Diary

ANKARA (AA) - Here are the main topics Anadolu Agency’s English Desk plans to cover Saturday, June 18, 2016 (coverage may change depending on developing/breaking stories):

TURKEY

ISTANBUL - Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim to attend launching ceremony of two Turkish naval corvettes.

IZMIR - PM Yildirim to attend an iftar (fast-breaking dinner) with martyred soldiers' families.

EUROPE

THE UNITED KINGDOM

SPECIAL REPORT

Jack Straw: Anti-Turkey Brexit campaign is ‘nonsense’

By Aslı Aral and Michael Sercan Daventry

A former U.K. foreign secretary has slammed Brexit supporters’ use of “nonsense” anti-Turkish rhetoric in Britain’s EU referendum campaign.

LONDON - A convoy organized by the People’s Assembly, a group of U.K. charities, is to set off from central London for France carrying aid for refugees camping in Calais.

LONDON - Reaction to the fatal shooting of opposition lawmaker Jo Cox, as Britain’s EU referendum campaigns remain suspended.

AFRICA

SPECIAL REPORT

Swaziland drug trade lures youth to leave schools

By Phathiezwe-Chief Zulu

- Some Swazi parents also pushing their own children to grow illegal cannabis plant dagga, just to put food on the table.

SOUTH AFRICA

JOHANNESBURG - Civil rights group launching campaign to safeguard asylum-seekers ahead of World Refugee Day. South Africa hosts tens of thousands of refugees and asylum-seekers.

SOUTHEAST ASIA & THE PACIFIC

JAPAN

SPECIAL REPORT

Campaigning begins for Japan’s upper house

By Todd Crowell

TOKYO – Japan gearing up for July 10 general election to House of Councillors, the upper house of the country’s bicameral parliament. Up for grabs are 121 seats, or exactly half the members.

THE KOREAS

SEOUL - North Korea agrees to attend security forum in China, including main regional nuclear powers.

THE PHILIPPINES

ZAMBOANGA - Leaders of two former Muslim rebel groups voice support for incoming president's idea of shifting the Philippines' form of government to federalism.

SPORTS

ANKARA - Euro 2016: Belgium will meet Republic of Ireland in Group E match in Bordeaux to start at 3 p.m. local time in France (1300 GMT).

There will be two games in Group F, starting with Iceland playing against Hungary in Marseille, kicking off at 6 p.m. local time in France (1600 GMT).

Portugal will also take on Austria in Paris, beginning at 9 p.m. local time in France (1900 GMT).