Photo: Reuters
Belgian prosecutors believe they may have found a bomb factory also used as a hideout by one of the jihadists after the Paris attacks, the BBC reports.
Police found traces of explosives, three handmade belts and a fingerprint of fugitive Salah Abdeslam.
The apartment in the Schaerbeek district of Brussels had been rented in a false name that might have been used by a person already in custody.
Islamic State (IS) suicide attackers killed 130 people in the attacks.
Bundesliga’s official website has released a video of players from different countries wishing a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in their native languages.
– Yervand Zoryan, the founder and the director of Armenian Virtual College (AVC), which is sponsored by Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), visited Istanbul on Monday. Zoryan came together with the representatives of the Armenian schools in Istanbul and told the opportunities provided by the virtual college and the accomplishments it gained in a couple of years.
Yervand Zoryan founded Armenian Virtual College with the purpose of providing a solution for the problems of conserving the language and culture in the places where there are no Armenian schools. Launched in Armenia and other countries with dense Armenian population, this project offers virtual education in Armenian, Armenian culture and history and chess.
The students of the virtual college, who receive education in virtual classrooms, have the chance to come together with other students and discuss what they have learned. In this way, this project serves as a bridge between the various communities of Diaspora. Moreover, the college has an open e-book archive.
In the virtual college, there are programs for the ones who want to learn Western and Eastern Armenian and the courses can be followed in English, Russian, Spanish, French and Turkish. With this feature, AVC succeeded in reaching students all over the world in a short time. The education in Turkish is a great opportunity for Armenians in Turkey, who cannot go to Armenian schools, but want to learn Armenian.
Having students from 75 countries, AVC prepared multimedia e-books that are titled “Armenian Plateau” and “Explore Erivan”. These books can be downloaded to mobile devices for free. A course in AVC costs 200 dollars. There are scholarships available for the students with financial difficulties and the successful students can take other courses for free.
15 December marked the start of a new EU-funded project in Armenia. The Organic Agriculture Support Initiative (OASI) will help to develop the potential of the Armenian organic agriculture sector over the next three years. The project is co-funded and implemented by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the operational unit of the Austrian Development Cooperation.
Agriculture is a major source for employment in Armenia and contributes to almost 20% of its GDP. The country has high potential for organic agricultural production, which is believed to contribute significantly to improve rural livelihoods in a sustainable manner in the future. “Organic agriculture development is a priority defined in the Sustainable Agriculture Development Strategy of the RA Ministry of Agriculture. It aims to support farmers and agribusinesses to invest in organic agriculture; increase production; explore new international markets and ensure availability of organic products locally,” said RA Deputy Minister of Agriculture Mr. Armen Harutyunyan.
“We are happy to support the Organic Agriculture Support Initiative. It confirms our commitment to the rural sector in Armenia, and will be complement support that is already being provided through the EU funded ENPARD Programme, where we also cooperate very successfully with the Austrian Development Agency,” said the Head of EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador H.E. Piotr Antoni Świtalski.
This project specifically aims at increasing local value-added of Armenian organic products as well as assisting higher efficiency of relevant public and private institutions. It will support the RA Ministry of Agriculture with creating a clear and enabling legal environment for organic producers and processors in line with international standards. OASI will also strengthen extension services for the promotion of organic technologies and support educational institutions through curricula development. The project has a budget of € 3.3 million and will be implemented over the course of three years.
A big portion of the project support will be rolled out directly to Armenian producers and processors through a call for grant applications. Small grants are available for smallholder farmers seeking to start, diversify or expand organic production, while bigger grants will be available to already established organic farmers, co-operatives and processors for enhancing productivity and market access.
To convince Armenian farmers and consumers about the benefits and value-added of organic agriculture, an awareness raising campaign will be carried out. “Austria has a long standing history of organic agriculture and today almost 20% of agricultural crop land is cultivated organically. We strive to contribute with this experience to our projects that support small-scale farmers in enhancing agricultural production and marketing. Organic agriculture allows for an optimal use of natural resources while preserving the environment and biodiversity at the same time”, said Robert Zeiner, Director Programmes and Projects International of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA).
EU assistance to Armenia has reached over € 500 million since 1992, with annual support growing progressively over the years. The Austrian Development Agency has been supporting Armenia since 2011 as a priority country for development cooperation with a specific focus on improving the agricultural sector.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will visit Tbilisi on November 26, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.
Minister Nalbandian will participate in the non-official meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Eastern Partnership countries.
Destiny Chukunyere from Malta won the 2015 Junior Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Not My Soul.” With a total of 185 points, the 13-year-old from the city of Birkirkara won by a 9-point margin. Tonight’s victory marks Malta’s second victory in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in only three years.
Second place went to MIKA from Armenia with “Love”, and third place went to Slovenia’s Lina Kuduzović with her song “Prva ljubezen”.
Armenia got maximum 12 points from Georgia, the Netherlands, Russia and Belarus.
The full results are as follows:
185 points – Malta
176 points – Armenia
112 points – Slovenia
105 points – Belarus
093 points – Albania
080 points – Russia
079 points – Serbia
064 points – Australia
062 points – Bulgaria
051 points – Georgia
038 points – Ukraine
036 points – Ireland
036 points – Montenegro
036 points – San Marino
035 points – The Netherlands
034 points – Italy
026 points – Macedonia
Photo by Dmitriy Vinogradov/Sputnik
A Russian Aerospace Forces fighter was forced to violate Turkish airspace in October when it was conducting maneuvers to avoid a ground-based anti-missile defense system, Russian Aerospace Forces Commander Viktor Bondarev said Thursday, Sputnik News reports.
“Our plane was completing a strike task in northern Syria. There was heavy cloud cover. When our fighter started flying along the border with Turkey, the system showd that some sort of anti-missile defense systems were attempting to lock onto the warplane, so the pilot was forced to make an anti-missile maneuver in just seconds, and entered Turkish airspace a bit, which we honestly admitted to,” Bondarev told Russia’s Komsomolskaya Pravda daily in an interview.
On October 3, a Russian Su-30 Flanker multirole fighter violated Turkish airspace for a few seconds in the province of Hatay near Syria. The aircraft left Turkish airspace after being intercepted by two Turkish F-16 fighter jets.
Following the incident, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had taken all necessary measures to prevent any further violation of Turkish airspace.
On October 5, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu stated the incident involving the Russian jet had not affected relations between the countries. According to him, Moscow assured Ankara that such an incident would not occur in the future.
Steven Gerrard in action for LA Galaxy, GETTY IMAGES
Steven Gerrard is in line for a sensational return to Liverpool following discussions with the club’s manager, Jürgen Klopp, reveals.
Klopp has spoken to the former captain several times on the telephone since arriving at Anfield last month. The manager is now convinced that Gerrard’s presence will help define the standards of professionalism he expects around Melwood, Liverpool’s training ground.
Although Klopp has so far only debated the possibility of Gerrard training with Liverpool until 15 January when he is due back in the United States to rejoin Los Angeles Galaxy for pre-season, there is a chance of a formal playing agreement being brokered. However, that possibility is made complicated by Galaxy’s probable demands for a transfer fee, as Gerrard has another year left on his contract with the Major League Soccer club.
Gerrard is expected to attend Liverpool’s home match with Crystal Palace on Sunday and should meet Klopp in person for the first time early next week when the pair will try and plot the way forwa
Serving and giving oneself for others may make one “seem like a loser in the eyes of the world,” but in reality that person is imitating Christ’s love and service, which conquered death and gave life to the world, Pope Francis said, according to the
“He who serves, saves,” the pope said. “On the contrary, he who does not live to serve does not serve to live.”
Pope Francis presided over Mass Nov. 3 in St. Peter’s Basilica in remembrance of cardinals and bishops who died in the past year. They included U.S. Cardinals Edward M. Egan of New York, Francis E. George of Chicago, William W. Baum of Washington, D.C., and Canadian Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte of Montreal.
Also remembered at the Mass were 99 archbishops and bishops from around the world who died in the past 12 months, as well as Armenian Catholic Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni.
Recalling the lives of the deceased cardinals and bishops, the pope expressed his gratitude for their vocation of serving others and said that like them, we too, “are called to renew the choice of serving in the church.”
The pope explained that although it may be difficult to understand the mystery of Christ’s humility, the secret lies in the strength of a love “that lowers itself” and “assumes the condition of a servant.”
Jesus, he continued, “made the cross a bridge toward life” that “also allows us to conquer death with him” by choosing to love others with humility.
“It is a love that does not cry out and does not impose itself, but knows how to wait with trust and patience because, as we were reminded in the Book of Lamentations, ‘It is good to wait in silence for the Lord to save,’” he said.
In remembering the cardinals and bishops who have passed away this year, the pope said that the faithful are called to reflect not on what serves their needs, but rather what serves the needs of others.
Christians, he said, are “not called to be officials who perform services, but beloved children who give their lives for the world.”