ANKARA
Here are the main stories that The Anadolu Agency's English News Desk will cover Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015:
TURKEY
ISTANBUL -- President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to give speech at 10th session of Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul.
He will also meet with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani.
SPECIAL REPORT: Turkish workers react to minimum wage hike – By Burcu Arik
ISTANBUL -- Although the Turkish minimum wage enters four-digit territory for the first time in the country’s history, certain workers consider it insufficient to meet necessary expenses.
EUROPE
GREECE
ATHENS -- Anti-bank bailout opposition stays ahead in opinion polls days before national elections in Greece.
BELGIUM
BRUSSELS -- Gilles de Kerchove, EU counter-terrorism coordinator, will hold a background briefing at the Council of the European Union on EU’s actions against terrorism.
BRUSSELS -- The European Parliament will host a commemoration for anniversary of the assassination in 2007 of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.
FRANCE
PARIS -- French Prime Minister Manuel Valls to announce new precautionary measures against terrorism.
GERMANY
LEIPZIG -- Right-wing groups associated with anti-Islam movement PEGIDA to rally in the eastern city of Leipzig.
BERLIN -- Foreign ministers of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France to meet in German capital for fresh Ukraine cease-fire talks
BERLIN -- Chancellor Angela Merkel to meet with Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev.
SWITZERLAND
GENEVA -- World Economic Forum kicks off; Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu to attend the forum.
UNITED STATES
NEW YORK -- UN Commission of Inquiry on the Central African Republic to hold briefing on the situation in the country.
NEW YORK -- UN Security Council to discuss situation of UN peacekeepers on the island of Cyprus in closed-door meeting.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
TANZANIA
ARUSHA -- East African leaders to meet in Arusha, South Sudan's SPLM factions expected to sign unity deal.
ZAMBIA
LUSAKA -- Results of the presidential election expected.
SAUDI ARABIA
RIYADH -- GCC ministers meet to discuss Yemen's developments.
YEMEN
SANAA -- Follow up to Houthi siege of presidential palace in Sanaa
SPECIAL REPORT: Oil not religion at play in Boko Haram attacks: Expert - By Ahmet Sait Akcay and Rebecca Fasselt
CAPE TOWN -- The recent upsurge of attacks by Boko Haram militants across Nigeria's northeastern Borno State has little to do with religion, and is rather motivated by oil greed, according to a South African expert on Islam and militancy.
SPECIAL REPORT: Malawi mobilizing resources for flood victims - By Moses Michael-Phiri
BLANTYRE, Malawi -- Malawian authorities are working with international and regional partners to mobilize resources for the victims of the flood disaster ravaging the landlocked southeastern African country.
ASIA-PACIFIC
HONG KONG -- Former leader says Chinese government could impose national security law on semi-autonomous territory.
INDONESIA
JAKARTA -- Senior transport official says Indonesia will not release a 30-day preliminary report detailing investigation into AirAsia jet in which 162 people died, day after Transport Minister says plane climbed faster than normal in final minutes, after which it stalled.
AUSTRALIA
MELBOURNE -- Indonesian official flags possible delay or review of cases of Australian drugs smugglers on death row in Bali.
PHNOM PENH -- Trial of two senior Khmer Rouge cadres charged with war crimes – among them, offenses against Cham Muslims - continues.
THAILAND
BANGKOK -- Cambodia agrees to an official re-drawing of its border with Thailand in an area that has been the center of recent border tensions between the two countries.
SOUTH ASIA
BANGLADESH
DHAKA -- Opposition begin 48-hour shutdown in Dhaka. It runs alongside a 36-hour shutdown in commercial port city Chittagong and a nationwide transport blockade now in its third week. At least 25 people have died in more than two weeks of political violence.
NEPAL
SPECIAL REPORT: Parliament brawl breaks Nepali hopes for constitution - By Deepak Adhikari
KATHMANDU -- The breakdown of last-minute talks between Nepal’s major parties means that lawmakers will miss the latest deadline to deliver the constitution that Nepal has gone without since the end of the civil war in 2006.
