Richard Holbrooke, special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan described by President Obama as a "giant" in the world of foreign policy, has died. 

The Obama administration announced yesterday that the president will appoint a U.S. Ambassador to Syria. The U.S. has not had an official presence in Damascus since the Bush administration yanked its ambassador in 2005 after the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The move appears to show how much Obama wants Syria’s cooperation on a host of issues from Iran to Iraq to a Mideast peace deal. The Takeaway talks to Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Iran again tops this week's agenda and our guides Marcus Mabry, international business editor for the New York Times and Jonathan Marcus, diplomatic correspondent for the BBC, will take a look at the protests surrounding the disputed presidential election. Also on the agenda this week: the latest news from Capitol Hill; the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the Voting Rights Act, and the trial of singer Chris Brown for the alleged assault against pop star Rhianna starts this week. We've got all the news you'll need to keep your eyes on in the week ahead.

If you haven't seen the video of Neda, the young woman killed in Iran, here it is. CAUTION: It has very graphic content:

It's a week full of foreign news: disarray continuing in Iran following the country's hotly contested presidential election; the world reacts to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Mideast peace plan; and U.S. Middle East Envoy George Mitchell is in Syria. On the domestic front, President Obama and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner are expected to lay out regulation reforms. The Takeaway is joined by Marcus Mabry, International Business Editor for The New York Times, and Jonathan Marcus, Diplomatic Correspondent for the BBC.

The Takeaway talks to Marcus Mabry, International Business Editor for The New York Times, and BBC Arab Affairs Analyst Magdi Abdel Hadi about what's in the headlines for the week ahead. Topics include President Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner hitting the road, GM contining the long, slow walk to bankruptcy, and predictions that unemployment numbers may hit nine percent for the first time in a quarter of a century.

North Korea continues to raise the stakes in its game of nuclear poker, conducting a second nuclear test in as many days on Tuesday. Meanwhile, a South Korean newspaper has reported that U.S. spy satellites have detected signs that North Korea has started up its nuclear plant again. The international community has condemned Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions. But the only country with real clout over North Korea is China: the nation is North Korea’s neighbor and main trading partner. To find out China's take on the North Korea situation, The Takeaway talks to John Pomfret, author of Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China. He writes the blog Pomfret’s China on the Newsweek/Washington Post website.

It’s Monday: time to ask our guests what will we'll see in the news this week. For a look at the agenda of the week ahead, we’re joined by Marcus Mabry, International Business Editor of The New York Times and by Jonathan Marcus, Diplomatic Correspondent for the BBC.

Fifteen years ago, Nelson Mandela swept to an historic victory to become the first black President of South Africa. That victory was the start of the dominance of Mandela's African National Congress Party. A decade and a half later, the African National Congress Party's candidate, Jacob Zuma, is again poised to reign supreme. Today is the last day of campaigning before South Africans head to the polls on Wednesday.

To help us understand what Zuma's presumed leadership will mean for South Africa and what the U.S. will be watching in this election, The Takeaway talks to Dan Simpson. Simpson is currently an editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Before taking the reigns at the paper, he was Director of Southern African Affairs in the State Department in the 1980s and has been U.S. Ambassador to several African countries.

Last Friday, President Barack Obama addressed the people of Iran in a video message on Nowruz, the Persian New Year. In his appeal, Obama paid tribute to Iranian history and culture and stressed the need for stronger diplomatic ties. But how did that message resonate with ordinary Iranians and Iranian Americans? To answer that question, The Takeaway talks to Cyrus Razzaghi a marketing consultant from Tehran who joins us from his Nowruz celebration on the Caspian Coast. Also adding his voice to the discussion is Amir Farokhi is an Iranian-American attorney in Atlanta, Georgia who is running for a seat on the Atlanta City Council.

Watch President Obama's Nowruz message to the Iranian people below.

As she continues her inaugural trip across Asia, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be in Indonesia today. As the Obama administration makes a push to strengthen relations with Southeast Asia, what will the Secretary of State be hearing from her Indonesian hosts? To answer that question we turn to Iwan Aziz, professor of economics and regional science at Cornell Business School.

Senator Hillary Clinton goes before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today for confirmation hearings in the hopes of becoming Secretary of State in the Obama administration. Some analysts predict that Clinton will face tough questions regarding a potential conflict of interest linked to her husband. President Bill Clinton’s charitable foundation has accepted donations from governments in the Middle East and wealthy businessmen in India and Nigeria. Will his fundraising activities affect Senator Clinton’s confirmation? The Takeaway talks to Gail Sheehy author of the biography, Hillary's Choice, and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair.