Diary

ANKARA (AA) - Here are the main topics Anadolu Agency’s English Desk plans to cover on Friday, Dec. 30, 2016 (coverage may change depending on developing/breaking stories):

TURKEY

ANKARA - Follow up to the nationwide cease-fire in Syria after a deal was brokered by Turkey and Russia.

UNITED STATES

SPECIAL REPORT: US stock market posts gains in 2016

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK - Indexes in the U.S. stock market posted gains in 2016 as macroeconomic data came stronger in the second half of the year and Donald Trump got elected as president in November.

TUNISIA

Retrospective: Sub-Saharan Africa in 2016

TUNIS – Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia and Burundi disappoint the international community in 2016 while Benin and Ghana make progress in terms of holding democratic elections.

NIGERIA

SPECIAL REPORT: Experts doubt Nigeria’s ‘victory against Boko Haram’

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS - Experts yet again doubt tall claims made by the Nigerian president and the military that the war against Boko Haram has been won.

SOUTH KOREA

SEOUL - New ‘comfort women’ statue to be placed outside Japan's Busan consulate after demands, complaints from the public. (MOVED)

THAILAND

BANGKOK - Villager injured after unidentified suspects shoot at car in insurgency-plagued southern province also rocked by separate roadside bombing.

MYANMAR

YANGON - Nobel laureates and rights advocates write open letter to UN Security Council criticizing State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, over Rohingya crisis.