内容摘要：Putin spoke Sunday to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who expressed readiness to host the talks, the Kremlin said.

Putin spoke Sunday to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who expressed readiness to host the talks, the Kremlin said.

Italian themes are in vogue at Eurovision this year — another competitor is Italian DJ Gabry Ponte, representing tiny San Marino with “Tutta L’Italia.”Many Italians have embraced the cheery catchiness of “Espresso Macchiato,” even though most would never dream of adding milk to espresso, widely considering macchiato a tourists’ drink.

“We Italians are nice and we laugh at these things,” said Francesco Malferrari, enjoying an espresso — no milk — in a Rome cafe. “Yes, there are some stereotypes, but we in Italy are used to it, so in reality we smile.“But this year we have to root for Lucio Corsi,” the glam rocker who is Italy’s Eurovision competitor. “Because we are for Italy, so let’s root for Lucio Corsi. But let’s have an espresso and laugh it off.”first covered Eurovision in Athens in 2006, when it was won by masked Finnish metal band Lordi with “Hard Rock Hallelujah.” She has been a fan ever since.

Dario Artale contributed to this story from this Rome.WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The vast number of

relative to the country’s scant human population has long been the subject of jokes aimed at New Zealanders abroad. It’s true: The country is one of a handful in the world that’s still home to more sheep than people.

But humans are catching up, according to new figures released Tuesday. With a population of 23.6 million sheep and 5.3 million people, there are about 4.5 sheep for each New Zealander, government statistics agency data showed.The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but says more than half of the dead were women and children.

The Israeli military said they are targeting Hamas infrastructure in Gaza. On Wednesday, chief of staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir told commanders that Israel plans to “expand and intensify our operations” in Gaza.Also on Thursday, a series of Israeli airstrikes hit hilltops in the vicinity of the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh, killing at least one person and wounding eight others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The Israeli military said it bombed infrastructure that belonged to the Hezbollah militant group and included weapons and tunnels. Israel said that Hezbollah’s activities at the site violated a November ceasefire.Hezbollah did not immediately comment on the strikes. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said public institutions in the area were closed after the attacks as families rushed to schools to take their children home.