Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

US President-elect Donald Trump has named Obamacare critic Tom Price as his choice for health secretary, the BBC reports.

The Georgia congressman and orthopaedic surgeon, 62, chairs the budget committee in the House of Representatives.

He would play a central role in Republican plans to replace the Affordable Healthcare Act.

In his campaign, Mr Trump vowed to repeal and replace the act, considered President Obama’s flagship measure.

However, he has since said he favours keeping certain provisions.

The Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire regime about 110 times at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces over the weekend, the NKR Defense Ministry reports.

The rival used firearms of different calibers as it fired over 2,500 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The Azeri forces used 60mm mine thrower and hand-held anti-tank automatic grenade launchers.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army confidently continue with their military duty and resort to response actions in case of necessity.

Manchester United will trigger a financial penalty in their £750 million kit deal with Adidas if they fail to secure a top four finish this season, but the club will avoid an instant £22.5m black hole in their finances, reports, quoting its sources.

Jose Mourinho’s United face fourth-placed Arsenal at Old Trafford on Saturday currently lying six points adrift of Arsene Wenger’s team in the race for Champions League qualification.

Having failed to finish in the top four under Louis van Gaal last season, the terms of the 10-year agreement with Adidas ensure that United will suffer a cut of 30 percent to their annual £75m payment from the sportswear giant if they miss out on the Champions League for consecutive campaigns.

However, it has now emerged that, rather than see their Adidas payment drop to £52.5m immediately after two failed attempts to qualify for the Champions League, the £22.5m deduction figure will instead be spread over the full 10 years of the contract.

As a result, United will pay a catch-up penalty fee of £4.5m for years one and two of the agreement and then suffer a deduction of £2.25m from the annual £75m payment if Mourinho’s team are unable to finish in the top four.

United will then continue to receive £72.75m from Adidas on an annual basis for the remainder of the deal, unless further failures to reach the Champions League trigger additional cuts to the figures banked by the club.

During a conference call to investors on Thursday, following publication of the club’s first quarter accounts, United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward confirmed the details of the financial penalty looming at the end of the season.

United spent in excess of £145m on new players during the close season, adding Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Eric Bailly and £89.3m world-record signing Paul Pogba to the squad.

But despite the team’s slow start under Mourinho,i n which they have only won five of their opening 11 Premier League fixtures, Woodward insisted to investors that there is still reason for optimism.

“On the pitch, it is still early in the season,” Woodward said. “We have 27 more Premier League games to play and have advanced to the quarterfinals of the EFL Cup.”

“Turkey was vocal in its support for Azerbaijan during clashes in April 2016 in Nagorno-Karabakh,” the European Commission said in a report on Turkey, published on November 9.

The report also reminded that the 2009 protocols on normalization of relations with Armenia are not yet ratified.

The 100-page review claimed Turkey had regressed in its eligibility to join the bloc.

The highlighted a series of problem areas, including the legal situation in Turkey, which it described as being of “grave concern”.

It warned that a range of measures, introduced by president Recep Tayipp Erdogan following the failed military coup on July 2015 were “not in line with European standards”.

The report slammed Ankara and highlighted “serious allegations of human rights violations” as well as “disproportional use of force” by the security services.

The report added that “the Armenian Patriarchate’s proposal to open a university department for Armenian language and clergy has been pending for several years. Similar demands have been made by different Christian communities who sought to train clergy.:

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Donald Trump with his victory in the US presidential election, voicing hope that joint work will resolve the crisis in bilateral ties, the Kremlin said Wednesday, Sputnik News reports.

According to Kremlin, Putin sent a telegram to Donald Trump congratulating him on his victory in the US presidential election and wishing him success in the responsible job as head of state.

“In a telegram, Putin expressed hope toward joint work to lift Russian-US relations from the state of crisis, as well as to address the pressing issues of the international agenda and the search for effective responses to global security challenges,” the Kremlin said.

In the telegram, Putin voiced hope that the crisis in US-Russia relations will be overcome through joint work. Putin also said he hopes that dialogue between Moscow and Washington, taking into account positions of both countries, meets the interests of the US and Russia.

 

 

 

President of the Football Federation of Armenia introduced Artur Petrosyan as the new head coach today.

Hayrapetyan handed the newly appointed coach a shirt of the national team and wished him success in his activity.

Artur Petrosyan said “changes in the squad are expected.” The coach said they will be visible during the 2018 World Cup qualifier against Montenegro to be held in Yerevan on November 11.

Petrosayn said he will leave his job at FC Zurich’s youth team to stay in Yerevan and follow the national championship.

Artur Petrosyan has signed a two-year contract.

Parliament must vote on whether the UK can start the process of leaving the European Union, the High Court has ruled, the BBC reports.

This means the government cannot trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty – beginning formal discussions with the EU – on their own.

Theresa May says the referendum – and existing ministerial powers – mean MPs do not need to vote, but campaigners called this unconstitutional.

The government is expected to appeal.

Ministers were given the go-ahead for a further hearing to take place at the Supreme Court, which is expected to take place before the end of the year.

The prime minister has said she will activate Article 50, formally notifying the EU of the UK’s intention to leave, by the end of next March. This follows the UK’s decision to back Brexit in June’s referendum by a margin of 51.9% to 48.1%.

The EU’s other 27 members have said negotiations about the terms of the UK’s exit – due to last two years – cannot begin until Article 50 has been invoked.

Today, President Serzh Sargsyan attended the opening of the annual Armprodexpo specialized exhibition at the Yerevan Expo exhibition complex of the Yerevan research institute of mathematical machines, President’s Press Office reports.

The exhibition is aimed at revealing the capacities of the agricultural production, agricultural produce processing industry, to assess the competitiveness of the local production, to expand export opportunities, to establish business ties, to demonstrate to the visitors and guests the variety of high quality agricultural goods and products.

The exhibition is attended by the representatives of the regions of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh engaged in almost every branch in agriculture and goods processing as well as by the representatives of over 90 organizations which work in the area of agricultural services.

The President of Armenia toured the exhibition hall, familiarized with the goods on display, and conversed with the participants about their development programs and problems.

President Serzh Sargsyan, who is in Maastricht on a working visit, participated in the Summit of the European People’s Party (EPP). The Summit was presided over by the Chairman of the EPP Joseph Dole. Present at the Summit were the President of the European Council Donald Tusk, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, Heads of state and government from the European Union and Eastern Partnership countries – members of the EPP.

In the framework of the agenda, the participants of the Summit discussed issues related to the preliminary works of the upcoming session of the European Council, spoke about the recent developments in the refugee crisis, issues related to the EU economy and foreign policy. At the Summit, President Serzh Sargsyan made a statement in which he spoke about regional issues and challenges.

In the government house of Limburg state, which is the venue of the Summit, President Sargsyan also made an inscription in the Golden Book of Honorary Guests.

A plane transporting members of Fenerbahce was forced to make an emergency landing in Hungary on Oct. 19 after a crack appeared in the front window, according to the club’s official Twitter said.

The club said in a statement that the plane made an emergency landing after it collided with a bird, adding that the situation was not worrying, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

A second plane meanwhile took off from Istanbul to take the team to Manchester.

The team is scheduled to play against English giants Manchester United at Old Trafford on Oct. 20 in the Europa League.