Diary

ANKARA

 Here are the main stories that The Anadolu Agency's English News Desk will cover on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015:

TURKEY

ANKARA  – President Erdogan participates in a mass public inauguration ceremony of TURGEV dormitories in Ankara. Later, Erdogan meets Chairman of Constitutional Court Zuhtu Arslan and Deputy President of Iraq Usame Nuceyfi in presidential palace.

ANKARA – Turkish parliament discusses internal security reform bill.

SPECIAL REPORTS

Stocks surge, but lira holds firm on Turkish rate cut

By Andrew Jay Rosenbaum

ANKARA (AA) – Stock markets surged, but the Turkish lira held firm, after the Turkish central bank announced an interest rate cut on Tuesday.

Turkish architect designs 'future living' on Mars

By Nilay Onum Kar

ISTANBUL (AA) – As space agencies reveal plans to send people to the red planet for the first time, AA meets the Turkish architect imagining whole extraterrestrial communities.

AZERBAIJAN

BAKU – Turkish foreign minister Cavusoglu meets with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev in Baku, Azerbaijan.

EUROPE

BELGIUM

BRUSSELS – Members of European parliament discuss new Strategic Energy Union Framework with Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic, discuss the outcome of the recent informal meeting of heads of state with Council President Donald Tusk and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and review the ECB's 2013 activities with its President Mario Draghi.

The European Commission will present its Energy Union Strategy and adopt a Framework Strategy for a Resilient Energy Union with a Forward-Looking Climate Change Policy. The Energy Union is one of the key priorities of the new Commission as laid down in Juncker’s political guidelines.

FRANCE

PARIS – French government announces plan to promote dialogue with France's Muslims, providing security for them. Training Imams and funding mosques are highlights of plan. New anti-terror measures also included.

UNTED STATES

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of State Kerry testifies before House of Foreign Affairs and Appropriations committees on U.S. interests abroad.  

WASHINGTON – Supreme Allied Commander for Europe Philip Breedlove testifies before House Armed Services Committee on security challenges in Europe amid ongoing instability in eastern Ukraine. 

WASHINGTON – Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen testifies before House Financial Services Committee after saying Tuesday that the Fed would not be raising interest rates for at least next couple of FOMC meetings, which take place every 5-6 weeks. 

NEW YORK – UN Security Council receives briefing on Middle East. 

MIDLE EAST AND AFRICA

GHANA

KUMASI – Opposition calling for anti-government demonstration in Kumasi.

SOUTH AFRICA

JOHANNESBURG – Amnesty International’s regional office to host press conference in Johannesburg on World’s Human Rights Annual Report, with focus on southern Africa.

PRETORIA – Minister of Finance Nhlanhla Nene presents national budget to parliament. 

TOGO

LOME – Ruling party to name candidate for 2016 presidential elections.

SPECIAL REPORTS

Nigerians beg in style (photos)

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS (AA) – A novel loosely held in his left hand and looking pitifully forlorn, Adejare Samuel approaches every other car in downtown Lagos begging for alms.

He tells a passionate story of how no one is available to help him pay his tuition fees in order to be allowed to sit for his semester exam.

S. Africa's 'Little Mogadishu' (photos)

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG (AA) – Owners hurry to close their shops as the Muslim call for prayer is heard from different mosques in the area, while women dressed in long garbs walk their children home from Islamic schools.

Welcome to Mayfair, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city, which locals nickname "little Mogadishu."

SE ASIA-PACIFIC

CAMBODIA

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Girl and woman trafficked to Malaysian sex ring returned after opposition leader's intervention.

SOUTH KOREA

SEOUL – Four killed in murder-suicide shooting.

CHINA

BEIJING – Women protest China's biggest TV event - Lunar New Year Gala, which attracts 700 million people - over sexism.