Author: Hovhannisian John

With data from just the first nine months, scientists are 90% certain that 2016 will break the global record for the warmest year, the reports.

Temperatures from January to September were 1.2C above pre-industrial levels.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says they will remain high enough for the rest of the year to pass the mark set in 2015.

El Nino has had an impact, but the most significant factor driving temperatures up continues to be CO2 emissions.

While there are still a couple of months to go this year, a preliminary analysis of the October data indicates that 2016 is very much on track to surpass the 2015 level, which in turn broke the previous high mark set in 2014.

Photo: Getty Images

 

Canadian singer Leonard Cohen has died aged 82, according to a statement on his official Facebook page.

“It is with profound sorrow we report that legendary poet, songwriter and artist, Leonard Cohen has passed away,” the announcement said.

“We have lost one of music’s most revered and prolific visionaries.”

There were no details about the cause of Cohen’s death. A memorial will take place in Los Angeles at a later date, the announcement said.

The Montreal-born singer’s hits included Suzanne and I’m Your Man and he released his 14th album, You Want It Darker, just last month.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.

Dr. Michael Carpenter, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense, paid a working visit to Armenia on November 2, 2016. During the visit he met with President Serzh Sargsyan as well as Armenia’s newly-appointed Defense MinisterVigen Sargsyan.
In addition to the meetings with top Armenian officials, he toured a number of programs highlighting U.S.-Armenian military partnership. He met with U.S. soldiers who were assisting their Armenian counterparts as they teach their first-ever combat medic course, at the Armenian NCO Academy, designed on a similar U.S. training program.

He also visited the 12^th Peacekeeping Brigade’s headquarters and met with the soldiers and commanders who have joined in numerous NATO- and UN-led peacekeeping efforts around the globe.
“The United States and Armenia have a longstanding security partnership rooted in the friendship between the American and Armenian peoples,” Dr. Carpenter said. “In the face of new challenges to European security in the 21st century, it is vital for the United States and Armenia to work together to strengthen security, stability and prosperity in the region and to keep advancing our vision of a Europe whole, free and at peace.”

Photo: EPA

 

A fire at a karaoke lounge in Vietnam has left 13 people dead, according to state media, the BBC reports.

The blaze broke out at an eight-storey karaoke bar in the Cau Giay district of Hanoi on Tuesday afternoon.

It took fire-fighters five hours to put it out. Two police officers were injured during the operation.

A guard told reporters that the fire was started by a sign board, and that staff tried to contain the flames but failed.

The fire spread to three neighbouring buildings, burning a car and motorbikes on the street, online news outlet VnE Express reported.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered police to investigate the cause of the fire and punish anyone who broke the law.

He also told local authorities to carry out fire safety inspections at karaoke lounges and restaurants.

On 25 September President Bako Sahakyan signed a decree, according to which serviceman of the NKR Defense Army’s N division Sevak Khachatryan was posthumously awarded with the “For Service in Battle” medal for bravery shown during the defense of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic state border, NKR President’s Press Office reports.

Chaired by Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, the Government discussed today the preliminary version of the 2017 State budget bill.

Per-sector proposals on the draft text of the 2017 State budget bill were submitted by the heads and representatives of the following ministries and government agencies: Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Ministry of Nature Protection, Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development, Ministry of Healthcare, State Committee of Science, National Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture-affiliated State Food Security Service, Ministry of Agriculture-affiliated State Water Management Committee, State Migration Service, National Statistics Service, as well as the Mayor of Yerevan and Marz Governors.

On a visit to Argentina, Vice-President of the Armenian National Assembly Edward Sharmazanov had a meeting with members of the Argentina-Armenia Friendship Groups of both chambers of the country’s Parliament.

Edward Sharmazanov emphasized the importance of establishing close ties between the friendship groups, noting that the cooperation could contribute to the development of interstate relations between Armenia and Argentina. He attached importance to reciprocal support on the international arena.

Edward Sharmazanov briefed the Argentine lawmakers on the situation at the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan.

“We live in a region facing a number of challenges, where Turkey is upholding the 20-year-long illegal blockade of Armenia on one hand, and Azerbaijan is threatening the security and stability in the region with its criminal policy on the other hand,” he said.

“Everyone should realize that there is no alternative to the realization of the Artsakh people’s right to self-determination. Armenians of Artsakh share equal rights with the people of any other country. The international recognition of Artsakh is the imperative of the time,” Sharmazanov added.

Starting this school year, it will be mandatory for Michigan schools to add lessons about genocide to the social studies curriculum for grades 8-12, particularly teachings about the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide,  reports.

The mandate is part of bipartisan legislation that received near-unanimous support when the Legislature approved it in May. Gov. Rick Snyder signed it into law in June. Eleven other states already require instruction in genocide, according to the Genocide Education Project.

The new requirements “are not a lot of work for most districts” because genocide is already part of their curriculum, said Bill DiSessa, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Education. But “some districts may need to take a look at what’s in it.”

The Holocaust and Armenian genocide were specifically cited because the Michigan Legislature has already passed laws commemorating both, said Rep. Klint Kesto, R-Commerce Township, the primary sponsor of the legislation.

“This is something that should be a priority — teaching our children how to recognize genocide through past genocides,” Kesto said.

He said he has been discouraged by international studies that show large numbers of people have never heard of the Holocaust or have little knowledge of it. He said the motivation is that when people say “never again,” it actually means something.

 

The new law goes beyond mandating the teaching of genocide. It requires the state’s assessment system test students on genocide. It also requires the creation of a temporary commission, called the Governor’s Council on Genocide and Holocaust Education, that will have a number of functions, including looking for ways to enhance genocide education, advising school leaders on those efforts, promoting genocide education in schools and the general population.

Snyder, when announcing he had signed the legislation, said the next generation of leaders “needs to have the wherewithal to recognize and help prevent widespread harm to their fellow men and women. Teaching the students of Michigan about genocide is important because we should remember and learn about these terrible events in our past while continuing to work toward creating a more tolerant society.”

Armenia began the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign with an away loss against Denmark.

Christian Eriksen  netted the only goal in Copenhagen in the 17th minute, though the Tottenham midfielder failed to convert a penalty in the second half when Armenia ‘keeper Arsen Beglaryan saved his spot kick.

Armenia will next host Romania.

Germany on Friday reiterated that a parliamentary resolution on Turkey’s World War I-era massacre of Armenians was non-binding but denied it was distancing itself from the vote to appease Ankara.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said it had always been clear that the June vote calling the Ottoman-era mass killing a “genocide” had no legally binding character, a question he said was of great interest to Ankara.

According to AFP, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also said Friday, when asked about the Spiegel report, that the German parliament “has the right and freedom to comment on political issues but, as the parliament says itself, not every resolution is legally binding”.

Steinmeier said there had been “many areas of friction, not just since the coup attempt”, and again urged Turkey to respect the rule of law in its treatment of the tens of thousands of detainees.

The minister also said that “of course it is the task of diplomats to reduce these areas of friction and to search for ways to maintain relations with Turkey and to provide a future perspective for them”.

“In recent talks we got the impression that this is an interest also shared by Turkey.”