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BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s president welcomed his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with full military honors in Berlin on Friday, holding out hope that the state visit will lead to a thaw in relations between the NATO allies.

The two nations have clashed over numerous issues in recent years, including Turkey’s jailing of German journalists and a German parliament resolution labeling the early-20th century killing of Armenians in Turkey as “genocide.”

BEIJING (AP) — A former Chinese stock market regulator who was detained after a collapse in share prices in 2015 was sentenced Friday to 18 years in prison on charges of taking bribes and insider trading.

Yao Gang, a former deputy chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, was one of a series of prominent figures in Chinese finance who were detained after misconduct came to light following the market rout.

MADRID; 28 Sep2018; (AP) — Thousands of travelers in Europe saw their plans disrupted Friday after airline Ryanair cancelled more than 200 flights because of strikes by cabin crew in Spain, Belgium, Holland, Portugal, Italy and Germany.

The budget airline says it had informed passengers of possible disruptions ahead of time, giving them time to adjust.

UNITED NATIONS, September 27./TASS/. Moscow urges all countries that are imposing unilateral sanctions against North Korea to abandon this practice, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a UN Security Council ministerial session on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

MOSCOW, September 27. /TASS/. Based on their actions towards Venezuela, the United States and the European Union are seeking to undermine the Latin American country and depose its President Nicolas Maduro, Venezuelan Ambassador to Russia Carlos Rafael Faria Tortosa stated in an interview with TASS on Thursday.

The diplomat said Venezuela is currently facing a financial blockade. "Action has been taken and continues to be taken to ruin our economy and overthrow our government," the diplomat specified.

MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. Turkey, Russia, France and Germany plan to hold a meeting on Syria in Istanbul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters upon his return from New York, where he participated in the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.

"We will hold a four-party summit in Istanbul, which will involve Turkey, Russia, Germany and France. Preliminary talks on this issue have already taken place, now a date needs to be fixed," Erdogan said, as cited by the Haberturk TV channel.

ANTWERP, Belgium, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Several organizations and institutions on Thursday signed an ambitious agreement to jointly work to introduce train services between this Belgian port and the Chinese port of Shanghai.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Antwerp among the World Free & Special Economic Zones Federation, Brussels-based magazine Diplomatic World and the Antwerp-based non-profit European Federation of Traditional Chinese Culture (EFTCC).

OTTAWA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Thursday defended Canadian negotiators for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) after U.S. President Donald Trump cast serious doubt on the fate of NAFTA.

"The Americans are finding that the negotiations are tough because Canadians are tough negotiators, as we should be, but a good and fair deal is still very possible," Trudeau said to reporters on his way to a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Thursday morning.

MOSCOW, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Russia and Pakistan signed a memorandum of understanding on implementing a project to build an underwater gas pipeline from Iran to Pakistan and India, the Russian Energy Ministry said in a statement Thursday.

"The memorandum provides for the identification of authorized organizations through which the project will be supported, including during the development of a feasibility study, identification of the resource base, configuration and route of the gas pipeline," the statement said.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday, vowing to cement bilateral cooperation.

Being Turkey's friend, China firmly supports Turkey's efforts to safeguard national stability and development, and is willing to maintain communication at all levels with Turkey to strengthen mutual understanding, promote mutually beneficial cooperation, and fully consider each other's core interests and major concerns, Wang said.