ISTANBUL

Around 1,000 Turkish students accepted to Italian universities are unable to attend due to delays and hurdles in their visa processing, local media has reported.

The delays have left students and their families in distress as the clock ticks closer to critical deadlines for university registration.

A winter chill is expected to sweep across Türkiye this weekend, with temperatures likely to drop and sleet and snow possibly blanketing Istanbul on Nov. 23, giving children the long-awaited chance to engage in snowball fights, sledding and building snowmen in their gardens.

Two senior officials from the Ankara Municipality have been temporarily suspended amid an investigation into payments for a public concert.

The suspensions include Haluk Erdemir, head of the municipality's Cultural and Social Affairs Department, and Hacı Ali Bozkurt, the unit's coordinator. Both will remain suspended until the probe concludes.

Türkiye hosted 1.7 million cruise passengers in the first 10 months of the year, the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry has announced.

While the number of passengers increased by 26.8 percent, the number of cruise ships arriving in Türkiye rose by 3.7 percent to 1,112 compared to the same period last year.

Vladimir Putin appears open to negotiations with Donald Trump in order to reach an agreement for a ceasefire in Ukraine, according to Reuters.

However, according to the same report, Putin rules out any compromise regarding territorial matters and insists that Ukraine must abandon its aspirations to join NATO.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called on NATO to focus on Russia's recent amendments to its nuclear policy.

Speaking at a press conference during the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Erdoğan emphasized the dangers of nuclear weapon usage in warfare.

Italy is working to increase the number of staff at its consulates to expedite the visa application process, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday.

Responding to a query from an Anadolu Agency reporter, Tajani acknowledged that many consulates are overwhelmed with the high volume of visa applications, leading to delays in the process.

Health care workers continued to deliver testimonies on the second day of a landmark trial closely followed across Türkiye, with their statements lying bare the harrowing extent of a social security fraud scheme that allegedly led to the deaths of 10 newborns.

A 10-million-year-old Miocene fossil limpet that was discovered some 15 years ago in Istanbul offers insight into the parts of the city that are most vulnerable to a potential large-scale Marmara earthquake, an expert has pointed out.

Continuous and escalating pressure is being exerted on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by European and other Western countries to alter his stance on the ongoing war and to sit down at the negotiation table with Vladimir Putin