Diary

Here are the main topics Anadolu's English Desk plans to cover on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023 (coverage may change depending on developing/ breaking stories):

US

NEW YORK - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to speak at Türkiye-US Business Council event.

NEW YORK - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to meet Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on sidelines of UN General Assembly.

NEW YORK - US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet on margins of UN General Assembly. Leaders have not met in person since Netanyahu returned to office in December.

NEW YORK - US President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to hold bilateral meeting on margins of UN General Assembly.

NEW YORK - EU High Representative Josep Borrell to co-host ministerial meeting with Egypt on margins of UN General Assembly; Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan expected to attend.

NEW YORK - Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama to chair open debate on war in Ukraine at UN Security Council, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy expected to attend.

NEW YORK - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to take part in meeting of foreign ministers of BRICS countries on sidelines of UN General Assembly.

NEW YORK - Extraordinary meeting of Council of Foreign Ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states.

NEW YORK - South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol to address UN General Assembly.

RUSSIA

ST. PETERSBURG - President Vladimir Putin to hold meeting with members of Board of Trustees of Mariinsky Theater.

AZERBAIJAN

BAKU - Following developments after Azerbaijan launched 'anti-terror' measures in Karabakh to ensure the provisions of 2020 trilateral peace agreement it signed with Russia and Armenia, as earlier Tuesday six people were killed in two separate explosions in the region.

KYRGYZSTAN

BISHKEK - 2-day Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) conference on combating terrorism and extremism, and joint antiterrorist exercises of CIS and Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states.

SOUTH KOREA

SEOUL - South Korean government to seek consent of lawmakers to arrest main opposition leader over alleged bribery, corruption. Lee Jae-myung remains in hospital as his health deteriorated after hunger strike against government policies.

FRANCE

PARIS - King Charles III, accompanied by Queen Camilla, travels to France. The trip was postponed in March amid protests over pension reforms by President Emmanuel Macron. The visit involves stops in Paris and Bordeaux.

UK

LONDON - Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy to publish report on cross-government fund, which focuses on conflict, stability and security challenges overseas.

GERMANY

BERLIN - German Hospital Federation to hold protests in various cities, demanding more funding for hospitals. About 25% of the facilities are at risk of insolvency, and their total deficit stands at €10 billion, according to sector representatives.

IRAQ

ERBIL – Following Iraqi measures to disarm and relocate Kurdish armed groups from northern Iraq’s Kurdish region upon Iran’s request. Tehran threatened to resume its military operations in the Kurdish region if Baghdad failed to act by Sept. 19.

LIBYA

TRIPOLI – Monitoring developments in Derna city following deadly floods that killed thousands and caused massive damage to infrastructure. The parliament-appointed government in East Libya on Tuesday sacked the Derna municipal council over the disaster.

THE ECONOMY

ANKARA - Türkiye's Treasury and Finance Ministry to reveal central government's debt figures for August. The Turkish central government’s gross debt stock totaled 5.8 trillion Turkish liras at the end of July.

TOKYO - Japan to reveal foreign trade balance figure for August. It posted its first monthly decline in exports in more than two years due to weaker overseas demand, down 0.3% year-on-year. Japan’s imports plunged 13.5% from a year ago in July, marking a fourth-straight monthly fall. Japan shifted to a trade deficit of 78.7 billion yen ($539.6 million) in the month.

BEIJING - Chinese central bank to reveal lending rates. China cut its one-year loan prime rate by 10 basis points to a record low of 3.45% while surprisingly holding the 5-year rate, a reference for mortgages, unchanged at 4.2%. The PBoC is expected to hold rates unchanged.

BERLIN - Germany's statistical office Destatis to reveal producer inflation for August. Germany's producer prices decreased by 6% year-on-year in July, posting the first decline since November 2020. The decline was due to a base effect as the prices surged significantly since the onset of the Ukraine war.

WASHINGTON - Fed to announce decision on interest rates. At its last meeting in July, the Fed raised its policy rate by 25 basis points, raising the policy rate to a 22-year high of between 5.25 - 5.50%. The Fed has raised interest rates in 11 of 12 meetings since March 2022.

SPORTS

ISTANBUL - Galatasaray to host Denmark's Copenhagen in first match of UEFA Champions League Group A.

SPECIAL REPORT

Diplomatic crisis: Why have India-Canada ties unraveled?

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA – Report detailing the reasons for the escalating standoff between India and Canada, which has now led to the two countries expelling each other’s diplomats.

Canada has accused India of involvement in the murder of a Sikh man Hardeep Singh Nijjar, charges that New Delhi has dismissed.

The report gives a chronological rundown of related developments over the past year, including several statements by both sides, the recent encounter between the prime ministers at the G-20 summit, and the cancellation of a bilateral trade mission.

SPECIAL REPORT

Trump will ‘100%’ be convicted on election charges, says jailed Proud Boys leader

By Anadolu staff

WASHINGTON – Interview with Henry "Enrique" Tarrio, the jailed leader of the Proud Boys far-right militant group, who was recently sentenced to 22 years on seditious conspiracy and other charges for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 US Capitol riots.

He speaks about the high chances of ex-President Donald Trump being convicted on charges related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, including claiming that investigators asked him for information tying the ex-president to the incident.

SPECIAL REPORT

‘We’re seeking justice,’ says US Muslim mayor seeking end to FBI watchlist

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON – Interview with Mohamed Khairullah, the Muslim mayor of Prospect Park, a borough in the US state of New Jersey.

Khairullah was abruptly turned away from a White House Eid al-Fitr celebration four months ago, without any explanation. He is now the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking an end to the secret FBI watchlist that he was placed on in 2019.

He speaks about the reasons why he is leading the charge against the watchlist, outlining details of the discrimination that Muslims face in the US because of such measures.

SPECIAL REPORT

2023 pension reforms will leave mark on France’s history: Trade union official

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA – Interview with Beatrice Lestic, national secretary of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT), about the pension reforms that came into effect in France on Sept. 1.

She speaks about the controversial issues in the plan, which were pushed through by President Emmanuel Macron’s government despite a series of massive protests.

The official also discusses the impact of the reforms on French society and other possible future implications.

SPECIAL REPORT

Pre-adolescent scoliosis control raises treatment chance in children

By Veysel Altun

SAMSUN, Türkiye – Interview with Huseyin Sina Coskun, a faculty member of the Ondokuz Mayis University’s School of Medicine, about the importance of pre-adolescent screening in the treatment of scoliosis.

The expert gives details about the causes, symptoms and variations of scoliosis, while also delving into the different methods to rectify the abnormal lateral curvature of the spine.

SPECIAL REPORT

Jericho’s Tell es-Sultan becomes UNESCO World Heritage Site

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine – Report about the designation of Tell es-Sultan as a World Heritage Site in Palestine, which the UN has declared to be "oldest fortified city in the world."

The report gives details about the ancient city and its significance, with comments from Iyad Hamdan, director of the Tourism Ministry in Jericho, and archeology researcher
Hamdan Taha.

NEW MEDIA

VIDEO - Kim-Putin summit: What does it mean?

Report about the recent summit between North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The report focuses on the reasons and geopolitical implications of the meeting, with expert views from Scott Lucas, an international politics professor from the University of Birmingham.