Diary

ANKARA

 Here are the main stories that The Anadolu Agency's English News Desk is planning to cover Monday, April 20, 2015:

TURKEY

ANKARA - President Erdogan to chair Council of Ministers meeting at the Presidential Palace.

ANKARA - Turkish Economy Minister Zeybekci to attend a second meeting of Turkish-Arab economy, trade and investment ministers in Kuwait.

SPECIAL REPORTS

By Andrew Rosenbaum

-Coming of age of Turkey's digital economy

ANKARA - Venture capital funds and angel investors are supporting an increasing number of high-tech startups, experts say.

By Andrew Jay Rosenbaum

-TAV CEO Mustafa Sani Sener sees human communication as key to services business.

ISTANBUL - “The services business is about people.  Understanding the customers, communicating with partners, building a great staff,” says TAV CEO Mustafa Sani Sener.

AMERICAS

WASHINGTON -Turkish FM Cavusoglu meets with Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson. 

WASHINGTON - President Obama meets With UAE Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed amid an ongoing anti-Daesh campaign in Iraq and Syria. 

NEW YORK - Turkish Deputy PM for economy Ali Babacan gives keynote address at UN Economic and Social Council meeting on financing sustainable development.

EUROPE

GERMANY

BERLIN - Reactions after 700 migrants drown off Libya in latest Mediterranean migrant tragedy.

BELGIUM

BRUSSELS - EU foreign ministers meet in Luxembourg to discuss migrant boat disaster off Libyan coast. They will also discuss the latest developments in Libya and Yemen.

BRUSSELS - Budget and Economic Affairs committees at the European Parliament in Brussels conduct joint legislative vote on European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's €315 billion investment plan. 

BRUSSELS - European Commissioner for trade, Cecilia Malmström, holds press conference on Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. 

SWITZERLAND

GENEVA - UNHCR and IOM's statements regarding the biggest Mediterranean boat tragedy.

GREECE

ATHENS - Members of the ultranationalist Greece Golden Dawn party stand trial, accused of being members of a criminal organization.

AFRICA

KENYA

NAIROBI - Kenya to start recruiting 10,000 policemen as ordered by President Uhuru Kenyatta after the Garissa University attack.

SOUTH AFRICA

JOHANNESBURG - Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, whose remarks reportedly sparked anti-immigrant violence, will hold meeting with traditional leaders to call an end to hostilities.

NIGERIA

ABUJA - Follow-up to the situation in Ondo State where at least 18 people have recently died of a strange illness, which the WHO has linked to herbicides.

SAUDI ARABIA / YEMEN

RIYADH/SANAA - Continued airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition against Houthi militants in Yemen.

          SPECIAL REPORTS

   - Zimbabwean entertainment industry bleeds over piracy

   By John Cassim

   HARARE (AA) - Cinemas in capital Harare and other cities are now mostly idle and deserted.The music industry has not been spared either, as most music outlets have been closed. Artists have complained they are being impoverished by the government's failure to effect laws that curb piracy. 

   - Maize prices soar in Malawi as hunger looms

   By Moses Michael-Phiri

   BLANTYRE, Malawi (AA) - The price of maize, Malawi's staple food, has gone up amid fears of a reduced crop following devastating floods that have hit the landlocked country in southeast Africa.

SE ASIA-PACIFIC

AUSTRALIA

MELBOURNE -­ Asylum seeker advocate tells AA that transfer of first group of Nauru refugees to Cambodia has been delayed due to lack of interest among refugees, while Australian immigration minister blames delay on "logistical issues." (MERITS)

THAILAND

BANGKOK - Junta-appointed National Reform Council begins debating draft constitution written by military-appointed drafting committee.

SOUTH KOREA

SEOUL -­ Main opposition party says it will take steps to impeach PM Lee Wan-koo amid bribery scandal.

JAPAN

TOKYO -­ Tsunami advisory for southern Miyako Island lifted shortly after being issued following magnitude 6.8 earthquake at remote islands of Okinawa prefecture.

PHILIPPINES

ZAMBOANGA CITY ­- Authorities continue search for kidnapped grandchild of southern town's mayor and teenage bakery employee.

ASIA

SPECIAL REPORTS

PAKISTAN 

By Aamir Latif

-Chinese president set for $50 billion deals with Pakistan.

KARACHI - Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Pakistan for visit expected to solidify longstanding defense and economic ties.

INDIA

By Shuriah Niazi

Tackling child marriage in India on a day of weddings

BHOPAL - The Hindu festival of Akshay Tritiya is considered a day for weddings but it also sees lots of child marriages.