Five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant, widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players in history, will retire at the end of the season, the BBC reports.
Bryant has scored 32,683 points during a 20-year career with the LA Lakers torank third on the NBA’s all-time list.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist, 37, has been hindered by injuries in recent seasons and been below his best this year for the struggling Lakers.
He told the Players’ Tribune: “My body knows it’s time to say goodbye.”
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will leave for Belgium Tuesday, Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.
In Brussels, Minister Nalbandian is expected to attend the meeting of Foreign Ministers of countries participating in NATO-led Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan.
Pope Francis said on Monday that Christians and Muslims were “brothers”, urging them to reject hatred and violence while visiting a mosque in the Central African Republic’s capital which has been ravaged by sectarian conflict, AFP reports.
On the last leg of a three-nation tour of Africa, the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholic visited a flashpoint Muslim neighbourhood in Bangui on what was the most dangerous part of his 24-hour visit.
Thousands of people gathered at the roadside, cheering as his popemobile drove down the red dirt roads. As his vehicle passed, many waving Vatican flags and dressed in long traditional robes, ran down the road after it.
“Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters,” he said after meeting Muslim leaders at the Koudoukou mosque in the PK5 district, the last Muslim enclave in Bangui where tensions remain high after months of violence.
“Together, we must say no to hatred, to revenge and to violence, particularly that violence which is perpetrated in the name of a religion or of God himself,” he said.
The pope later flew out of Bangui at the end of his first trip to Africa that has also taken him to Kenya and Uganda.
Francis’ message of peace and reconciliation appeared to have made a powerful impression, with a group of Muslim rebels turning up to join tens of thousands watching a papal mass at the capital’s Barthelemy Boganda Stadium.
High-level climate talks have begun in Paris, aimed at signing a long-term deal to reduce global carbon emissions, the reports.
More than 150 world leaders have converged to launch the two-week talks, known as COP21.
The last major meeting in 2009 ended in failure. But French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who is chairing the meeting, said a deal was within reach.
Most of the discussions are expected to centre on an agreement to limit global warming to 2C (35.6F).
Assessments of the more than 180 national plans that have been submitted by countries suggest that if they were implemented the world would see a rise of nearer to 3C.
Peruvian Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar Vidal declared this year’s meeting open on Monday.
Strong action on carbon emissions is essential for multiple reasons, said Mr Vidal, who hosted last year’s UN climate conference in Lima.
Mr Vidal said a deal would show the world that countries can work together to fight global warming as well as terrorism.
Christiana Figueres, the head of the UN’s climate change negotiations, addressed delegates at the start of the summit.
“Never before has a responsibility so great been in the hands of so few,” she said. “The world is looking to you. The world is counting on you.”
COP 21 – the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties – will see more than 190 nations gather in Paris to discuss a possible new global agreement on climate change, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the threat of dangerous warming due to human activities.
The talks are taking place amid tight security, two weeks after attacks in Paris claimed by the so-called Islamic State (IS) group.
Negotiators from 195 countries will try to reach a deal at the meeting.
Russia has banned sales of tour packages to Turkey, Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said Monday. All charter flights to Turkey are prohibited, regular air travel will be regulated, he added, Sputnik News reports.
“All sales of the package tours to Turley are stopped effective immideately. The charter flights to Turkey banned, except those used to retrive Russian tourists from there,” Igor Suvalov said.
“Additional control will be provided on regular flights between the two countries to ensure the necessary security measures,” he added.
Russian sanctions against Turkey will not affect contracts signed before December 31, 2015 and industrial products, the Deputy PM noted.
“Those [construction] contracts that are currently under operation and contracts that are signed before December 31 of this year, Turkish nationals may continue their labor activities on these construction objects. For new contracts [signed after January 1, 2016], there won’t be such freedom and a special permit will need to be applied for from the government,” Shuvalov told Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev during a Cabinet meeting.
“We are not excluding the possibility of using Turkish nationals on construction projects that are underway in the Russian Federation, but this will fall under very serious control,” Shuvalov added.
The introduction of a visa-regime with Turkey does not mean restrictions on the entry to Russia of Turkish citizens, he said.
“According to the president’s order, a visa regime [with Turkey] will be introduced, but entry to the Russian Federation will not be restricted. [Turkish citizens] will [simply] need to get a visa to visit Russia,” Igor Shuvalov said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Barack Obama held a meeting on the sidelines of the Paris climate conference that lasted for around 30 minutes, TASS reports.
The meeting, which was held behind the closed doors, had not been planned or discussed beforehand. The presidents used the opportunity of attending the international conference to speak about topical issues in the bilateral format. The two leaders also discussed the situation in Syria and Ukraine.
Putin said after the talks there is understanding between him and US President Barack Obama on future political settlement in Syria.
“In general, I think, there is understanding in what direction we should move [on Syria],” Putin told journalists after his visit to Paris. “If we are talking about the necessity of political settlement, then the new constitution is needed [in Syria], along with new election and monitoring the results,” the Russian president noted.
According to Putin, the world leaders generally hold similar views on the Syrian settlement.
Two Turkish generals and a colonel were detained on Saturday for intercepting Syria-bound trucks that belonged to Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT), the newspaper Today’s Zaman reported.
In January 2014, Ankara Gendarmerie Major-General Ibrahim Aydin, former Adana Gendarmerie Brigadier-General Hamza Celepoglu and former Gendarmerie Criminal Laboratory Head Colonel Burhanettin Cihangiroglu stopped Syrian-bound trucks in southern Turkey after they received information from an anonymous source that the trucks were illegally carrying weapons to militants in Syria.
When the information about the trucks became public, MIT officials and high-ranking Turkish politicians, including President Recep Teyyip Erdogan, who was Prime Minister back then, and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, then the country’s foreign minister, were furious that the gendarmes stopped the trucks and said the Syria-bound trucks were carrying “humanitarian aid” to Turkmen living just south of Turkey, the newspaper said.
“Yes, I’m saying this without any hesitation. That aid was going to the Turkmens. There will be a war next door and we will watch our Turkmen, Arab and Turkish brothers being massacred,” Davutoglu said, as cited by Today’s Zaman.
However, members of opposition parties and some Turkish media said the trucks were indeed transporting weapons to Islamic extremists in Syria.
Today, in Paris President Serzh Sargsyan participated at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Conference, which is presided over by France, is attended by the Heads of state and government from 150 countries and by thousands of delegates. At the beginning of the meeting, delegations present at this Conference with the unprecedented high level of participation paid a one minute silence tribute to the memory of the victims of the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris. According to the organizers, the presence of numerous world leaders at the Paris Conference in the wake of these tragic events proves that when it comes to confronting challenges presented to the entire humankind, civilization and solidarity are stronger than barbarity.
In their opening remarks the President of France Francois Hollande, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France Laurent Fabius, who is presiding over the meeting, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Prince Charles of Great Britain and speakers after them underscored the importance of the 21st Conference for the future of planet Earth and humanity and noted that today people from all over the world are looking at Paris, expecting that as a result of the deliberations on the gravest challenge faced by the human kind – disastrous change of climate, with no delay there will be adopted a groundbreaking decision. The speakers concurred that the Final Agreement of the Conference to be adopted on December 11, should not be just about good intentions: in their statements the world leaders should come up with clear-cut and strong political messages to ensure that safe future of the humanity has no alternative.
In the statement made at the Conference, the President of Armenia first expressed gratitude to the President of France Francois Hollande for the excellent organization of the Conference on Climate Change and hospitality despite the terrorist attacks which shocked France and entire civilized world.
Considering climate change a global challenge, Serzh Sargsyan underscored that it threatens equally all states, regardless of their size or level of development. Even though Armenia’s share in global emissions is not large and does not exceed two hundredth of a percent, according to the President Sargsyan Armenia attaches great importance to the need of combining efforts of all countries to address this issue and as a developing nation has committed herself to contribute to this global endeavor.
“The Armenian national position was reflected in the “Plan of Actions defined at the National Level” adopted by our Government. It is built upon the following principles:
First, global emissions of the greenhouse gases shall be limited at the threshold, which would keep the temperature increase below the two degrees Celsius.
Second, we shall adopt an approach that is “general but differentiated,” and take into account the varying degree of the current and historical responsibility of the numerous countries.
Third, the responsibility and burden-sharing for limiting the emissions of greenhouse gases shall be distributed by taking into account the rights of the contemporary and future generations to utilize the climate resources.
And, finally, four, not to do anything that would make the developing countries to slide back.
Armenia stands ready to undertake a commitment of a quantitative limitation to the increase of the emissions of greenhouse gases,” said the President of Armenia. In conclusion, Serzh Sargsyan underlined that the challenge of climate change, as well as other contemporary global threats that are of concern to us, recognize neither national borders, nor international law, nor any civilizational norms. According to the President, a challenge that a country may face in the modern interdependent and globalizing world is, in a collective sense, a challenge to all of us. Therefore, the solutions shall be comprehensive, agreed upon, and coordinated. The President of Armenia said that it is important for us to evaluate anew foundations of the global cohabitation, and refine the toolbox at our disposal. According to President Sargsyan, joint response to the challenges of climate change, should it be successful, may become a precedent for a new kind of endeavor.
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech for the opening day of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) at Le Bourget, near Paris, France, November 30, 2015. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
Russian President Vladimir Putin is not planning to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Paris on the sidelines of the UN climate conference, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, TASS reports.
“The meeting with Erdogan (in Paris) is not planned, this meeting is not being discussed. There will be no such meeting,” Peskov told reporters.
Peskov stressed that no other contacts with the Turkish leader, including a phone conversation, are included in Putin’s schedule.
The Turkish president has tried to call Putin twice and later sent an official request for the meeting with the Russian leader at the Paris conference on Monday.
The so-called “storming leader of special forces in Bab Amre battalion”, Ali al-Daloub al-Fa’ouri, and the senior commander of al-Sham Legion, al-Zaher Baibars al- Salmouni, have been identified among the dead, the terrorist groups said.
The terrorist groups also said Amer al-Omar from the so-called Jaish al-Sunna and Jumaa al-Omar of the so-called Islamic Union of Ajnad al-Sham have been killed in the Monday clashes.
The terrorists confirmed that they had to retreat from their positions following heavy airstrikes and massive ground operations by the Syrian army and popular forces.
Reports from Northern Aleppo province said on Monday that militant groups have sustained heavy casualties in the joint offensive of the Syrian Army and popular forces on their concentration centers.
The militants’ gathering centers and defense lines in Bashkoy and Hraytan came under attack by the pro-government forces, whose operations in the Northern part of the country pinned down the terrorist groups in their vulnerable positions.
Battlefield reports said the pro-government troops have seized a large number of weapons and military equipment in the attack.
The Syrian army and its allies have gained the upper-hand in different parts of Aleppo city and province in the last two months. Reports said earlier today that the Syrian army repelled the militant groups’ offensive on their military checkpoint Southeast of Aleppo province, and killed or wounded at least 50 of them in their counter-assault.
The Syrian Army’s military checkpoint near al-Aziziyah came under attack of the militant groups, who failed to infiltrate into the government defense lines and fled the battlefront after leaving scores of dead or wounded members as a result of the Syrian forces’ counter-assault.