DIARY-Political and General News Events from February 18

Feb 18 (Reuters) -
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18

TOKYO - IAEA head Rafael Grossi and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya hold a news conference in Tokyo.

NEW DELHI - Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani attends his ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan presidential palace and later meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi – 0430 GMT

BRASILIA - Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva meets Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in Brasilia – 1400 GMT

KUWAIT CITY - At the invitation of the Amir of the State of Kuwait, Sheikh Meshal Al Sabah, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, will pay an official visit to Kuwait.

SINGAPORE - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla is on an official visit to Singapore.

COLOMBO - The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives, Abdulla Khaleel, will be undertaking an official visit to Sri Lanka (to February 21)

MANAMA - Prime Minister of Malaysia Seri Anwar Ibrahim will undertake an official visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain (to February 20)

NEW DELHI - India and Qatar are set to strengthen their economic and trade ties with the India-Qatar Joint Business Forum

AMMAN - President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will pay an official visit to Jordan (to February 19)

ANKARA - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will visit Turkey upon the invitation of President Tayyip Erdogan.

LONDON/DUBLIN/BERLIN/WASHINGTON D.C./CAPE TOWN - China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi will tour the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, the United States and South Africa (To February 21)

BERLIN – 75th Berlin International Film Festival (To February 23)

JERUSALEM/RIYADH/ABU DHABI - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to the Middle East, making stops in Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. (final day)

WARSAW – EU Informal meeting of the General Affairs Council (final day)

GENEVA - WTO main decision body meets, to discuss trade tensions (to February 19) - 1300 GMT

SINGAPORE - Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong Delivers Budget 2025 - 0730 GMT

HAMILTON - Bermuda holds general election

BRUSSELS - EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19

RIYADH - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Saudi Arabia.

ROME - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Israeli President Isaac Herzog meet at Palazzo Chigi, in Rome – 1530 GMT

COLOMBO - A joint media briefing by Sri Lanka foreign minister Vijitha Herath and his Maldives counterpart Abdulla Khaleel will be held to outline engagement between the two countries – 0530 GMT

MADRID - Spain's King Felipe VI meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Madrid's Royal Palace – 1130 GMT

CAPE TOWN - South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will present the 2025 budget in parliament – 1200 GMT

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20

BANGKOK - Sonexay Siphandone, Prime Minister of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, will pay an official visit to Thailand at the invitation of Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand.

TASHKENT - Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze will visit Uzbekistan (To February 22)

LONDON - London Fashion Week Winter 2025 (To February 24)

GUERTERSLOH, Germany - Moldovan President Maia Sandu receives the 2025 Reinhard Mohn prize for strengthening democracy in Germany – 1000 GMT

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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22

VENICE, Italy - Venice Carnival 2025 (To March 4)

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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23

GERMANY - German Federal Diet Election

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24

BAKU/TASHKENT - Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif will undertake five-day visit of Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan (to February 28)

GENEVA - 58th Session of the Human Rights Council (to April 4)

BRUSSELS - EU Foreign Affairs Council

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25

BRUSSELS - EU General Affairs Council

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26

CAPE TOWN - G20 Finance and Central Bank Ministerial Meeting (to February 27)

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27

VIENNA - VIENNA Opera Ball 2025

LISBON - French President Emmanuel Macron visits Portugal, meets top officials and addresses Portugal’s parliament

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28

RIO DE JANEIRO - Rio Carnival 2025 (To March 8)

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SATURDAY, MARCH 1

LONDON - The BRIT Awards 2025

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SUNDAY, MARCH 2

TAJIKISTAN - Tajikistani Assembly of Representatives election.

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MONDAY, MARCH 3

TOKYO - President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, will visit Japan (to March 7)

GLOBAL - International Day for Ear and Hearing

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TUESDAY, MARCH 4

NICOSIA- Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands will arrive in Cyprus for a two-day state visit at the invitation of President Nikos Christodoulides. (To March 5)

NEW ORLEANS - Mardi Gras 2025

MICRONESIA - Micronesian Congress election.

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5

MOSCOW – 72nd Death anniversary of Soviet leader Josef Stalin.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 6

BRUSSELS - EU Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting. (To March 7)

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SATURDAY, MARCH 8

GLOBAL - International Women's Day.

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MONDAY, MARCH 10

TIBET - 66th anniversary of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fleeing into exile after a failed uprising.

BRUSSELS - Eurogroup meeting.

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TUESDAY, MARCH 11

GREENLAND - Greenland Diet Election.

SENDAI, Japan – 14th anniversary of Sendai earthquake and tsunami.

BRUSSELS - Economic and Financial Affairs Council.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 13

VALENCIA, Spain - Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo invited EU finance ministers to discuss competitiveness

CAPE TOWN - EU-South Africa summit.

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SATURDAY, MARCH 15

GLOBAL - World Day of Action against Seal Hunting.

DAMASCUS - Syria marks the 14th anniversary of an increasingly bloody uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

DUBLIN, Ireland - St. Patrick's Festival (to March 17).

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SUNDAY, MARCH 16

HALABJA, Iraq - 37th anniversary of 5,000 civilian Kurds being killed in Iraqi chemical weapons attack.

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MONDAY, MARCH 17

BRUSSELS - Foreign Affairs Council.

BRUSSELS - EU Energy Ministers meet

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TUESDAY, MARCH 18

BRUSSELS - General Affairs Council.

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19

EGYPT – Fourteenth anniversary of Egyptian referendum on constitutional reforms

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THURSDAY, MARCH 20

BRUSSELS - European Council (To March 21)

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FRIDAY, MARCH 21

CURACAO - Curacaoan Estates election.

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SATURDAY, MARCH 22

GLOBAL - World Water Day.

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SUNDAY, MARCH 23

GLOBAL - World Meteorological Day.

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MONDAY, MARCH 24

TOKYO - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will make a state visit to Japan. (To March 27)

GLOBAL - World Tuberculosis Day.

BRUSSELS - Informal meeting of health ministers (To March 25)

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FRIDAY, MARCH 28

BRUSSELS - EU General Affairs Council (Cohesion)

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MONDAY, MARCH 31

FRANCE - Denmark's King Frederik X and Queen Mary on State visit to France (to April 02)

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