Author: Maral Takmazian

Iraqi forces fighting so-called Islamic State (IS) in Mosul have broken through the front line without suffering any losses, a spokesman says.

Sabah al-Numan told the that many IS fighters had been killed.

Government forces entered the city’s outskirts for the first time on Tuesday since the city was seized in June 2014.

Wednesday is the 17th day of the anti-IS operation, which involves 50,000 personnel including Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Sunni Arab tribesmen.

Elite troops seized control of the state TV building in Kukjali on Tuesday hours after launching an assault on the eastern district and later breached the outskirts of the Karama district.

 – Thousands of people attended the festival Buenos Aires Celebrates Armenia organized by the government of the City of Buenos Aires and the Armenian community in Argentina, with shows that included Armenian dances and music, food stands and artistic and cultural events.

The singer Grigor Mirzoyan was the main attraction of the show, which was then accompanied by the Argentine-Armenian band Nor Arax, the violinist Aida Simonian and singers Valeria Cherekian and Arman Gasparyan. The Armenian folk dances groups Nairi, Masis, Kaiane and Narek interpreted the songs with traditional Armenian dances.

The event in an outdoor park was attended by the Secretary for Human Rights and Cultural Pluralism of the Nation Claudio Avruj, President of National Bank Carlos Melconian, Archbishop Kissag Mouradian, Primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church for Argentina and Chile and the Consul of Armenia in Argentina, Ester Mkrtumyanalong with officials, leaders of the Armenian community in the country, scout groups and representatives of the community schools.

The “Buenos Aires Celebrates” program was created in 2009 to organize thematic festivals of all communities of Argentina.

President Serzh Sargsyan has offered condolences over the crash of the passenger bus travelling from Moscow to Yerevan and issued a number of instructions for the RA state bodies. The President’s letter of condolences reads:

“Dear Compatriots,

I learned with great sorrow the news on the night accident with the bus travelling from Moscow to Yerevan which resulted in the loss of human lives and casualties. At this grave moment, I express my condolences and support to the families of the victims, their relatives and friends. I wish a speedy recovery to all injured.”

A short time after the accident, the relevant bodies reported to the President that early this morning, at 4.30am a major accident took place at the Beslan-Vladikavkaz highway. A bus travelling on the Moscow-Yerevan route and a truck collided. According to the preliminary data, five were killed and 27 injured. President Serzh Sargsyan instructed the Government of Armenia and RA Embassy in Russia to undertake urgent measures to provided necessary assistance to the victims and organize full-scale medical aid. He also instructed to provide necessary assistance to the families of those killed and injured. Relevant bodies in Armenia were instructed in a short period of time together with the law enforcement bodies of the Russian Federation to find out the causes of the accident and its circumstances and provide a comprehensive report.

The President was also informed that representatives of the RA Consulates in Rostov and South Russia have already arrived at the site of the accident and in cooperation with the relevant bodies of the Russia are engaged in providing first aid to the injured.

More than 40 cases of ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani side were registered at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces last night.

The rival fired more than 4,000 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions. More intensive firing was reported in the northern direction of the lien of contact, where more than 500 shots were fired from The DShK large-caliber machine gun.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army resorted to response actions to pressure the activeness of the rival, retaining full control over the situation at the frontline.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino has proposed expanding the World Cup finals to a 48-team tournament – a larger number than his election promise, the reports.

The Italian suggested 16 of those teams would be eliminated after one knockout match – before the group stages.

The rest of the tournament would be the same as it is now, with 32 teams competing in group stages followed by knockout rounds.

One of his election promises was to expand the finals to 40 teams.

Infantino said a decision would be taken by the governing body’s council in January.

“These are ideas to find the best solution, we will debate them this month and we will decide everything by 2017,” said the 46-year-old.

“They are ideas which we put forward to see which one is the best.”

Infantino took charge of football’s world governing body in February after the disgraced Sepp Blatter resigned.

Under his proposal, a preliminary knockout round in the host country would involve 32 teams with the winners reaching the groups, while a further 16 seeded teams would get a bye to that stage.

“It means we continue with a normal World Cup for 32 teams, but 48 teams go to the party,” he added.

“Fifa’s idea is to develop football in the whole world, and the World Cup is the biggest event there is. It’s more than a competition, it’s a social event.”

Kim Kardashian has been held at gunpoint in her Paris hotel room, the BBC reports. 

Her husband, rapper Kanye West, abruptly left his set early at the Meadows Festival in New York on Sunday night after learning of the news.

“Kim Kardashian West was held up at gunpoint inside her Paris hotel room this evening, by two armed masked men dressed as police officers,” a spokesperson said.

“She is badly shaken but physically unharmed.”

A Paris police official confirmed that there was a robbery involving Kardashian but she was unharmed, and that an investigation was underway.

The 35-year-old reality TV star is currently in the French city attending Paris Fashion Week, with her mother Kris Jenner and her sister Kendall Jenner.

West told his concert audience that he had to leave early as he had a “family emergency”.

A number of fans caught on video the moment he announced he was cutting the gig short.

In a later statement they added: “Due to a family emergency, Kanye West was forced to end his performance towards the end of his set.

“We appreciate the great show he put on for fans to close the inaugural Meadows Festival.

“Our thoughts are with West and his family.”

 

 

 

 

“There cannot be any progress in the Karabakh settlement process unless the agreements reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg summits are implemented,” Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan told reporters today.

He said the failure to implement the agreements is the reason of lack of progress in the talks.

“The agreements on the reinforcement of ceasefire regime and expansion of the OSCE monitoring group have not been called to life. Without that any progress is impossible,” Shavarsh Kocharyan said.

The Armenian national team has dropped to the 112^th place (down from 102^nd last month) in the FIFA World Ranking released today.

Argentina and Belgium remain fixed in first and second place respectively, cementing their positions at the summit of the World Ranking for another month.

Elsewhere in the top five, Germany (3, up 1) and Colombia (4, down 1) traded places while a rejuvenated Brazil, under new coach Tite, moved into joint fourth place thanks largely due to victories against Colombia and Ecuador in World Cup qualifiers.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has hailed Manchester United’s capture of the ‘dangerous’ Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the Daily Star reports.

Wenger reckons Mkhitaryan is one of the most exciting new additions to the Premier League.

He said: “Mkhitaryan has always been a very good midfielder but last year was the first year where he scored goals.

“I think he scored 10 goals in the Bundesliga so that of course makes him more dangerous.

“He will bring something to Man United.”

United boss Jose Mourinho signed the 27-year-old Armenian from Borussia Dortmund for around £27m in July.

Mkhitaryan scored 23 times in 51 Dortmund appearances last term and was in high demand at the start of the summer.

Today, on the occasion of Knowledge and Schooling Day, President Serzh Sargsyan attended the inauguration of a new unit of the Command and Staff Department of the Vazgen Sargsyan University of the RA Ministry of Defense and was present at the unveiling of the cross-stone memorial dedicated to the fallen graduates of the Military University.

Present at the ceremony were the relatives of the fallen graduates of the Military University, commanding staff of the RA Ministry of Defense and General Staff of the Armed Forces, Secretary of the National Security Council, RA Minister of Education and Science, Heads and Military Attaches of the diplomatic missions accredited to Armenia, Rectors of the higher education institutions of the Republic, and cadets.

After the unveiling and blessing of the cross-stone memorial dedicated to the fallen graduates, the President of Armenia and participants of the event laid flowers on the memorial and paid tribute to their memory.

At the ceremony dedicated to the inauguration, President Serzh Sargsyan congratulated those present on the occasion of the commencement of the academic year and opening of a new unit of the Command and Staff Department. The President toured the newly constructed premise of the Department, familiarized with the conducted works and conditions. According to the responsible officials, the use of the new unit of the Command and Staff Department provides opportunities to efficiently organize the process of training and retraining of the officers and to create infrastructural and institutional preconditions for the development of the theory of the military science. The Department comprises International, National Security, Military, and Warfare Chairs.

Address by President Sargsyan:

Generals, Officers, and Cadets,
Distinguished Guests,

This is a momentous day for Armenia: We have gathered at the leading educational institution for the training of the military personnel for our Armed Forces, the Vazgen Sargsyan Military University, on the occasion of the inauguration of a new unit of the Command and Staff Department for Senior Officers. We are indebted for the creation of this educational institution equally to the enthusiasm and diligence of the experts from our military agency as well as to the academic experience of the friendly and partner States.

For the first time in Armenia’s history the entire process of educating officers has been put on the institutional base – from the pre-draft readiness up to the stages of training senior and the highest officer cadre. I believe this is a serious achievement.
Officers actually constitute the backbone of the state, and I believe that it is strengthening through the continuous development of their knowledge and skills. Military education occupies a leading role in this process.

This institution for the highest military education at the battalion–brigade level will provide our commanders and staff officers with the ability to make decisions and act in the army-wide, coordinated, state-wide, and international operative environment ensuring at the same time their training as Masters in Army Management. I am confident that this Department will become an educational forge for the senior officers endowed with a critical, creative, and organized mindset.
Now I would like to address the cadets of the Department.

Distinguished Officers,

Today, the Master’s degree stage of your education is commencing. You will acquire knowledge and skills necessary for becoming the future leaders of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, and critical among these skills are science of governance and art of management.

Armenia is a unique country with distinctive challenges and exceptional role. Our homeland has many strong features, and the greatest among them is the Armenian people with their innovative mind and boundless passion for creating.

Knowledge and skills to be acquired at the Command and Staff Department will guide you in the implementation of complex tasks and neutralization of challenges; they will instill you with the lasting ability to penetrate the intentions of the superiors in uncertain situations and through the precise vision of the task to guide the actions of the subordinates. The military actions of last April come to prove once again that unconditional devotion to the task of defending our homeland endows our Army with the competitive advantage of combating face to face with adversary, without pinning any hopes on foreigners, neutralizing in a fight the army and arsenal of the enemy. That very competitive advantage from the day one of our battle for existence and through the years of army building has been and remains the trump card of our Armed Forces, and it must also be applied and developed by the graduates of the Staff and Command Department during their daily service and in combat activities.

Distinguished Officers,

You will form the future military leadership of the Republic of Armenia. I want you to view this stage of your life as the most important stage for becoming skilled and professional officers. I congratulate us all on the occasion of this beautiful day, and I have no doubt that knowledge and skills which you will receive here are greatly anticipated by our people, the political military leadership of the Republic of Armenia, your immediate commanders and colleagues but most of all by your subordinates.