Diary

ANKARA (AA) - Here are the main topics Anadolu Agency's English Desk plans to cover on Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021 (coverage may change depending on developing/breaking stories):

TURKEY

ANKARA - Following COVID-19 normalization process in Turkey, virus variants, worldwide pandemic situation.

US

WASHINGTON - Senate Armed Services Committee to hold hearing on US withdrawal from Afghanistan and plans for future counterterrorism operations. Witnesses include Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley.

NEW YORK - UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen to brief Security Council and speak to reporters.

KAZAKHSTAN

TURKISTAN - Turkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop to attend 10th plenary session of Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic Speaking Countries.

AFGHANISTAN

KABUL - Monitoring situation in Afghanistan after Taliban's formation of interim government.

THE ECONOMY

ANKARA - Turkish Central Bank to announce international reserves and foreign currency liquidity figures for August.

ANKARA - Trade Minister Mehmet Mus to attend meeting and signing ceremony of Turkish-French Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO).

SPORTS

AMSTERDAM - Besiktas to face Dutch side Ajax in second game of UEFA Champions League Group C.

SPECIAL REPORT

Road to COP26: What Paris deal might bring to fight climate change

By Burak Bir

ANKARA (AA) - Ahead of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), the Paris climate accord is at the top of the world's agenda again after a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlighted serious risks and at a time when the world continues to experience a rise in environmental disasters.

SPECIAL REPORT

‘Landmark information legislation losing teeth in India’

By Shuriah Niazi

NEW DELHI (AA) – As the world observes International Day for Universal Access to Information on Tuesday, experts in India lament that the landmark Right to Information (RTI) legislation has lost its teeth over the past few years.

SPECIAL REPORT

‘Restrictions on online information worry activists in Uganda’

By Hamza Kyeyune

KAMPALA, Uganda (AA) – Even as social media becomes a tool to access information amid frequent crackdowns on mainstream media in Uganda and other parts of Africa, experts complain that governments are now frequently targeting internet-based platforms as well.

SPECIAL REPORT

Tanzanian opposition decries intimidation of leaders

By Kizito Makoye

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (AA) - Tanzania’s main opposition party, Chadema, has expressed deep concern over rising intimidation of its leaders and individuals who are increasingly criminalized on false charges of spreading misinformation online.

SPECIAL REPORT

Heart ailments become Zimbabwe’s new headache

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AA) - The number of people in Zimbabwe suffering from heart ailments is escalating, with coronary heart disease deaths accounting for nearly 5% of all fatalities in the country in 2018, according to World Health Organization data.

SPECIAL REPORT

Ugandan MPs earn higher salaries than those in EU states

By Godfrey Olukya

KAMPALA, Uganda (AA) - Ian Clarke wondered in one of his columns in a Ugandan newspaper how the country could afford to pay higher salaries to MPs than those in Ireland, from where he hails.

SPECIAL REPORT

Women in South Sudan shy away from COVID-19 jabs

By Benjamin Takpiny

JUBA, South Sudan (AA) - Women in South Sudan are shying away from getting COVID-19 vaccines despite the country's unrelenting pandemic woes.