Diary

ANKARA (AA) - Here are the main topics Anadolu Agency’s English Desk plans to cover on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020 (coverage may change depending on developing/breaking stories):

TURKEY

ANKARA - President and ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party Chair Recep Tayyip Erdogan to attend Smart Cities and Municipalities Congress and Exhibit at ATO Congresium.

ANKARA - Erdogan to attend Sister Municipalities Consultation and Evaluation Meeting at AK Party headquarters.

ANKARA - Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to address panel on Turkish Foreign Policy in Age of Global Uncertainty organized by Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA).

UNITED STATES

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump to sign phase one trade deal at White House with officials from China.

WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to hold news conference to announce Trump impeachment managers.

UNITED KINGDOM

LONDON - Prime Minister Boris Johnson to take questions at House of Commons.

IRELAND

DUBLIN - Prime minister Leo Varadkar to welcome European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

RUSSIA

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin to deliver annual Address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

INDIA

NEW DELHI - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

SYRIA

ALEPPO / IDLIB / RAQQA / HASAKEH - Monitoring developments after new cease-fire brokered by Turkey and Russia came into effect in northwestern province of Idlib.

IRAN / US / IRAQ / TURKEY

TEHRAN / WASHINGTON / BAGHDAD / ANKARA - Following developments after U.S. killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and Iran's missile attack on Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops.

TEHRAN - Monitoring anti-government protests and developments after government admitted it “unintentionally” shot down Ukrainian passenger jet leaving capital.

LIBYA

TRIPOLI - Monitoring developments over unraveling cease-fire and efforts to have both sides in conflict sign onto cease-fire.

LEBANON

BEIRUT - Following situation amid more protests throughout country.

IRAQ

BAGHDAD - Qatari foreign minister to arrive to discuss efforts to defuse regional tension.

ECONOMY

ANKARA - Turkish Statistical Institute to release housing sales statistics for 2019.

ANKARA - Treasury and Finance Ministry to release central government's budget balance table for 2019.

LUXEMBOURG - Eurostat to release international trade and industrial production statistics for November 2019.

SPECIAL REPORT

Plane tragedy enrages Iran protesters

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN (AA) – Iran's stunning admission that it "unintentionally" shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane with a missile, hours after launching missile attacks on bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq, has drawn anger and outrage across the country.

SPECIAL REPORT

Libya's Haftar looking for military gains: Expert

By Fahri Aksut

ANKARA (AA) - Renegade Libyan Gen. Khalifa Haftar abruptly left negotiations for a cease-fire to protect a well-thought-out strategy on the battlefield, a Turkish expert said Tuesday.

SPECIAL REPORT

‘Haftar is just working as a proxy for other actors'

By Burak Dag and Nazlı Yuzbasioglu

ANKARA (AA) - Libyan renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar’s move to not sign an agreement in Moscow on the terms of a cease-fire was decided by other parties, the country’s former army chief of staff said Tuesday.

SPECIAL REPORT

Final weeks to apply for Istanbul Photo Awards

By Handan Kazanci

ISTANBUL (AA) – There are only a few weeks left to apply for Anadolu Agency's 2020 Istanbul Photo Awards, a contest seen as a “must enter” competition by many professional photographers.