Putin, Erdogan hail mended ties between their two countries

Five years after the attempted coup in Turkey, artists and culture creators are being increasingly targeted by the government.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine lay a wreath at a memorial for the victims of the July 15th, 2016 failed coup against him. That night, a rogue faction in the military tried to take over the country, using warplanes and tanks to attack government buildings. Some 250 people, in addition to at least 24 plotters, died and more than 2,000 were injured in the ensuing chaos as Erdogan rallied his supporters out on the street.

Russia has reacted calmly to the changeover of power in Afghanistan. It was better prepared than the West for the Taliban takeover. It may even recognize the leadership of the terrorist militia.

The rotting dinosaur toys outside the abandoned "Wonderland Eurasia" theme park tell the tale of grand ambition, waste and troubles facing the long-ruling party of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey is home to millions of immigrants, but economic instability brought on by the coronavirus pandemic is fueling mistrust of migrants.

Facing a labor shortage after World War II, Germany designed a program to bring in so-called guest workers. It was a move that had a lasting impact, said President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in a commemoration on Tuesday.

Beekeepers Mustafa Alti and his son Fehmi were kept busy tending to their hives before wildfires tore through a bucolic region of Turkey that makes most of the world's prized pine honey. Now the Altis and generations of other honey farmers in Turkey's Aegean province of Mugla are scrambling to find additional work and wondering how many decades it might take to get their old lives back on track.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had fired three central bankers via decree. Turkey's currency has lost a fifth of its value against the US dollar this year.

Officials from 10 different countries, including China and Pakistan, are attending the meeting with representatives from the Taliban. The talks come after Putin warned that IS fighters were converging in Afghanistan.

The intensive care unit in Moscow's Hospital Number 52 feels the pressure as Russia records daily surges in both cases and deaths caused by the coronavirus infection. On Friday Moscow reported 8166 new cases and 79 deaths which brought the capital's COVID-19 deaths rate to 30573. Moscow will reintroduce COVID-19 lockdown measures from Oct. 28 with supermarkets and pharmacies the only shops allowed to stay open.

Turkey's president has adopted a more moderate tone in his recent diplomatic spat with Western ambassadors. The expulsion of 10 envoys now no longer seems likely.

The Murat 729, carrying 400 mostly Afghan migrants and refugees, sent a distress signal after its engines failed. Turkey failed to respond to a request to take back the vessel, despite a 2016 EU deal worth billions.