ANKARA
Here are the main stories the Anadolu Agency's English News Desk is planning to cover on Wednesday, April 22, 2015:
TURKEY
ANKARA - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joint press conference with Iraqi President Fuad Masum. 12.45 p.m. local time (1045GMT)
ANKARA - Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. 12.45 p.m. local time (1045GMT)
ANKARA – EU ambassadors attend meeting on marine security for dangerous goods
ANKARA - Turkish Central Bank decision on interest rates due at monetary policy committee meeting. 12:00 p.m. local time (1000GMT)
ANTALYA - Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci to attend the Turkey-Russia Business Forum
ISTANBUL - AA's Finance Desk to interview with new Borsa Istanbul CEO Talat Ulussever
EUROPE
GERMANY
BERLIN - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to meet Australian counterpart Julie Bishop
BERLIN - Press conference of Turkish migrant NGOs opposed to parliament’s plan to describe deaths of Armenians in 1915 as genocide
BELGIUM
BRUSSELS - EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini to meet Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla for trade talks
BRUSSELS - The African Union Commission and the European Commission annual meeting. Officials to discuss cooperation on migration and border control
PARIS - French President Francois Hollande to receive Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko
SPECIAL REPORT - EU membership a mixed blessing for Bulgaria, Romania
by Andrew Jay Rosenbaum
ANKARA (AA) - On April 25 the European Commission will formally celebrate Bulgarian and Romanian accession agreements to the trade bloc. But EU Membership has proven a mixed blessing for both countries, experts say. Pressure for change has not led to decisive reforms, and, after an initial growth spurt, neither country’s economy is seeing stable growth.
AMERICAS
UNITED STATES
NEW YORK - UN Security Council discusses Ivory Coast sanctions
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State John Kerry to meet former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri
MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
YEMEN
SANAA – New stage in Saudi-led operation against Houthi rebels with start of Operation Restoring Hope
SUDAN
KHARTOUM - Sudan and Egypt expected to sign water and agriculture agreements
SOUTH AFRICA
JOHANNESBURG – Security forces attempt to quell anti-immigrant violence with army deployed in Johannesburg and Durban
SPECIAL REPORT - Impregnated girls decry S. Leone school ban
By Alpha Khadri
FREETOWN (AA) - Girls impregnated during Sierra Leone's Ebola outbreak have decried a recent government decision banning them from returning to school until they had delivered.
SPECIAL REPORT - Motorbike ban leaves Liberians stranded
By Evelyn T. Kpadeh
MONROVIA (AA) - Thousands of Liberians, including school students, are feeling the pinch of a recent government motorcycle ban on the streets of one of Monrovia's largest townships.
SOUTH ASIA
NEPAL
KATHMANDU - Supreme Courts orders medical response after more than 20 die from swine flu in eastern Nepal
SOUTHEAST ASIA-PACIFIC
SOUTH KOREA
SEOUL - Government approves plans to salvage Sewol passenger ferry with retrieval likely to begin in September
JAPAN
TOKYO - More than 100 lawmakers visit controversial shrine to Japan’s war dead for annual spring festival, drawing criticism from South Korea
HONG KONG
HONG KONG - Government unveils electoral reform proposals that would see Hongkongers choose from up to three chief executive candidates selected by pro-Beijing body
SPORTS
UEFA Champions League Quarter-finals 2nd legs
SPAIN
Real Madrid meet city rivals Atletico Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium
FRANCE
Monaco to host Juventus at Stade Louis II
Matches kick off at 8.45 p.m. local time (1945GMT)
