There happen to be some rather strange practices that are laws in a country that forbid couples from holding hands in public. Banning black cars, preventing dirty vehicles from entering its capital city, and banning women from fixing lashes and nails, talk less of cosmetic surgery. You'd be wrong to assume this country is North Korea. This is the story of Turkmenistan's weird way of life and culture.

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Pope Francis heads Friday (September 22) to Marseille for a two-day visit focused on the Mediterranean and migration, and bringing a message of tolerance amid bitter debate over how Europe manages asylum seekers.

Aid agencies in Libya said local authorities and charities are struggling with the scale of the disaster. Survivors are now at risk from the spread of diseases such as cholera.

For one group, at least, the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961 was a stroke of luck. Over the following decades, the Wall would be the lifeblood of the East German secret police, known as the Stasi.

Often the only way to identify the dead after natural disasters, like Libya's floods or Hawaii's wildfire, is with DNA, fingerprints and dental records.