The Week Ahead

The official results of elections to Russia's parliament, the Duma, will come to hand today

The official results of elections to Russia's parliament, the Duma, will come to hand today. Counting will proceed at various centres across the vast country and may not be completed in one day. Supporters of President Vladimir Putin are expected to win.

In Greece, the authorities will be hoping at last to bring to an end the reign of terror inflicted by the November 17th terrorist group. The shadowy leftist organisation taunted authorities for 18 years with precision rocket attacks and point-blank-range assassinations, killing 23 Greeks and British, US and Turkish diplomats.

The main accused, Alexandros Giotopoulos, is charged with 963 crimes, including planning every one of the group's attacks. Another accused, Dimitris Koufodinas, nicknamed "Poison Hand", for his shooting skills, is charged with 253 counts, including nine of murder.

In Luxembourg meanwhile, EU foreign ministers will try to thrash out remaining differences over the proposed EU constitution prior to Friday's EU heads of government summit in Brussels.

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At the Old Bailey in London, lawyers will begin summing up the cases for the prosecution and defence in the Soham murder and perversion of justice trial. The jury is expected to be sent out on Friday, after a day and a half of summing up from the judge.

And also in London today, England's world cup rugby players will be given a heroes welcome with an open-top bus parade from Marble Arch, along Oxford and Regent streets to Trafalgar Square. They are due to meet Queen Elizabeth and Tony Blair.

Luckily for the players, they are not using the Tube. On Tuesday, underground workers begin a 48-hour go-slow in a dispute over safety.

In Berlin, the Russian foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, starts a visit to the German capital and later to Munich.

On Wednesday in Beijing, the second round of talks aimed at resolving the problem of North Korea's nuclear weapons programme beings. The talks will involve China, the US, North and South Korea, Russia and Japan.

In London, Chancellor Gordon Brown will deliver his pre-budget report. In Las Vagas, meanwhile, the Billbroad Music Awards will be announced, while in Oslo, the Iranian human rights activist, Shirin Ebadi, will receive her Peace Prize.

The Lord of the Rings promotional roadshow comes to London on Thursday with the UK premier of The Return of The King at the Odeon in Leicester Square.

On Friday, Mick Jagger formally becomes Sir Mick when his knighthood is invested at Buckingham Palace.

In Brussels, EU leaders will be getting down to two day's hard bargaining over the EU constitution... with possible implications for what the Government will have to cope with from January 1st when Ireland takes over the EU's rotating presidency.