ANKARA (AA) - Here are the main topics Anadolu Agency’s English Desk plans to cover on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020 (coverage may change depending on developing/breaking stories):
TURKEY
ANKARA - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to receive Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi at the presidential complex. Following meeting, joint press conference to be held.
ANKARA - Following latest developments in Eastern Mediterranean.
ANKARA - Monitoring latest developments in coronavirus outbreak in Turkey, worldwide.
US
WASHINGTON - Following repercussions of US sanctions against Ankara over purchase of S-400 missile system.
GERMANY
BERLIN - Chancellor Angela Merkel to hold video conference meeting with German-Turkish scientists Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci, who made BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine.
BERLIN - UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to begin his official visit to Germany and meet Foreign Minister Heiko Maas to discuss international issues.
BELGIUM
BRUSSELS - European Parliament to vote on resolutions on Uyghurs in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and human rights situation in Egypt.
RUSSIA
MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin to hold his annual news conference.
MOSCOW - Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to hold talks with his Syrian counterpart Faysal Mekdad.
AZERBAIJAN
BAKU - Monitoring cease-fire between Azerbaijan, Armenia, latest developments in frontline, international repercussions.
THE ECONOMY
ANKARA - Central Bank to share short term foreign debt statistics for October.
ANKARA - Ismail Demir, head of Defense Industries Authority, to attend Anadolu Agency’s Editor Desk.
ISTANBUL - Finance Minister Lutfi Elvan, Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy along with Wealth Fund head Zafer Sonmez to attend Turkish Daily Sabah’s event virtually.
ANKARA - Mustafa Varank, industry and technology minister, to join virtual Medicine and Vaccine Conference organized by Turkey’s Scientific and Technological Research Council.
LUXEMBOURG - EU statistical office to release inflation figures for November.
BRUSSELS - European Automobile Manufacturers Association to reveal new passenger car registration data for November.
SPORTS
ZURICH - Best FIFA Football Awards 2020 ceremony to be held at FIFA headquarters online.
ISTANBUL / KAUNAS - Sports desk to cover Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Round 15 games of Turkish teams as Anadolu Efes to host Italy's AX Armani Exchange Milan and Fenerbahce Beko to visit Lithuanian club Zalgiris.
SPECIAL REPORT
Pakistan: “politicization” of COVID-19 leads to confusion
By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) –Pakistani health experts accuse both the government and the opposition of “politicizing” the COVID-19 pandemic, which has created a “widespread confusion” among the general public about the novel disease.
SPECIAL REPORT
Biden’s moment of truth in Middle East
By Iftikhar Gilani
Ankara (AA) – When Democratic candidate Barack Obama won the US presidential elections in 2008, the Middle East was bubbling with hope. Twelve years later, when another Democrat, Obama's former Vice President Joe Biden, looks set to take the reins at the White House next month, there is hardly any hype or expectations that he will completely reverse his predecessor Donald Trump’s approach towards the region, particularly on Palestine.
SPECIAL REPORT
South Sudan: Trading girls for cows
By Benjamin Takpiny
JUBA, South Sudan (AA) – Increasing incidents of parents trading their daughters for cows has fueled the practice of child marriages in the landlocked East-Central African country of South Sudan.