On Mideast trip, Putin orders partial withdrawal from Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with his Turkish counterpart in Ankara on Monday for the last leg of a day-long diplomatic dash, during which he ordered the partial withdrawal of Russia's troops from the war-torn country.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Putin at his presidential complex in Ankara for a closed-door meeting.This is the eighth face-to-face meeting between Putin and Erdogan this year, a sign of the intensity of a relationship that had hit rock bottom in Novembe