Author: Markos Nalchajian

Europe’s Schiaparelli lander did not behave as expected as it headed down to the surface of Mars on Wednesday, the BBC reports.

Telemetry data recovered from the probe during its descent indicates that its parachute was jettisoned too early.

The rockets it was supposed to use to bring itself to a standstill just above the ground also appeared to fire for too short a time.

The European Space Agency (Esa) has not yet conceded that the lander crashed but the mood is not positive.

Experts will continue to analyse the data and they may also try to call out to Schiaparelli in the blind hope that it is actually sitting on the Red Planet intact.

In addition, the Americans will use one of their satellites at Mars to image the targeted landing zone to see if they can detect any hardware. Although, this is a slim hope because the probe is quite small.

For the moment, all Esa has to work with is the relatively large volume of engineering data Schiaparelli managed to transmit back to the “mothership” that dropped it off at Mars – the Trace Gas Orbiter.

This shows that everything was fine as the probe entered the atmosphere. Its heatshield appeared to do the job of slowing the craft, and the parachute opened as expected to further decelerate the robot.

But it is at the end of the parachute phase that the data indicates unusual behaviour.

The National Postal Operator of Armenia “HayPost” CJSC today announced the launch of an unprecedented service in the history of Armenia. Starting from the 1^st of October 2016, HayPost will carry out regular scheduled mail and cargo transportations to and from Europe.

The new program and the vehicles imported for the program implementation were presented on the 29^th of September in the Republic Square, Yerevan. The Minister of Transport and Communication of the Republic of Armenia Vahan Martirosyan and the Managing Director of “HayPost Trust Management” B.V. Juan Pablo Gechidjian handed the symbolic keys to the drivers, wishing them a good journey.

The new service is meant to expand the connectivity of Armenia, by means of weekly mail and cargo transportations from Yerevan to the hub in Frankfurt and vice versa. This innovative reliable, fast and secure service facilitates the process of export and import of products to and from Armenia, enabling the Armenian companies to expand their business. At the same time, the new service will help to dramatically increase the volumes of the online commerce in Armenia.

In order to provide the new service, HayPost introduced 2 brand-new Mercedes-Benz Actros 2530 GigaSpace 6×4 trucks with 530 horsepower, with the capacity to carry 27 tonnes of cargo each one, and with their extra fuel tanks they have a range of 4,500 km with no refueling.

The trucks dispose of the latest equipments from the industry leaders and provide the drivers with the most comfortable conditions for long distance drive. The flexible configuration of the refrigerated cargo holds allows the transportation both of perishable and of general cargo. The trucks correspond to the highest European Euro-6 emission standards, ensuring the lowest level of CO emissions up today.

Together with the mentioned trucks, today HayPost adds to its fleet 12 brand-new Renault Dokker vans, the routes of which will reinforce the connectivity within Armenia. The vans are eco-friendly, they run with compressed natural gas, minimizing the level of CO emissions.

The total amount invested in these 14 new vehicles made about 1.000.000 USD.

This new service continues the series of innovations made by the Trust Manager of HayPost. During the last 7 years HayPost with the leadership of “HayPost Trust Management” B.V. has added 140 new vehicles to its fleet. This enlarged fleet runs 3.500.000 km per year, interconnecting the whole territory of Armenia up to Nagorno Karabakh. The Company has also renovated 250 Post Offices all over the country and created the largest online network in Armenia, with more than 700 Post Offices connected up today.

According to a decree signed by President Serzh Sargsyan, Levon Altunyan has been appointed Minister of Health.

The Ambassador Auditorium of Pasadena will present an ambitious Aram Khachaturian concert program, reports.

Armenian violin virtuoso, Sergey Khachatryan, will perform Khachaturian’s works with the 65 piece Belfry Symphony Orchestra. Khachatryan is a renowned violinist with many international collaborations under his belt including the Munich Philharmonia, London Symphony and San Francisco Symphony. In 2015, he released an album of Armenian music dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

The Belfry Symphony Orchestra is under the direction of Mikael Avetisyan, who is the Founding Artistic and Music Director of the Glendale Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director of the Belfry Symphony Orchestra, Armenian Society of Los Angeles Choir, Armenian Youth Association
of California Choir and an instructor of composition and conducting at the International School of Music in Glendale.

The UK’s Minister for Europe and the Americas, the Rt Hon Sir Alan Duncan MP, congratulates the Armenian people on the occasion of the country’s 25^th Independence Day.

Sir Alan Duncan said:

“The UK enjoys a strong relationship with Armenia – a young country with a long history. We work closely with the Armenian government and people to promote democratic and governance reform and to strengthen our economic and cultural ties. We fully support the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs to broker the resolution of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, building  a peaceful and prosperous future for Armenia and its neighbours. On behalf of Her Majesty’s Government I am delighted to send my congratulations to the Armenian people on the 25th anniversary of independence.”

The regular 11^th sitting of the Armenian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation is under way in Rostov-on-Don, Russia.

The Armenian delegation is headed by Movses Hakobyan, Head of the Logistics Department of the Ministry of Defense.

On September 13, political consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway took place at the MFA of Armenia in Yerevan.

The consultations were chaired by Mr. Gagik Ghalachyan, Head of the European Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, and Mrs. Hilde Svartdal Lunde, Deputy Director General of Department of Security Policy and High North, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway.

During the consultations the Armenian and Norwegian delegations discussed issues of bilateral agenda. The sides stressed the importance of furthering the political dialogue, strengthening the inter-parliamentary relations, as well as discussed the steps aimed at the development of economic and trade ties between the two countries. They also referred to the cooperation within international organizations.

On the same day the Norwegian delegation had a meeting with Mr. Garen Nazarian, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia. During the meeting the sides touched upon the urgent issues of regional and international agenda, exchanged views on the prospects of Armenia-EU cooperation. In the course of consultations, the sides touched upon the process of peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a compensation deal with Israel Wednesday in an attempt to mend fences between the two countries, Anadolu Agency reports.

In line with the deal, Israel would pay $20 million compensation to the families of the victims of a 2010 Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara, a Gaza-bound aid ship.

The sum will be transferred in a one-time deposit to a bank account opened by Turkey and shared through diplomatic channels, and the transaction will be completed within 25 business days after the bilateral agreement comes into force.

Diplomatic ties between Turkey and Israel were disrupted in May 2010 when 10 Turkish activists were killed on the Mavi Marmara, which was headed for Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid.

After the transfer, distribution and delivery of the sum will be handled by Turkey, with Israel playing no role.

The agreement will come into force when both sides notify each other through diplomatic channels that the internal legal procedures have been fulfilled.

In addition to the compensation, Israel has agreed to Turkey’s humanitarian presence in the Gaza Strip.

A total of 29 children were killed in a suicide attack targeting a wedding party in the Şahinbey district of the southeastern province of Gaziantep late on Aug. 20. The total death toll in the attack has risen to 54, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Some 29 of the victims of the deadly suicide bombing in the Beybahçe neighborhood were identified as being under the age of 18 after the identification process.

A total of 44 victims have been identified and laid to rest so far, including 31 males and 13 females. The autopsy and identification processes of another seven victims are also ongoing.

The death toll in the suicide attack, meanwhile, rose to 54 in the early hours of Aug. 22.

Another three wounded people who were receiving treatment at hospitals succumbed to their injuries, bringing the death toll to 54.

A total of 66 wounded are still receiving treatment at hospitals in the province, with 14 in a critical condition.

On the 7th day after seizure of the premises of the Police Patrol Service Regiment in Yerevan’s Erebuni district members of the group gave an on-line press conference.

The main demands of the armed group remain the same, Pavlik Manukyan and Varuzhan Avetisyan said at the press conference. They demand change of power.

They chose the regiment in Erebuni, considering its high importance.

They stressed that any political party should not interfere, as the struggle is public. They urged people to come out to the streets.