News archive of December 2017

Turkey saved $11 billion in 2016 through public-private partnership in infrastructural investments made between 2003 and 2016, Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Ahmet Arslan said on Dec. 29.

An earthquake of 4.9 magnitude magnitude was recorded not far from Athens, the European Mediterranean Seismological Center reported.

The quake was at 06:02 local time and lasted about 20 seconds. The epicenter was 81 kilometers from the Greek capital. It was at a depth of 10 kilometers.

There is no evidence of damage and injuries.

Turkey will increase its minimum wage by around 14 percent in 2018, for a monthly minimum wage of 1,603 liras ($423.30), Labor Minister Jülide Sarıeroğlu said on Dec. 29.

Two people have died in the city of Dorud in western Iran during the protests yesterday, the governor of the province of Lorestan said, quoted by world news agencies. But in his words, protesters were not shot by security forces who were not shooting at demonstrators, but from "foreign agents".

Europe must be interested in the improvement of relations between Moscow and Washington - such improvement may even help to resolve the conflict in North Korea, German Foreign Ministry chief Sigmar Gabriel said, according to TASS and other agencies.

Russia's Supreme Court rejected on 30 December the appeal of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny against the decision of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) not to allow him to participate in the presidential election in March 2018, Reuters reported.

In 2018 there will be a series of five eclipses - including the longest one in a hundred years - as well as three comets that will pass close to the Earth, TASS reported.

BANJALUKA - Republika Srpska (RS) will "always have a friend, a partner and a family member" in Serbia, Serbian PM Ana Brnabic said in Banjaluka Wednesday at a charity event held to collect donations for the RS Solidarity Fund for the Diagnostics and Treatment Abroad of Diseases, Conditions and Injuries in Children.

KRASNODAR - Partizan Belgrade were beaten 99-64 (22-18, 32-10, 29-18, 16-18) on the road by Lokomotiv Kuban in Wednesday's Round 10, Group C game of Eurocup Basketball.

The Russian team, coached by Serbian Sasa Obradovic, killed the game off in the second quarter, running away with a big 93-46 lead in the last quarter.

The historic tram connecting Istanbul’s Tünel Square and Taksim Square was reopened on Dec. 30 after a year of renovations on İstiklal Avenue.