The world this week

A look at what could be dominating the headlines around the world this week - and some key background on those events.

MONDAY 9 APRIL

The battle of Vimy Ridge cemented Canada's national identity

Young country: Voters in East Timor, the world's newest state since it won independence from Indonesia in 2002, choose a president. Xanana Gusmao is not standing for re-election but says the vote is a chance to prove East Timor works.

Country profile: East Timor

Tour d'Elysee: France's election candidates saddle up as the race to the presidential palace formally opens. Sprinting for the Socialists this time is a woman, Segolene Royal, while Nicolas Sarkozy wears the jersey for the Chirac party. Watch out, though, for breakaway artists.

Q&A: French presidential vote

Bloody victory: Thousands of Canadians visit the World War I battlefield of Vimy Ridge in northern France where a successful but bloody offensive against the Germans 90 years ago claimed 3,598 Canadian soldiers' lives over four days. Queen Elizabeth II of Britain is attending along with the Canadian and French prime ministers.

A century of mud and fire

TUESDAY 10 APRIL

WATCH OUT FOR: Our special reports from Nigeria as it gears up for historic elections including a guide to Africa's most populous state in facts and figures The men who would be president

Frozen embryos: The European Court of Human Rights rules on an appeal by British woman Natallie Evans who, infertile since cancer treatment, wants permission to use frozen embryos fertilised by a former partner. Howard Johnston withdrew consent for the embryos to be used after they split up.

Head to head - Frozen embryos

On the Brussels beat: The European Parliament holds a hearing on the future of the EU's police agency, Europol. Proposals are afoot to expand its brief beyond organised crime, widen its database and fund it directly from the EU budget.

In Depth: The European Union

WEDNESDAY 11 APRIL

Secrets revealed? Some inkling of the state of North Korea's economy may emerge as the Communist state's parliament opens its annual meeting.

In pictures: Faces of North Korea

Asian rivals: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visits Tokyo for talks with his Japanese opposite number, Shinzo Abe. Animosity between the two countries smoulders on 60 years after World War II.

Clickable guide to Sino-Japanese rivalry

Kyrgyz street: Opposition activists rally in the capital, Bishkek, to demand the resignation of President Kurmanbek Bakiev, accusing him of failing to fight corruption and poverty since taking office after the 2005 "Tulip Revolution".

Kyrgyz timeline

THURSDAY 12 APRIL

Call charge: The EU comes a step closer to slashing mobile phone roaming fees by up to 70% when the plan goes before a European Parliament committee.

EU may cut overseas mobile costs

FRIDAY 13 APRIL

With a splash: Burmese people celebrate their New Year by chucking water at each other. It is the only time of year they are allowed by the military authorities to move around the streets freely, AFP news agency notes. Thailand, Cambodia and Laos have a similar celebration around this time.

Tea with Big Brother

SATURDAY 14 APRIL

Police earlier broke up an Other Russia rally in Nizhniy Novgorod

Polling stations open: Nigerians vote in local and regional elections with presidential and parliamentary polls following a week later. The country should see its first transfer of power from one elected leader to another since independence in 1960.

Opposing Putin: Other Russia, an umbrella organisation of "dissenter" opposition groups ranging from liberals to extreme nationalists, has called for a mass rally in Moscow where the city council has just imposed tough new curbs on political gatherings - a maximum of two people per square metre (10 sq feet). The organisation plans a similar rally in St Petersburg on Sunday.

Putin's hold on the Russians

Baby Papa Doc: It is 100 years since the birth of the late Haitian dictator Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, father of exiled former leader Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier.

Haiti's delusions of democracy

SUNDAY 15 APRIL

Popular vote? Ecuador holds a referendum on drafting a new constitution, which is seen by some as a bid by left-wing President Rafael Correa to undercut traditional political parties.

Profile of Ecuador's president

This guide to the week ahead is not intended as an exhaustive list, and the events noted may be cancelled or postponed.