Author: Chalian Meline

Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s decisive run and finish in the Emirates FA Cup fourth-round win over Wigan Athletic has been voted Manchester United’s Goal of the Month for January – the second successive month he has topped the poll, accordig to the club’sofficial website.

Mkhitaryan’s driving run kick-started a brilliant counter-attack that the Armenian finished following good work by Anthony Martial, putting the Reds three goals to the good in the 4-0 triumph over the Latics.

The breakaway goal received 52 per cent of fans’ votes in the poll to take the prize ahead of Wayne Rooney’s landmark free-kick against Stoke City, which attracted 43 per cent of the vote, and Bastian Schweinsteiger’s instinctive hooked finish in the tie against Wigan (3 per cent).

Mkhitaryan also for his outrageous ‘scorpion kick’ against Middlesbrough. And while, by his own admission, that Boxing Day strike was the best goal he’d ever scored, the swift move against Wigan is another addition to his growing list of eye-catching efforts for the Reds.

Ukraine and Azerbaijan have decided not to allow goods ‘made on the territories that are not under control of Baku and Kyiv’ to enter their territories without permits from official authorities, Interfax reports, quoting Ukrainian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Oleksandr Mischenko.

“During the visit of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to Baku the heads of the two states instructed chiefs of customs agencies of Ukraine and Azerbaijan to meet and discuss the issue of passing goods coming from occupied territories of the two countries. Heads of customs agencies met and drew up a mechanism, according to which goods from these territories can be supplied only if they are licenses by central authorities – Kyiv and Baku,” Mischenko said.

The rules apply to goods made in Nagorno-Karabakh and Donbas.

Photo: Reuters

 

In its decision of 26 January 2017, the Constitutional Council censured various provisions of the Equality and Citizenship Act, which the National Assembly had finally adopted on 22 December 2016, on a proposal from the Government, Nouvelles d’Armenie reports.

The Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations of France (CCAF) has said “the Constitutional Council has the moral and political responsibility for exposing many French citizens, and especially those of Armenian origin, to the aggression with complete impunity of Turkey’s state denial.”

The CCAF will never accept such a submission and will continue to denounce and combat negationism which has no connection with any historical debate but instead participates in the elaboration and justification of the crime of genocide, the supreme stage of racism.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored an acrobatic back flick to wrap up Manchester United’s 3-1 win over Sunderland in the English Premier League on Saturday, ensuring a miserable return to Old Trafford for former United manager David Moyes,  according to the Associated Press.

On as a second-half substitute, Mkhitaryan met Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s right-wing cross with a flicked finish with the heel of his right foot that flew into the corner in the 86th minute.

Mkhitaryan was in an offside position but it didn’t stop home fans at Old Trafford saluting a player who is growing in importance in his first season at United.

Ibrahimovic also set up the opening goal for Daley Blind in the 39th before scoring his 16th goal of the season in the 82nd after being played through by Paul Pogba.

Sunderland’s consolation was scored by Fabio Borini in stoppage time.

It was Moyes’ first game at Old Trafford since he was fired by United in April 2014, 10 months into his ill-fated tenure as Alex Ferguson’s hand-picked replacement.

United has won its last four league games to power back into contention for the Champions League qualification places.

Yahoo has said more than one billion user accounts may have been affected in a hacking attack dating back to 2013, the BBC reports.

The internet giant said it appeared separate from a 2014 breach disclosed in September, when Yahoo revealed 500 million accounts had been accessed.

Yahoo said names, phone numbers, passwords and email addresses were stolen, but not bank and payment data.

The company, which is being taken over by Verizon, said it was working closely with the police and authorities.

Yahoo said it “believes an unauthorised third party, in August 2013, stole data associated with more than one billion user accounts”.

The breach “is likely distinct from the incident the company disclosed on September 22, 2016”.

However, the three-year-old hack was uncovered as part of continuing investigations by authorities and security experts into the 2014 breach, Yahoo said.

Account users were urged to change their passwords and security questions.

The California-based company has more than a billion monthly active users, although many people have multiple accounts. There are also many accounts that are little used or dormant.

Armenia and Russia have launched a large-scale project of modernization of the T-72 main battle tanks under Armenia’s possession, reports.

The tanks will be upgraded to T-72B4 sports class, which the teams used during the Tank Biathlon.

The modernization has already started, Spokesman for the Armenian Ministry of Defense Artsrun Hovhannisyan confirmed to Izvestia. He did not specify the number of the military vehicles to be modernized and the terms.

The agency reports, quoting its sources, that dozens of tanks are going to be upgraded, the main modernization works will take place in Armenia, which will help cut the costs.

 

Arthur Petrosyan will head the Armenian national team from November 1, 2016, the Football Federation of Armenia said after completing talks on the appointment of the head coach.

Arthur Petrosyan previously played for the Armenian national team and is currently coaching the Swiss “Zurich-2.”

Varuzhan Sukiasyan quit as head coach after the unsuccessful start of the 2018 World Cup qualification campaign.

Photo: AFP

 

Fourteen members of one family have died in an air strike on rebel-held east Aleppo, volunteer rescuers say, the BBC reports.

Eight children and two women were among the dead, said the civil defence force known as the White Helmets.

The family died in the al-Marja area of the city on Monday.

The White Helmets said another 25 people were killed late on Sunday in a strike on a residential building in the al-Qaterji district.

Vice-Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly and PACE, head of the Armenian delegation to PACE Hermine Naghdalyan has handed over a report to PACE Secretariat, in which she sharply criticizes anti-democratic processes in Turkey after coup d’etat, at the same time opposing the statements voiced by the Foreign Minister of Turkey Cavusoglu. PACE today held a debate on the Situation in Turkey in the Light of the Attempted Coup d’etat.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today’s discussion is the best evidence that the situation in Turkey remains one of the “hot spots” of the international community attention. We all realize that the volatile situation in the country can be explosive not only for the region, but in a larger sense.

I am from Armenia, a country directly bordering Turkey, a country that feels negative consequences right immediately.

What is the situation today – after the coup d’etat attempt…?

The scope and depth of President Erdogan’s reaction is devastating, leaving no hope to country for any democratic processes to take place. The Turkish authorities started to use the coup attempt as an excuse for the crackdown in the country. Thousands of military officers, judges, educators and civil servants have been abruptly arrested or fired. The recently prolonged state of emergency means the suspension of basic human rights, while the death penalty is being discussed to be re-imposed.

The authorities closed several Kurdish TV and radio channels, including one for kids. Can you imagine – Turkey sees a source of threat in a cartoon channel?

The conclusion is inescapable, Dear Colleagues – Turkey is becoming more autocratic and unpredictable, which results in separation of the society.

Just very recently, we were discussing the state of play with regards to functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey. As you remember various standpoints have been expressed during our debates; we were much concerned with the misdevelopments in the country and supported the idea to re-open the monitoring process. Today this issue is more crucial because of the U-turn that Turkey made in its democratization path.

The Turkish authorities totally disregarding the rule of law are using the situation to fight their political opponents and national minorities in the country.

So, Minister Cavusoglu would better concentrate on these serious problems rather than sharing with the Assembly his personal stories.

Another reference to Minister’s yesterday’s misleading remarks – his vision on Nagorno-Karabakh negotiation process lies in a parallel reality with illusive withdrawal from five regions. Whereas in reality the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh issue is aimed at the determination of the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh through the legally binding expression of will of its people.

One more attempt of misleading: the Minister also touched upon the Armenian-Turkish relations. If Turkey intended to normalize the relations with Armenia it would have then ratified and started to implement Zurich Protocols signed in 2009: the only closed border of Europe will be open.