Geography of Asia

The Hellenic National Defence General Staff (GEETHA), Sunday, denied reports that a Turkish swimmer had raised his country’s flag on the isle of Farmakonisi, approximately 5km off the coast of Turkey.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev landed Aug. 22 in the Kuril islands, prompting a swift rebuke from Tokyo, which claims sovereignty over the northwest Pacific archipelago in a long-running dispute.

The Arab League?s assistant secretary-general for Palestinian affairs, Mohamed Sobeih, has branded Israel as an ?abnormal? state, saying the pan-Arab body was seeking to issue a resolution from the U.N. Security Council to end the decades-long Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

The new school year in Turkey has been postponed by two weeks upon requests from the tourism sector in an attempt to recoup losses suffered over the summer.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu said Aug. 20 that the planned reopening date for schools has been rescheduled from Sept. 14 to Sept. 28 in line with requests from the tourism sector. 

Turkish consumer confidence fell to its lowest in more than six years in August, official data showed on Aug. 21, bruised by political uncertainty, mounting militant violence in the southeast and the Turkish Lira's tumble to a record low.

An Israeli air raid hit a car in a village in the Syrian Golan Heights along the countries' border, killing five civilians, the Syrian army said. 

State television, quoting an army source, said the attack took place in a village near Quneitra but gave no further details. 

The tensions between South Korea and North Korea have heightened after an exchange of artillery fire across their heavily fortified border on Thursday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered his front-line troops to be in full preparedness and declared a state of "semi-state of war" at an emergency meeting late on Thursday, the BBC reports.

"No one can set the price of oil. It's up to Allah," said Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi in May. But less devout people believe that Saudi Arabia has been trying very hard to set the price of oil - and to set it low. Moreover, it has been remarkably successful, because last week the price of oil was in the mid $40s per barrel, down from just over $100 last May.

The $400-million, eight-story Museum of the Bible is set to open near the National Mall in the heart of the US capital in 2017 The Museum of the Bible being built in Washington will feature ancient artifacts and treasures from the Holy Land under a new deal that ensures Israel's leading archaeological organization will have an outpost in the U.S. capital.

A shadowy group of militant football fans who have largely laid low since they participated in mass anti-government protests in 2013 that led to the military ouster of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi have claimed responsibility for a car bomb near a Cairo security building that injured at least six policemen late on Aug. 19.