Humala will present a plan to diversify and sustain economic growth in Peru.
  • July 29: A Mercosur summit will take place in Caracas, Venezuela.
  • July 29: Argentina's private oil and natural gas industry workers may strike in the provinces of Jujuy and Salta.
  • Aug. 1: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will travel to Santa Marta, Colombia, to meet with his Colombian counterpart, Juan Manuel Santos.

Africa

  • July 29: Zimbabwe and South Africa will sign a $460 million loan agreement to develop Zimbabwe’s state-owned rail company.
  • July 30: Peace talks mediated by the Intergovernmental Authority for Development and aimed at finding a political solution to the seven-month conflict in South Sudan are scheduled to resume in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

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