ANKARA
Here are the main stories that The Anadolu Agency's English News Desk is planning to cover on Thursday, March 26, 2015.
TURKEY
ANKARA – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to hold official welcoming ceremony for Ivory Coast President Ouattara at presidential palace. Leaders to hold joint press conference following their tete-a-tete meeting and signing ceremony on some agreements.
SPECIAL REPORTS
Turkey's gender gap in education on the rise
By Tuncay Kayaoglu
ISTANBUL (AA) - With girls both outperforming boys in college entrance exams and university enrolment, AA looks at the reasons driving this new gender gap in Turkey.
The Turkish-speaking Armenians who never saw Turkey
By Handan Kazanci
Yerevan, ARMENIA (AA) - Lives and languages entwine as AA traces the Avagyan family’s journey from Anatolia via Greece and Lebanon to Yerevan in the second of our three-part series of reports from Armenia this week.
UNITED STATES
NEW YORK - UN Security Council receives briefing on humanitarian situation in Syria. UN aid chief Valerie Amos is expected to brief.
NEW YORK - Robert Serry, UN Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace Process, holds press conference.
EUROPE
SWITZERLAND
GENEVA – Nuclear negotiations between Iran and major global powers will resume in Lausanne, Switzerland. The talks will start between Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
GENEVA – Asylum trends in 2014 in industrialized countries - UNHCR report.
SOUTH ASIA
BANGLADESH
DHAKA – Bangladeshis celebrate 44th independence day amid political unrest that has paralyzed country for almost three months.
SPECIAL REPORTS
Afghans rediscover the Kabuliwalas of Kolkta
By Shadi Khan Saif
KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) – An exhibition opens in Kabul telling the story of the centuries-old Afghan community in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal.
SE ASIA-PACIFIC
THAILAND
BANGKOK – Four suspected rebels killed and 22 other men detained in police raid in Muslim south.
BANGKOK – Human Rights Commissioner blasts Corrections Department for denying officials entry to prison where suspects of court bomb attack held.
INDONESIA
JAKARTA – Security forces launch operation in Poso jungles against East Indonesia Mujahidin group that expressed support for Daesh.
CHINA
BEIJING - Retired police chief of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region arrested on murder charge.
CAMBODIA
PHNOM PENH - Australia and Cambodia sign second deal on asylum-seeker cooperation.
HONG KONG
HONG KONG - Chief executive urges Hongkongers to vote pro-democracy lawmakers out of territory's legislature.
MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
YEMEN
SANAA - Follow up Houthis military advance toward Aden and escape of President Hadi from country.
EGYPT
CAIRO – Arab FMs meet to prepare for next week's Arab summit and discuss developments in Yemen.
ISRAEL
TEL AVIV - Follow up Israeli government formation talks after Netanyahu was officially asked to form new cabinet.
KENYA
NAIROBI - President Kenyatta to deliver state of the nation address to special sitting of parliament.
UGANDA
KAMPALA - Muslim leaders from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar and Somalia are holding a U.S.-sponsored two-day meeting aimed at fostering regional cooperation in fight against terrorism.
NIGERIA
ABUJA - Follow-up on final preparations for March 28 general elections and ongoing military offensive against Boko Haram in the north.
SPECIAL REPORTS
Nigeria's 'liberated' northeast seized by election fever (photos)
By Rafiu Ajakaye
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AA) – Many Nigerians in the country's Boko Haram-wracked northeastern region are excited about the upcoming March 28 general elections, citing "very good" improvements in the local security situation.
Red earthworms turn Zimbabwe waste into fertilizer (photos)
By John Cassim
HARARE (AA) – The tiny red earthworms could be worthless to many, but in Zimbabwe they are helping eat away heaps of uncollected waste and, in the process, producing much-needed organic fertilizers.
