ANKARA
Here are the main stories that The Anadolu Agency's English News Desk will cover on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015:
TURKEY
ANKARA – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to give an official welcome to president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.
Leaders will attend Turkey-Azerbaijan High Level Strategic Cooperation Council and will later hold a joint press conference.
ISTANBUL
SPECIAL REPORT: Turkish mothers weigh up govt’s move to ease work/life balance
Women speaking to The Anadolu Agency evaluate the government's recent move to ease work life for mothers.
By Nilay Kar Onum
ISTANBUL (AA) – “It is a kind of like winning a lottery for mothers who have just had babies or plan to have a child in the near future,” says Seda Emeksiz Sasmaz, 30, mother of a two-year-old boy in Istanbul.
EUROPE
BELGIUM – Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu to meet president of the European Council Donald Tusk, president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker plus Federica Mogherini, European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
GERMANY
BERLIN – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to visit Berlin. German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Zarif to discuss efforts to end decade-old crisis over Iran's nuclear program.
BERLIN – Chancellor Angela Merkel to address the parliament on terrorism and recent attacks in France.
SWITZERLAND
GENEVA – Iran nuclear talks to begin in Geneva.
GENEVA – World Economic Forum to release "Global Risk Report."
BALKANS
CROATIA and SERBIA – British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond will pay an official visit to Croatia and Serbia, meeting Croatian prime minister Zoran Milanovic and Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic.
UNITED STATES
NEW YORK – UN Security Council to hold open debate on Middle East.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
EGYPT – Canadian foreign minister expected to meet Egyptian president, with jailed Egyptian-Canadian Al-Jazeera reporter Mohamed Fahmy high on the agenda.
EGYPT – President Mahmoud Abbas to attend emergency Arab League ministerial meeting on Palestine.
SPECIAL REPORT: Lawyer to sue Nigeria over $1bn military loan
By Rafiu Ajakaye
LAGOS (AA) – The Nigerian government risks legal action if it fails to explain how a $1 billion loan – obtained in 2014 to purchase military hardware – was spent. "I sent a letter to Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to demand details of how the $1 billion loan was spent," prominent lawyer Femi Falana told The Anadolu Agency in an interview.
SPECIAL REPORT: Political violence mars Zambia presidential electioneering
By Francis Maingaila
LUSAKA (AA) – Zambia's election body has expressed serious concerns about pockets of political violence recorded across the landlocked southern African country ahead of the Jan. 20 presidential elections.
ASIA-PACIFIC
PHILIPPINES
ZAMBOANGA CITY – Pope Francis to arrive in capital Manila for five-day visit to the country.
THAILAND
BANGKOK – Rights groups and trade union bodies send letter to Thai PM Prayuth Chan-ocha condemning government plan to have prisoners labor on fishing boats.
SOUTH KOREA
SEOUL – Korean Air to be fined for ticketing error following incident in which intoxicated South Korean R&B singer allegedly harassed cabin crew after being given wrong seat.
INDONESIA
JAKARTA – Divers begin searching AirAsia flight QZ8501’s fuselage, believed to hold the bodies of victims who remain missing.
MALAYSIA
KUALA LUMPUR – Eight people killed, 21 injured after bus crashes into ditch in Tapah town.
SOUTH ASIA
PAKISTAN
PESHAWAR – Children in Pakistani city of Peshawar are still traumatized by a Taliban attack that killed 134 children in December. Friday marks a month since the attack.
SRI LANKA
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s new government requests investigation into alleged coup attempt by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa after he lost Jan. 8 election.
