News archive of May 2017

Owning a large house has been the dream of many people for many years. But the most recent trend, largely because of rising costs in property is to live in smaller dwellings. Here is a list of some of the tiniest homes from around the world.

KODA Walking Concrete can be taken apart and easily rebuilt in a new location.

The Turkish Embassy to Kabul has been damaged due to a powerful explosion in the Afghan capital that killed at least 80 people earlier on May 31, Turkey's Foreign Ministry has said, noting that no Turkish personnel were harmed. 

"We learned with deep sorrow that many were killed and wounded in a terrorist attack in Kabul today," read a written statement issued by the ministry.

Saudi Aramco is to build the region's biggest shipyard in a $5.2 billion joint venture with South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries and others, the partners said on May 31.

The yard, to be constructed on the kingdom's Gulf coast, will have the capacity to produce four offshore rigs and 40 vessels, including three supertankers, a year, the state-owned oil giant said in a statement.

Gas from Turkmenistan could be transferred to other countries through Turkey once the Southern Gas Corridor is commissioned, the head of the Transit Petroleum Pipeline Department at Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Ministry said May 30.

Two Romanian ministers have been widely mocked on social media over suggestions that a sheep, one of the country's folkloric symbols, should represent the country's tourism industry at an international level.

Turkey's foreign trade deficit rose to 4.95 billion in April with a 16.7 percent year-on-year increase, official data showed on May 31. 

While the country's imports surged 9.9 percent year-on-year to $17.7 billion, exports rose 7.4 percent to $12.8 billion, according to data from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK). 

The U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen has ordered his followers to leave Turkey by disguising themselves as Syrian refugees, according to a report prepared by intelligence units about the activities of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), widely believed to have orchestrated the July 15, 2016, failed coup attempt. 

A total of 39 pitbulls which were used in criminal activity by their owners have been put into a rehabilitation program in the Aegean province of Manisa, Doğan News Agency reported May 30. 

The dogs will not be put up for adoption, according to officials from the Temporary Animal Nursery, which is under the control of Manisa Municipality.  

The police are now able to remove an abuser from the home they share with the victim, and prohibit them from approaching and communicating with the victim.

This measure is contained in Serbia's new Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence, that takes effect on Friday.

Bank of Greece governor Yannis Stournaras has called for international creditors to provide more detail on the debt relief they will provide the country, while calling for lower primary budget surplus targets.

"The Greek economy cannot withstand another year of uncertainty," Stournaras told the Economist conference in Frankfurt on Wednesday.