ANKARA
Here are the main stories that The Anadolu Agency's English News Desk will cover Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014:
TURKEY
ISTANBUL – Fifth ECO ministerial meeting on the environment
KONYA – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to attend Istanbul-Konya High-Speed Train inauguration ceremony.
UNITED STATES
WASHINGTON D.C. – Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, discusses the one-year anniversary of the Ukrainian conflict at the American Enterprise Institute.
WASHINGTON D.C. – Fed Chair Janet Yellen speaks at the FOMC press conference amid Russia’s economic crisis.
WASHINGTON D.C. – Rose Gottemoeller, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, discusses U.S. nuclear arms control policy at the Brookings Institution.
NEW YORK – UN head to address media for in traditional end-of-year press conference. Possible focus points are Israel and Palestine, Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, as well as the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
NEW YORK – Possible submission of a Palestinian draft resolution to UN Security Council. The text sets a deadline for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
EUROPE
GERMANY
BERLIN – German FM Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen will make a statement on training mission for train peshmerga forces in northern Iraq against ISIL.
FRANCE
STRASBOURG – Voting for the EU’s 2015 budget; European Parliament negotiators will hold a press conference after the vote at 14.30 local time.
STRASBOURG – Both the EU Council and Commission will debate the CIA’s use of torture – with the alleged complicity of some EU members – after U.S. Senate revelations.
STRASBOURG – Vote on a holistic EU approach to migration
STRASBOURG – Parliament will vote on a total of 126.7 million euro ($158 million) in EU aid to help Italy, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria to cope with the aftermath of natural disasters in 2013 and 2014.
STRASBOURG – LUX Film Prize award: European Parliament president Martin Schulz will announce the winner of this year's LUX Prize at a ceremony in the plenary chamber. A press conference with the laureate and the other two finalists will be held at 15.00.
STRASBOURG – Debate on the situation in Ukraine.
BELGIUM
BRUSSELS – European foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini is in Kiev where she will meet Ukrainian prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
SWITZERLAND
GENEVA – Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the U.S., the U.K., China, France and Russia – plus Germany, also known as the P5+1 group, to hold nuclear talks in Geneva after both sides failed to meet the Nov. 24 deadline in Vienna for a permanent settlement.
GENEVA – Switzerland to host a summit on Israeli-Palestinian relations despite diplomatic pressure from Israel, the U.S., Canada and Australia. Delegations from almost 200 countries to attend.
BALKANS
SERBIA
BELGRADE – Second day of the third summit of China and 16 Central and Eastern European nations in Belgrade. Prime ministers will have bilateral meetings and are expected to sign several agreements between participating states.
BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA
SARAJEVO – European Union Force (EUFOR) will see handover ceremony for Commander Dieter Heidecker for the end of his mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
IRAN
Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is on an official visit to Iran. He is scheduled to meet President Hassan Rouhani and foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
NIGERIA
The finance minister will present 2015 budget to parliament.
KENYA
Repatriation of Somali refugees from Dadaab camp by UNHCR and IOM.
ETHIOPIA
New round of South Sudanese peace talks expected.
EGYPT
Central African Republic president due in Cairo.
YEMEN
Confidence vote on government in parliament.
LIBYA
New round of UN-backed dialogue
SPECIAL REPORTS:
Nigeria's 'forgotten' Chibok schoolgirls
By Rafiu Ajakaye
LAGOS (AA) – The sufferings of Samuel Yaga and his wife are two-fold.
They have lost a daughter and they feel let down by their government.
"I have no hope in the government. I just put my hope in God," says Yaga, whose daughter Sarah is one of over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram since April.
Skepticism as Zimbabwe introduces local coins
By John Cassim
HARARE (AA) – Skepticism has gripped Zimbabwe as authorities introduce local bond coins whose value is equivalent to that of the American dollar to meet the need for smaller denominations, raising fears that the southern African nation is slowly reintroducing the Zimbabwean dollar.
SE ASIA-PACIFIC
AUSTRALIA
MELBOURNE – Muslim reaction to Sydney siege; Australians show support to community.
SOUTH KOREA
SEOUL – North Koreans mark third anniversary of Kim Jong-il’s death; Russia invites Kim Jong-un to Moscow.
CAMBODIA
PHNOM PENH – HIV/AIDS outbreak in northwestern Cambodian village, more than 80 infected.
www.aa.com.tr/en
