Diary

ANKARA (AA) - Here are the main topics Anadolu Agency's English Desk plans to cover on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021 (coverage may change depending on developing/breaking stories):

TURKEY

ANKARA - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to attend 2020 Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Awards Ceremony at Presidential Complex.

ANKARA - Following worldwide pandemic situation, efforts to stem new omicron coronavirus variant.

NORTH MACEDONIA

SKOPJE - Following Turkey’s Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop’s visit to North Macedonian capital, where he will meet counterpart Talat Xhaferi, be received by North Macedonian President, address country's parliament.

HUNGARY

BUDAPEST - Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to attend 6th meeting of Visegard Group.

BELGIUM

BRUSSELS - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to meet Romania’s Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca for talks on security affairs, regional issues.

US

WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden to deliver remarks on status of country's fight against COVID-19.

RUSSIA

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin to hold separate meetings of Russian Defense Ministry Board, Russian Security Council.

SOCHI - Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to meet with Bosnian counterpart Bisera Turkovic.

GERMANY

BERLIN - Chancellor Olaf Scholz to hold videoconference with premiers of federal states on tougher restrictions to curb fast spreading omicron variant of coronavirus.

KAZAKHSTAN

NUR SULTAN - Following 17th round of Astana talks on Syria.

THE ECONOMY

ANKARA - TurkStat to announce December consumer confidence index.

LUXEMBURG - Eurostat to reveal euro area consumer confidence for December.

SPECIAL REPORT

Informal cooperative financial scheme spreading through Bangladesh

By Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - Many Bangladeshis, especially mid-level businessmen and entrepreneurs, have recently been investing in informal cooperative financial circles that have allowed many to raise money regularly and easily.