DIARY - Political and General News Events From May 21

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama meets Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi at the White House. ** DEAD SEA, JORDAN - World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa 2015 (to May 23). ** BRASILIA - International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde visits Brazil (to May 22) to participate in a central bank seminar about inflation targeting. She is expected to meet Brazilian Finance Minister Joaquim Levy in Brasilia. ** DUBLIN - European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen visits Ireland. ** SINGAPORE - London Mayor Alan Yarrow visits Singapore (to May 23). ** TORONTO - Canadian Finance Minister Joe Oliver will address the Bloomberg Economic Conference in Toronto - 1815 GMT. ** KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia presents its 11th Malaysia Plan in Parliament. The government is expected to present its strategies and priorities for the 11th Malaysia Plan, the country's blueprint for the next five years. ** BOGOTA - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos ** TOKYO - South Korea Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan visits Japan (to May 23) and meet his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso. ** SEOUL - South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byun-se hosts a banquet for Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Mexican Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Meade and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. ** SEOUL - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to visit South Korea (to May 22) and participate in the Fifth Foreign Ministers Meeting of the MIKTA Initiative (Mexico, Indonesia, Korea, Turkey and Australia) ** MOSCOW - Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi holds talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

BISHKEK - Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will visit Kyrgyzstan.

BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivers a government declaration to parliament.

SANTIAGO - Chile President Michelle Bachelet is due to give her annual state of the union speech.

RIGA - Eastern Partnership Summit (to May 22).

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FRIDAY, MAY 22

BANGKOK - Thailand's Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha addresses the public on the government's work.

HANOI - The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will pay a visit to Vietnam (to May 23) at the invitation of Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang.

LIMA - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is expected to meet Peruvian President Ollanta Humala - 2045 GMT.

DUBLIN - Referendum election. A national referendum on same-sex marriage is held in Ireland, long one of Europe's most religious countries

GLOBAL - International Day for Biological Diversity.

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SUNDAY, MAY 24

DHAKA/JAKARTA - Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong will visit Bangladesh and Indonesia (to May 31). ** ALBERTA, Canada - Alberta premier Rachel Notley to announce new cabinet

ETHIOPIA - House of People's Representatives election.

POLAND - Second round of Presidential election.

SANTIAGO - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visits Chile.

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TUESDAY, MAY 26 ** MOSCOW - The 5th annual Meeting of BRICS High Representatives for Security Issues will be held in Moscow. ** PRAGUE - European Nuclear Energy Forum (ENEF) with EU Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.

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THURSDAY, MAY 28 ** SINGAPORE - G20-OECD High-level roundtable on institutional investors and long-term investment.

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FRIDAY, MAY 29

NIGERIA - Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari to be sworn in as president.

SWITZERLAND - FIFA presidential election

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SUNDAY, MAY 31

GLOBAL - World No Tobacco Day.

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MONDAY, JUNE 1

VIENNA - 23rd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition (to Jun 4). http://www.eubce.com/home.html

KATHMANDU - 13th anniversary of Nepal King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and eight other members of the royal family assassinated by Crown Prince in royal family massacre.

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TUESDAY, JUNE 2 ** PARIS - Anti-Islamic State coalition to meet in France. Ministers from members of the coalition fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria will meet in Paris to plot strategy including how to reverse recent losses.

ROME - 154th Anniversary of the unification of Italy.

PARIS - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Forum 2015 (to June 3) http://www.oecd.org/forum/about/

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 ** BERLIN - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi visits Germany

SYDNEY - Sydney Film Festival 2015 (to June 14)

http://www.sff.org.au/

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THURSDAY, JUNE 4

CHILE - 4th anniversary of Chile's Puyehue volcano eruption, causing air traffic cancellations across South America, New Zealand, Australia.

HONG KONG - Tens of thousands attend a candlelight vigil in Hong Kong to commemorate the 26th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing.

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FRIDAY, JUNE 5

JAKARTA - ASEAN Economic Congress.

http://www.euromoneyconferences.com/ASEAN.html

GLOBAL - World Environment Day.

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SATURDAY, JUNE 6

SEOUL - South Korea marks the 60th anniversary of Memorial Day.

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FRIDAY, JUNE 12

GLOBAL - World Day Against Child Labour.

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SATURDAY, JUNE 13

SHANGHAI - Shanghai International Film Festival (to June 21)

http://www.siff.com/InformationEn/ViewNews.aspx?CategoryID=6a9947cd-bd4b-469e-8216-1208bdd5838b

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SUNDAY, JUNE 14

GLOBAL - World Blood Donor Day.

GAZA - 8th anniversary of Hamas takeover of the Gaza strip from Fatah.

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MONDAY, JUNE 15

PARIS - International Paris Air Show Le Bourget (to June 21)

http://www.siae.fr/EN/THE-SHOW.htm

PRISTINA - Kosovo marks 7th anniversary of its constitution.

GLOBAL - World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD).

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17

GLOBAL - United Nation's World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.

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THURSDAY, JUNE 18 ** LUXEMBOURG - Eurogroup meeting.

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SATURDAY, JUNE 20

GLOBAL - World Refugee Day.

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24

BERLIN - 67th anniversary of beginning of The Berlin Blockade. Communist forces cut off all land and water routes between West Germany and West Berlin, prompting the United States to organise a massive airlift.

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THURSDAY, JUNE 25

LOS ANGELES - 6th death anniversary of pop star Michael Jackson.

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FRIDAY, JUNE 26

GLOBAL - International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

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MONDAY, JUNE 29

PYEONGTAEK - South Korea observes the 13th anniversary of an inter-Korean sea clash.

BEJING/TAIPEI - 5th Anniversary of signing of a landmark trade deal between China and Taiwan.

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NOTE: The inclusion of diary items does not necessarily mean