International and Bilateral Issues

More than 100 people were killed in flash floods caused by heavy storms in Myanmar this week
More than 1,500 people had sought refuge in two shelters in the flood-hit town

President Barack Obama announced on Friday that the last U.S. soldier would leave Iraq by the end of this year, drawing to a close a divisive eight-year war that cost the lives of more than 4,400 troops
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The President's statement, coming a day after a NATO air campaign hastened the death of Muammar Qadhafi in Libya
It also capped a remarkable period of foreign-policy accomplishments for a President who is hindered by a poor economy at home.
For Mr. Obama, whose rise to the White House was based partly on his opposition to the Iraq war but who as President ordered a troop buildup in Afghanistan and intensified drone strikes against militants in the region, the announcement fulfils a campaign promise.
Its timing, after Qadhafi's death and the commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden, and just as the administration was taking its toughest stance yet on Pakistan's reluctance to root out militants along its border with Afghanistan, may help insulate him from Republican charges that he is weak on national security.
Mitt Romney, a Republican presidential candidate, among others, scorned Mr. Obama for putting the sacrifices of U.S. troops at risk
Mr. Obama gave word of the decision to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and described the call as “poignant,” with the Iraqi leader expressing thanks for the sacrifices of U.S. soldiers

Tunisians in large numbers began to form orderly queues outside polling stations, their exuberance to vote in their first genuine elections since 1956 when the country was liberated from French colonial rule, blending with a steely determination to establish a democracy on strong and stable foundations.
Tunisians will elect 217 members to an Assembly that will write a new Constitution, install an interim executive, which will stay in office till a fresh round of presidential and parliamentary elections are held.

The decision has been taken to hand him over to his extended family, because none of his immediate family are present at this moment
NTC leaders and military officials have indicated that he would be buried in a secret location.

President Dmitry Medvedev signed into law a bilateral visa simplification agreement
The agreement also provides for the issuance of multi-entry one-year and five-year visas
Multi-entry visas will allow Indian and Russian citizens holding valid national passports to stay on the territory of the other country for up to 90 days within a period of 180 days from their first entry.
The simplified visa rules apply to tourists, students, official delegations, businessmen, persons involved in scientific, cultural and creative professions, and sister city exchanges.
the number of Indian visas issued to Russians is expected to increase by 25 per cent

Turkish troops have killed at least 49 Kurdish rebels in a valley near the Iraqi border
The military operations began hours after 24 soldiers were killed in Cukurca by the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in the deadliest one-day toll against the military since the 1990s.
Turkey's conflict with the Kurdish rebels has killed tens of thousands of people since the insurgents took up arms to fight for autonomy in the Kurdish-dominated southeast in 1984.