Month: November 2016

Photo: AFP

 

A suicide bomber has rammed a truck into a German consulate in Afghanistan, killing at least four civilians and wounding 120, officials said, the BBC reports.

Gunman attacked the building after the blast, in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, battling with German and Afghan forces.

The Taliban said it carried out the attack in retaliation for air strikes last week in Kunduz province.

Local police said at least one suspect had been arrested in connection with the bombing.

A Nato spokesman said there was “massive damage” to the consulate.

At least one car packed with explosives was rammed into the wall surrounding the compound, the spokesman said. Officials were also investigating whether a second car bomb was involved.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the fighters had been sent “with a mission to destroy the German consulate general and kill whoever they found there”, Reuters reported.

All German consulate staff were “safe and uninjured”, the German foreign ministry said, adding that troops were on site preparing to evacuate staff.

Germany leads the Nato diplomatic mission in northern Afghanistan and has nearly 1,000 troops stationed in the country.

Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister for International Affairs Amir-Hossein Zamani-Nia will hold talks with Vitaly Markelov, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee.

According to daily, Amir-Hossein Zamani-Nia will try to convince the Russian companies to get involved in Iran’s oil and gas projects.

The source says increased supplies of Iranian gas to Armenia will be on the agenda of the talks.

Gazprom currently supplies gas to Armenia through Georgian territory, but the transit agreement will expire by the end of the year, and Gazprom seeks reduction of transit fees.

Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan received today the Ambassadors of EU member states accredited to Armenia and the Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia Piotr Switalski.

The Prime Minister emphasized the sincere and open dialogue and cooperation with the EU in all directions and stressed the importance of exchange of experience and implementation of the European culture in our country in the fields of business management, fight against corruption, protection of human rights, implementation of judicial reforms.

Speaking about the government program, Karen Karapetyan noted that the main goal of the executive is to create maximally fair, free and equal field for business and promote investment programs.

The Prime Minister briefed the diplomats on plans to create foundations that will co-finance active, openly operating business and encourage them to be law-abiding taxpayers. He said he does not see a way of development of the country without fight against shadow economy and corruption in all spheres.

Piotr Switalski, in turn, underlined that he’s impressed by the Prime Minister’s and government’s ambitions and reforms agenda.  The Ambassador stressed, that as a friend of Armenia, the European Union is willing to help the country develop the economy, improve the business field, the tax and customs management.

Referring to the fight against corruption, Mr. Switalski hailed the measures envisages by the government and voiced willingness to cooperate in that direction.

The EU Ambassador attached importance to the implementation of reforms in the organization of electoral processes, independence o the judicial system, defense of human rights.

President Serzh Sargsyan had a phone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Peter Poroshenko at the initiative of the Ukrainian side.

The Presidents referred to issue on the agenda of Armenian-Ukrainian cooperation, particularly intensification of the political dialogue, implementation of mutually beneficial projects in the economic, scientific-technical and humanitarian fields.

The parties discussed the cooperation within the framework of international organizations, and attached importance to the intensification of periodic consultations on a number of sensitive issues.

The heavy shelling of the Karabakh military positions in the northeastern (Yarimja) and northern (Talysh) directions of the line of contact continue until 15:30, the NKR Defense Ministry reports.

The Azerbaijani forces fired 37 shells in the direction of the Armenian positions from 60 and 82 mm caliber mine throwers.

The rival also used firearms of different calibers and large-caliber Instiglal sniper rifles.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army closely follow the actions of the rival and take corresponding measures, when necessary, to ensure the inviolability of the state border.

The situation is relatively calm at this point, the Ministry said.

On Friday morning the scheduled meeting between the Pope and the Catholicos was held at the Papal office in the Vatican.

After sharing greetings, Catholicos Aram I expressed his great appreciation for the Pope’s two pronouncements on the Armenian Genocide of 1915 as the first genocide of the 20th century, which he had made in 2015 at the Vatican and in 2016 in Yerevan. His Holiness Pope Francis reiterated his conviction on this matter.

A last-minute goal from Gevorg Ghazaryan earned Armenia a 3-2 win against Montenegro in a 2018 World Cup qualifier.

An incredible  strike from Gevorg Ghazaryan completed the turnaround, giving Armenia their first win since a 2-1 victory against Bulgaria in October 2013.

It was the first victory for Armenia in a competitive match since October 2013 after 12 winless efforts.

In the first half, Montenegro went 1-0 ahead in the 36th minute with a goal from Damir Kojasevic. Captain Stevan Jovetic needed just two minutes to double the lead for his sixth goal for his country in the last eight games, lobbing the ball over goalkeeper Arsen Beglaryan.

Artak Grigoryan reduced the lead to 2-1 five minutes after the interval on a solo effort that began in the middle of the field and was completed with a little bit of luck and help from Ruslan Koryan.

Varazdat Haroyan scored his first international goal to tie the match in the 73rd from close range.

 

“Azerbaijan not only rejects creation of mechanisms for investigation of incidents and expansion of the office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE CiO, but also seeks to undermine the only international monitoring mechanism,” NKR Foreign Minitstry said in a statement. The full text is provided below:

On the night of November 10-11, and during the day the Azerbaijani armed forces shelled the frontline positions of the NKR Defense Army near the villages of Talish and Yarimja from 60 and 82 mm mortars. Such massive use of mortars occurring for the first time after a large-scale aggression against Nagorno Karabakh in April, has become the continuation of recent escalation of tension on the Line of Contact by Azerbaijan.

It is of serious concern that the aggravation of the situation takes place against the background of Azerbaijan’s preparation for the large-scale military exercises near the NKR borders, employing a large number of military equipment and manpower.

Such actions are a flagrant violation of agreements reached at summits in Vienna and St. Petersburg on inadmissibility of escalation of tension on the Line of Contact and indicate to the intention of Azerbaijan to impede the measures aimed at creating conditions for the resumption of the negotiation process.

Moreover, Azerbaijan not only rejects creation of mechanisms for investigation of incidents and expansion of the office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE CiO, but also seeks to undermine the only international monitoring mechanism to maintain the ceasefire regime by firing an area where the OSCE mission carried out a planned monitoring on the day before.

In this situation, we call on the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, the OSCE Chairperson in Office and the international community as a whole to condemn in the strongest terms destructive policy of the Azerbaijani authorities, and to take effective measures to prevent a further escalation of tension.

For its turn, the NKR will suppress any actions of Azerbaijan, threatening the security of the Republic, the peace and stability in the region.

Armenian Weekly—System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan confirmed that the band is working on a new album in an interview with the United Kingdom’s Kerrang! magazine. “We’ve been working on a new album for the last six months and there [are] about 15 songs that I think are album-worthy,” Dolmayan said in the interview, which appeared in the magazine’s November 9 issue.

Though Dolmayan confirmed that the band is working on the album, he said that they are still unsure about when the album will be released. “System of a Down is definitely making an album, we just don’t know what terms it will be made on,” Dolmayan said, adding, “there’s a tremendous amount of pressure on us, though, because it’s been 11 years—at least 12 by the time it [the album] comes out. Our playing ability is better than it has ever been and we’re trying new things.”

System of a Down is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in 1994. The band currently consists of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards), Daron Malakian (vocals, guitar), Shavo Odadjian (bass, backing vocals) and Dolmayan (drums).

The band achieved commercial success with the release of 5 studio albums, 3 of which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The band has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, and their song “B.Y.O.B.” won the Best Hard Rock Performance of 2006. The group briefly disbanded in August 2006 and reunited in November 2010, embarking on a tour for the following 3 years.

On Novembber 23, 2014, System of a Down announced the “Wake Up The Souls Tour” to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The tour included a free concert in Republic Square in Yerevan, Armenia on April 23, 2015, their first show in the country.

US President Barack Obama is set to meet his successor Donald Trump in the Oval Office for talks aimed at ensuring a smooth transition of power, the BBC reports.

However, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in several cities to voice their opposition to Mr Trump.

They shouted the slogan “Not my President”, a term that was also trending on social media.

Mr Trump will become the 45th US president after securing a surprise victory over Hillary Clinton.

Mr Obama – who had branded Mr Trump “unfit” for office and campaigned against him – urged all Americans to accept the result of Tuesday’s election.

“We are now all rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country,” he said.

Defeated Mrs Clinton also told supporters Mr Trump had to be given a “chance to lead”.