DIARY - Political and General News Events From June 18

Reuters will issue this diary daily at around 1000 GMT.

All times in GMT unless otherwise stated.

Items marked ** denote new or amended listings.

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JUNE (UNDATED)

QATAR - Parlimentary elections.

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TUESDAY, JUNE 18

BERLIN - U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Berlin (to June 19).

LOUGH ERNE, Northern Ireland - G8 Summit (Final Day).

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia - Youth 20 Summit (to June 21).

** WASHINGTON - United States, South Korean and Japanese officials meet to discuss North Korea's new offer to hold high-level talks.

** WASHINGTON - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the plan of the Obama administration to reduce gun violence.

** WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry delivers remarks in observance of the 10th anniversary of the U.S. government's initiative on global AIDS prevention known as PEPFAR (The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief).

** BEIJING - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will pay an official visit to China (to June 20).

** BEIJING - China's President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang meet D?az-Canel, First Vice President of the Council of State and First Vice President of the Council of the Ministers of Cuba.

** KIEV - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will visit Ukraine (Final Day).

** FRANKFURT - German-Italian Economic Forum in Frankfurt, German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler, his Italian counterpart Flavio Zanonato and Unicredit Chairman Giuseppe Vita will be present in the forum.

** BEIJING - North Korea's chief nuclear envoy Kim Kye-gwan arrives in Beijing, a day after Pyongyang proposed high-level talks with Washington and ahead of a scheduled summit between China and South Korea in Beijing later this month.

** BEIRUT - EU Foreign Affairs Chief Catherine Ashton visits Lebanon and hold meeting with Lebanese senior officials including President Michel Suleiman and Speaker Nabih Berii.

** ROME - Cecile Kyenge, Italian minister of integration, gives news briefing on political integration in Italy.

** PRAGUE - The lower house of the Czech parliament is expected to hold a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Petr Necas and his cabinet.

** KABUL - NATO hands over full charge of security in a final group of provinces to Afghan forces in a large ceremony attended by President Hamid Karzai, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and other high profile international guests.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will present bill to reform Brazil's mining code.

JERUSALEM - 5th Israeli Presidential Conference Facing Tomorrow 2013 (to June 20).

NAIROBI - 123rd Meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19

BERLIN - U.S. President Barack Obama meets German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

LONDON - Japanese Prime Minister Abe to discuss his Abenomics reform programme at Chatham House.

JERUSALEM - Bill Clinton, Mikhail Gorbachev and Tony Blair will be speaking at the 5th Israeli Presidential Conference Facing Tomorrow 2013. During the session, President Shimon Peres will award Bill Clinton the Presidential Medal of Distinction.

** MAKATI CITY, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino to deliver keynote address at Global Development Network's annual conference.

** MADRID - Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy presents report on how he plans to cut back layers of bureaucracy and make government more efficient at Moncloa Palace. - 1000 GMT.

ROME - Italy's highest court rules on Italy Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's appeal to block a four year prison sentence for tax fraud at his Mediaset broadcasting empire by claiming a procedural fault in the original trial.

JERUSALEM - European Union foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton to visit Isreal (to June 21).

JERUSALEM - Canadian Foreign Minister John Russell Baird visits region.

ILLINOIS, United States - Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn calls for a special legislative session which aims at addressing the state's $100 billion pension underfunding.

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THURSDAY, JUNE 20

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia - International Economic Forum (to June 22).

ROME - Prime Minister Enrico Letta meets foreign press.

** BRUSSELS - EU Foreign Affairs Chief Catherine Ashton will meet Serbia Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci.

** BRUSSELS - Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski starts a two-day visit to Brussels to meet with NATO and EU officials.

BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim will speak at a conference entitled "Leadership Matters - Business and Politics as Drivers for Inclusive and Sustainable Development" organised by the German World Bank Forum and Bertelsmann Foundation.

GLOBAL - World Refugee Day.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia - Business 20 Summit (to June 21).

LUXEMBOURG - Eurogroup meeting.

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FRIDAY, JUNE 21

BRUSSELS - Meeting of Economic and Financial Affairs Council.

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SUNDAY, JUNE 23

MONTREAL, Canada - 30th International Epilepsy Congress (to June 27).

ALBANIA - Parlimentary elections.

TUNISIA - Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

SOFIA - Britain's Prince Edward and his wife Sophie will visit Bulgaria on invitation of Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev.

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MONDAY, JUNE 24

BERLIN - 65th 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.

LUXEMBOURG - Meeting of Foreign Affairs Council (FAC).

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TUESDAY, JUNE 25

HELSINKI - Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Finland.

LOS ANGELES - Fourth death anniversary of pop star Michael Jackson.

LUXEMBOURG - Meeting of General Affairs Council (GAC).

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26

TBILISI - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen to visit Georgia.

LISBON - Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho attends parliament debate.

DAKAR/CAPE TOWN/DODOMA - U.S. President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama will travel to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania (to July 3).

MONGOLIA - Presidential elections.

GLOBAL - International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

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THURSDAY, JUNE 27

BEIJING - South Korean President Park Geun-hye visits China (to June 30).

BRUSSELS - European Council (to June 28).

ST PETERSBURG, Russia - International Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Power in the 21st Century (to June 29).

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SATURDAY, JUNE 29

** KOKKOLA, FINLAND - Finland's Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen to speak at Ander Chydeniius seminar in Kokkola.

PYEONGTAEK - South Korea observes the 11th anniversary of an inter-Korean sea clash.

BEIJING/TAIPEI - 3rd anniversary of signing of a landmark trade deal between China and Taiwan.

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JULY (UNDATED)

ZIMBABWE - Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

** GUINEA - Parliamentary elections.

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MONDAY, JULY 1

WASHINGTON - United States will ban the transfer of any precious metals or gold to Iranian state and private institutions, as well as Ira

nian citizens, as part of its effort to pressure Iran to curb its nuclear program.

BAMAKO - U.N. Security Council is considering a draft resolution on deployment of peacekeepers in Mali.

VIENNA - International Conference on Nuclear Security: Enhancing Global Efforts (to July 5).

EUROPEAN UNION - Croatia Joins as 28th member state of the European Union.

EUROPEAN UNION - Lithuania hold EU Presidency for Second half of 2013.

CHINA - 92nd founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China.

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TUESDAY, JULY 2

GLOBAL - World UFO day on anniversary of the Roswell incident.

SIENA - July annual horse race "Palio di Siena".

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THURSDAY, JULY 4

UNITED STATES - Independence Day.

GLOBAL - International Day of Cooperatives.

CONEY ISLAND, N.Y. - Annual Coney Island 'Hot Dog' eating competition.

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SATURDAY, JULY 6

SONKAJARVI - (TBC) 18th Wife-Carrying World Championship (to July 7).

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SUNDAY, JULY 7

TUNISIA - Presidential run-off election.

KATHMANDU - 67th birthday of Nepal's deposed King Gyanendra.

LONDON - 8th anniversary of the attacks on London's transport network, killing more than 50 and injuring 700.

PAMPLONA, Spain - Annual bull-running festival (San Fermin) (to July 14).

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MONDAY, JULY 8

PYONGYANG - Death anniversary of Kim Il-sung, founder of North Korea.

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TUESDAY, JULY 9

TEHRAN - 14th anniversary of attack on Tehran University dormitory in 1999.

JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH - Palestine marks 9th anniversary of a World Court ruling that Israel's walls and fences in the West Bank were illegal.

SOUTH SUDAN - 2nd Anniversary of South Sudan becoming an Independent State.

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THURSDAY, JULY 11

JAPAN - Parlimentary elections.

GLOBAL - United Nations World Population Day.

MUMBAI - 7th anniversary of deadly bomb attacks on Mumbai's commuter rail network.

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SATURDAY, JULY 13

BHUTAN - Second Round of Parlimentary elections.

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SUNDAY, JULY 14

PARIS - Bastille Day.

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 17

SAINT HELENA - Parlimentary elections.

GLOBAL - World Day for International Justice, which commemorates the adoption of the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court, the Rome Statute.

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THURSDAY, JULY 18

GLOBAL - Nelson Mandela International Day.

JOHANNESBURG - 95th birthday of South African leader Nelson Mandela.

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FRIDAY, JULY 19

MOSCOW - G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' Meeting (to July 20).

BARCELONA, Spain - 15th FINA World Championships (to Aug. 4).

ROYAL LYTHAM & ST. ANNES, England - (TENTATIVE) GOLF - The Open Championship 2012 (British Open) (to July 22).

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SATURDAY, JULY 20

CYPRUS - Cyprus marks the anniversary of the Turkish invasion in 1974.