Manchester United edged a nervy encounter with Russian minnows FC Rostov at Old Trafford to reach the Europa League quarter-finals with a 2-1 aggregate victory.
Juan Mata got the decisive goal for United when he stabbed in from Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s flick, but Rostov threatened to take the game to extra time and Sergio Romero made two good saves late on.
The United goalkeeper first kept out Sardar Azmoun’s flicked header before thumping away Christian Noboa’s free-kick.
Foreign Minister of the Hellenic Republic Nikolaos Kotzias will travel to Armenia March 8-10 for an official visit at the invitation of Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.
The Greek Foreign Minister will be hosted by President Serzh Sargsyan and His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of Armenians.
Nikolaos Kotzias will have meetings with Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan and Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan.
The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the two countries will be followed by a joint press conference.
President Serzh Sargsyan received today Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.
Noting that Armenia and Russia will celebrate the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations in a month, President Sargsyan said it’s a good occasion to assess the bilateral relations and establish guidelines for the future.
The Russian State Duma Speaker emphasized the dynamic development of interstate relations and said the parliaments of the two countries are planning to expand relations and the cooperation framework. Vyacheslav Volodin attached importance to decentralized cooperation.
President Sargsyan stressed the importance of parliamentary diplomacy in the development of interstate relations and attached importance to the continuous reinforcement of inter-parliamentary relations.
Russia is disappointed by the decision of the Supreme Court of Belarus to extradite blogger Alexander Lapshin to Azerbaijan, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, TASS reports.
“The Russian side expresses its deep disappointment with this decision, which runs counter to the spirit of allied relations between Russia and Belarus,” the Ministry stressed.
“We are determined to take all necessary steps in the future to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the Russian national with a view to securing his speedy return to his family.”
“According to available information, on February 7, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus examined the case at a closed-door session and did not satisfy the complaint of Russian and Israeli citizen, Alexander Lapshin, in response to a decision by the Belarusian Prosecutor General’s Office on his extradition to Azerbaijan,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Russia will miss this summer’s World Championships after athletics’ governing body voted to extend their suspension from international competition for state-sponsored doping, the BBC reports.
However, some Russians may be able to compete under a neutral banner, if they can satisfy testing criteria.
Russia was suspended by the IAAF in November 2015, meaning athletes missed the Rio Olympics last year.
The country is now not expected to be fully reinstated until November.
London will host the World Championships between 4-13 August.
The decision to extend Russia’s suspension came at an IAAF Council meeting in Monaco on Monday.
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Armenian Armed Forces, President Serzh Sargsyan, accompanied by His Holiness Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, President of the NKR Bako Sahakian, and the highest leadership of the Republic, visited today the Yerablur Military Pantheon and paid tribute to the memory of the sons of the Armenian nation who gave their lives for independence of our Fatherland.
RAPSI – Armenia’s Criminal Court of Appeals ruling upholding sentence for the Russian soldier Valery Permyakov, who had killed seven members of a family in the city of Gyumri, was appealed in the Cassation Court, reported on Friday.
On December 19, the Criminal Court of Appeals refused to change the sentence issued by a lower court in this case. Lawyer for relatives of Permaykov’s victims, Aramazd Kiviryan, asked the court to send the case for retrial to review a lawsuit against Russia on compensation for non-pecuniary damages.
On August 23, a court in Armenia sentenced Permyakov to life in prison. He was found guilty on all accounts including murder, assault related to robbery and attempt to cross the border illegally.
The family, including a six-month-old baby, was killed as a result of an armed assault on January 12, 2015. Valery Permyakov, a soldier at a Russian base in the Armenian town of Gyumri, was arrested and later charged with the murder of two or more persons under the Armenian Criminal Code.
On August 12, 2015, Permyakov was found guilty of desertion, theft of weapons and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The murder case was singled out for considering it in a separate procedure and passed to the Armenian authorities.
On October 13, 2015, Permyakov was found sane despite certain deviations. According to experts, he was not in the heat of passion while committing the crime and could recognize the consequences of his actions.
On October 16, he was additionally charged with armed assault, home-invasion robbery and attempted border crossing.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is interested in building a wind farm in Armenia’s Gegharkunik province.
UAE representatives visited the region about two years ago to study the power and direction of the wind, Governor of Gegharkunik province Rafik Grigoryan told .
He said they last visited the province in December and will return in March with the final calculations.
“According to preliminary agreement, they plan to build a wind farm with a capacity of 70 MW,” the Governmor said. He said another wind farm could be built in the border village of Aghavnadzor.
Rafik Grigoryan added that “investors in solar energy projects are also interested in certain areas in Gegharkunik province.”
At least 50 people have died and thousands have been left homeless after severe flooding in the south-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the BBC reports.
Torrential rain caused the Kalamu river, which flows through the city of Boma, to burst its banks on Tuesday.
The bodies of some of the victims had ended up in neighbouring Angola, after being carried away by the surge, a local governor said.
Locals said that some areas of the city were buried in up to a metre of mud.
Photo: AFP
Syrian rebels have left the last areas they held in Aleppo’s old city, an activist monitoring group has said, the BBC reports.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the pull-back came after days of heavy fighting, as government forces moved to split the remains of the rebel enclave in Syria’s second city.
The rebels have held the area around the ancient citadel for four years.
The Syrian military now holds more than two-thirds of eastern Aleppo and is seeking to control the whole city.
Tens of thousands of civilians are still trapped in the last of the rebel-held districts.