DIARY - Political and General News Events From May 11

MONDAY, MAY 11 ** TOKYO - Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel will visit Japan (to May 14). Michel will meet Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe and Michel are expected to discuss measures to enhance cooperation between the two countries in areas such as counterterrorism with an eye on Islamic State extremists, while Michel will attend a seminar on promoting trade and investment. ** JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government is expected to be sworn in at parliament.

BRUSSELS - Eurogroup meeting. ** BRUSSELS - NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg holds a news conference ahead of the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting in Antalya. ** NICOSIA - Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders hold first meeting. ** ULAN BATOR - Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev visits Mongolia (to May 13). ** BERLIN - Israeli President Reuven Rivlin visits Germany (to May 12). Rivlin meets German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. ** ANSAN, South Korea - South Korea Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan will speak with heads of small to medium sized businesses in Ansan ** ANTARA/ISTANBUL/ANTALYA - Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias visits Turkey (to May 14). Nikos will meet Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Nikos will also meet Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu for talks on bilateral, regional and international affairs. Nikos will participate in a NATO ministers' meeting take place in Antalya.

ABU DHABI - His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco will start an official visit to United Arab Emirates.

TEHRAN - Irish parliamentary delegation is to visit Iran. The Irish MPs are to meet certain Iranian MPs and other officials to discuss bilateral ties.

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TUESDAY, MAY 12 ** SOCHI - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry plan to meet in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi to discuss Ukraine, Yemen, Syria and Iran.

BRUSSELS - Meeting of Economic and Financial Affairs Council. ** HAMBURG - Energy ministers from the G7 countries hold a news conference in Germany. ** PORT-AU-PRINCE - French President Francois Hollande arrives in Haiti for an official visit.

VIENNA - Negotiators from the European Union and Iran to hold talks on Tehran's nuclear programme (to May 15). EU Political Director Helga Schmid and Iranian deputy negotiators Abbas Araghchi and Madjid Takht Ravanchi start the talks.

BAKU - The 14th International Transport, Transit and Logistics Exhibition, TransCaspian 2015 will be held at the Baku Expo Center (to May 14).

CAPE TOWN - African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa in Cape Town (to May 14). Ghana and South Sudan Energy ministers will be speaking at the conference.

GLOBAL - International Nurse's Day.

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WEDNESDAY, MAY 13

WASHINGTON/MARYLAND - U.S.- Gulf Cooperation Council Summit (to May 14). U.S. President Barack Obama to attend. ** ANTALYA, Turkey - NATO Foreign Ministers meet in Antalya, hosted by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

BAKU - Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang to visit Azerbaijan to discuss bilateral relations, cooperation in energy sector (to May 15).

CANNES - Cannes Film Festival 2015 (to May 24).

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THURSDAY, MAY 14

ATHENS - Economist organises a roundtable with the Greek government at Intercontinental Hotel. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, Deputy Finance Minister Dimitris Mardas, Economy Minister George Stathakis, Chief Executive Officer of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and Deputy Director at the European Department at International Monetary Fund Pul Thomsen are among keynote speakers (to May 15).

BEIJING - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay an official visit to China at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (to May 16).

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FRIDAY, MAY 15

VIENNA - Negotiators from the European Union and Iran to hold talks on Tehran's nuclear programme. Officials from United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany will join the talks. ** BELGRADE - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov makes an official visit to Serbia.

GLOBAL - U.N. International Day of Families.

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SATURDAY, MAY 16

LISBON - 4th anniversary of 78 billion euro bail-out of Portugal by eurozone leaders.

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SUNDAY, MAY 17 ** SEOUL - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visits South Korea (TENTATIVE). ** BRUSSELS - A Russian delegation plans to visit Brussels to participate in the negotiations on the EU-Ukraine association agreement (to May 19). ** ULAN BATOR - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Mongolia

GLOBAL - World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.

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MONDAY, MAY 18

BRUSSELS - Meeting of Foreign Affairs Council

GLOBAL - International Museum Day.

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TUESDAY, MAY 19

BRUSSELS - Meeting of General Affairs Council

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THURSDAY, MAY 21

RIGA - Eastern Partnership Summit (to May 22).

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FRIDAY, MAY 22

GLOBAL - International Day for Biological Diversity.

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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

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

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