DIARY - Political and General News Events From 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. ** SYDNEY - Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey releases Australia's budget for the year of 2015. ** DAR ES SALAAM - The presidents of Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi, which form the East African Community (EAC) common market are expected to attend an extraordinary summit in Tanzania aimed at breaking the political deadlock in Burundi and ensuring the country holds peaceful elections.

BAKU - Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang to visit Azerbaijan to discuss bilateral relations, cooperation in energy sector (to May 15). ** PARIS - French President Francois Hollande meets Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk - 1030 GMT. ** BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel holds a joint news conference with Jordan's King Abdullah - 1100 GMT. ** BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel meets Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

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

BEIJING - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visits China (to May 17).

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 (to May 18). Kerry will meet South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se in Seoul to discuss regional and global issues.

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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WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 ** ASHGABAT - Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will visit Turkmenistan

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THURSDAY, MAY 21 ** BISHKEK - Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will visit Kyrgyzstan.

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