Category: News

A male suicide bomber hit a procession of Shi’ite Muslims in Nigeria’s Kano state as they walked to the city of Zaria to pay homage to their founder in the country, security sources and a Shi’ite leader said, Reuters reports.

Muhammad Turi said that 21 people had been killed and more wounded. Police said there were casualties but they could not confirm a figure.

The blast went off at around 2 p.m. local time (1300 GMT) near the village of Dakozoye outside the town of Garum Mallam, south of Nigeria’s second city Kano.

“It was in a bush area, on a farmland along the highway, our concern is to make everywhere safe. The bomb was made of high calibre explosive,” police commissioner Muhammad Musa Katsina said.

The commissioner said he did not know who was behind the bombing.

Suspicion is likely to fall on Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which frequently uses suicide bombers to hit soft targets like places of worship, markets and bus stations. Since losing most of the territory it controlled this year, it has returned to guerilla tactics and pledged allegiance to Islamic State based in Syria and Iraq.

Last week, two female suicide bombers hit a mobile phone market in Kano, killing at least 14 people and wounding more than 100 others.

 

 

 

The armed group neutralized as a result of measures taken by divisions of the National Security Service (NSS) had special financing, goals and objectives, NSS Deputy Chief Mikael Hambartsumyan told reporters today.

He said the level of armament, the number of members and the cruelty of the group were unprecedented for the Republic of Armenia.

Hambartsumyan added that the group received funding amounting to thousands of dollars, probe is underway to reveal the source of financing.

“The group had special goals and a well-developed plan. The planned crimes were targeted against  civilians, different branches of power and state bodies,” Mikael Hambartsumyan said.

Head of the Defense Policy Department of the Armenian Ministry of Defense Levon Ayvazyan visited Lebanon November 25-28. He had meetings with Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Lebanon Calid Salmen, Deputy Chief of Staff, Brigade General Manuel Kirejyan, other officials.

Issues related to the development and deepening of cooperation between Armenia and Lebanon were discussed. Reference was made to the situation in the region and other issues of reciprocal interest.

The military cooperation plan between the Armed Forces of the two countries was signed within the framework of the visit.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov made has said in Tbilisi that Sergey Lavrov presented a proposal on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement during his recent visit to Armenia. According to Mammadyarov, this implies that “one should focus on the withdrawal of the Armenian military forces, return of internally displaced persons and establishment of contacts between the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities of Nagorno Karabakh.”

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian responded to the claims at the Eastern Partnership Informal Ministerial Dialogue in Tbilisi, Spokesman for Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tigran Balayan said in comments to Radio Liberty. Minister Nalbandian said, in part:

“All of us, gathered here, can only express bewilderment, as we did at the Riga Summit, when Azerbaijan rejected the wording proposed by everyone, including the EU member-states and EaP states in the Summit’s Final Declaration on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, which was based on the well-known statements by the Heads of Co-Chair states. It is known that they reflect the principles and elements of the settlement as an integrated whole. The joint approach of the Co-Chair states – Russia, United States and France, is well-known, that selective approach to those principles and elements will make the settlement of the conflict impossible.

Azerbaijan’s approaches should not be presented as a position of the Co-Chairs, especially given the fact that those principles and elements are published in the five well-known statements.
Regarding to what Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister presents and how he attempts to ascribe it to Sergey Lavrov, such an approach has not been proposed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia to the Armenian side, and I do not think that he would have proposed such an approach to the Azerbaijani side.
One should not turn the reality upside-down.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that he hopes to have an opportunity soon to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in a step to defusing the crisis over Turkey’s downing of a Russian warplane, the Associated Press reports.

Speaking in northwest Turkey on Friday, Erdogan said: “There is a summit in Paris, I believe he (Putin) will also attend. We could sit and talk there.”

Erudogan adds: “I would like to meet (Putin) face to face in Paris. I would like to bring the issue to a reasonable point. We are disturbed that the issue has been escalated.”

On November 26, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian participated in the Eastern Partnership Informal Ministerial Dialogue in Tbilisi, attended by Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, and Helga Schmid, Deputy Secretary General for the External Action Service.

Addressing the meeting, Minister Nalbandian said:

The European Neighborhood Policy has played a substantial role in promoting and deepening the cooperation between Armenia and the EU. We highly appreciate the EU’s continued support and assistance provided to our country over the years, which has been instrumental for the effective implementation and sustainability of the reform process and institutional capacity building in Armenia.

Armenia welcomed the European Neighborhood Policy review process. We highly appreciated the initiative of High Representative Mogherini and Commissioner Hahn to engage the partner countries in this process. We are pleased to note that the outcome of the EU Council deliberations of the last week duly reflected the principle of differentiation to be applied to the partners, taking into account the progress made in implementation of their commitments in the areas of democratic reforms.

I would like to use this opportunity to thank you, Johannes, and ask you to convey my gratitude also to Federica for your joint letter on the ENP review process that I have received a week ago and assure that we share the ideas contained therein.

Dear colleagues,

Since our last meeting in Minsk some important developments have taken place. I would like to note with satisfaction, the decision of the EU Council authorizing the European Commission and the High Representative to open negotiations on a new agreement with Armenia.

The negotiations will be launched in coming days and I am hopeful that through the active process of deliberations we will be able to reach an agreement on a new framework document that will reflect the essence and depth of our bilateral relations and set new guidelines for mutually beneficial cooperation.

Following the successful negotiations of last month, we look forward to signing in coming days the agreements on Armenia’s participation in a number of EU programs, such as “Horizon 2020”, and the Program for Competitiveness of Small and Medium Enterprises (COSME). In the area of transport, the Government of Armenia has expressed its readiness to conclude a common aviation agreement, following the liberalization of the aviation market through the Open Skies Policy.

We attach great importance to people to people contacts, and view enhanced mobility of our citizens as an important prerequisite for bringing our societies closer. It is almost two years now that the EU-Armenia Visa Facilitation and Readmission agreements are being implemented. We do believe that it is high time to move further and launch a dialogue on visa liberalization with an understanding that this is a reform oriented process.

Dear colleagues,

The Government of Armenia is committed to advancing the reforms aimed at development and consolidation of the democratic institutions and good governance, protection and promotion of human rights, strengthening the rule of law and the independence of judiciary. With this in mind, the President of Armenia has initiated the process of constitutional reform. If approved in referendum on December 6 it will transform Armenia’s semi-presidential model of governance into the parliamentary one.

According to the opinion of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe “the work carried out by the Constitutional Commission of Armenia is of extremely high quality and deserves to be supported and welcomed” . It also stated that the draft text of the Constitution is in line with international standards.

Dear colleagues,

Armenia well recognizes the importance of inclusive cooperation in different formats. We hold the view that it is possible to make best use of various integration frameworks employing more visionary approach. Since our joining the Eurasian Economic Union, and even before, we have been advocating for a rationale that builds on opportunities provided by different integration formats while avoiding undue creation of new dividing lines in the larger neighborhood. We want to make best use of our participation in the Eurasian Economic Union and at the same time develop mutually beneficial possible cooperation with the European Union.

Dear colleagues,

We look forward to advancing our efforts in the framework of both Eastern Partnership and European Neighborhood Policy and we are confident that we will continue to proceed in the right direction, based on shared values and respect of each other’s decisions and choices.

Thank you.

Photo: Getty Images

 

Italian police in the northern city of Trieste have seized nearly 800 shotguns en route from Turkey to Belgium, the BBC reports.

The firearms were found packed in individual boxes aboard a Dutch-registered truck that arrived on a ferry in the port city.

Although customs rules were not broken, the Turkish driver did not have licences for the weapons, police said.

Controls at Italian ports have been stepped up in the wake of the 13 November Paris terror attacks.

EU interior ministers meeting in Brussels last week agreed to tighten security and share more information about the gun trade to prevent trafficking of illegal weapons.

It came after attackers with semi-automatic rifles and suicide belts killed 130 people at a number of sites in Paris. Some of the attackers had lived in Belgium.

The Syrian army has thwarted terrorists’ attempt to counterattack near Palmyra as it continues its offensive south and east of the western province of Homs, the Syrian army spokesman told reporters.

“The Syrian armed forces are advancing on the enemy south and east of Homs and have inflicted heavy losses on terrorists who tried and failed to counterattack north of the city of Attamsi, and southeast of Yul-Sahri near Palmyra, Sputnik News reports.

Many ISIL terrorists were killed and a number of their machine gun trucks were destroyed,” Brigadier General Ali Mayhoub said at a news briefing in Latakia.

The Syrian armed forces have destroyed a number of terrorist strongholds at Harasta outside Damascus seizing large amounts of weapons and ammunition and defusing hundreds of landmines, planted by the terrorists.

“We have destroyed a terrorist unit in Deraa, in the south, liberated a local refugee camp and taken out a terrorist unit southeast of the local energy company headquarters. Several columns of enemy trucks have also been destroyed near Deraa,” the general added.

The ancient Syrian city of Palmyra is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Islamic State jihadist group militants have destroyed multiple sites of historic architecture in Palmyra, including its ancient temples of Bel and Baalshamin, since they had captured the city in May.

Today, the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Denmark Christian Dons Christensen (residence in Kiev) presented his credentials to the President of Armenia.

President Sargsyan congratulated the Ambassador on his nomination and wished him success during his tenure in our country. Serzh Sargsyan noted that Armenia is ready to deepen her relations with the Kingdom of Denmark in bilateral as well as multilateral formats. In the framework of development of the interstate relations, the President of Armenia stressed the importance of expanding the legal framework aimed at the development of cooperation in different areas, invigoration of high level reciprocal visits, enhancement of the interparliamentary ties, as well as close cooperation in the framework of international structures.

The President expressed gratitude for the assistance provided by the Kingdom of Denmark to the ongoing democratic reforms in Armenia. Serzh Sargsyan underscored that the Armenian people deeply appreciate assistance of Denmark in the organization on April 19 in the Copenhagen Cathedral of the Ecumenical prayer dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The President stressed the importance of the statement adopted by the Danish parliament in relation to the Armenian Genocide which, according to Serzh Sargsyan, is an important step towards the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

The Danish Ambassador expressed gratitude to the President of Armenia for warm welcome and congratulations and assured that during his tenure in office he would spare no effort to deepen the Danish-Armenian relations which hold great potential and to strengthen bilateral relations. Ambassador Christensen underscored that Denmark views Armenia as a good partner, cooperation with which should be deepened.

At the meeting, the President of Armenia and Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark discussed also current regional and international problems, and the Nagorno Karabakh peace process.

France is to hold a national memorial service for the 130 people who died in the Paris attacks two weeks ago, the BBC reports.

Friday’s service in central Paris will bring together 1,000 people, including President Francois Hollande as well as survivors and victims’ families.

A minute’s silence will be held and the names of all the victims read out.

Attackers with assault rifles and suicide belts targeted a number of sites in the capital. Islamic State later said it was behind the assault.

In a series of co-ordinated attacks on 13 November, the gunmen opened fire on restaurants and bars in the city and stormed a concert hall, where 89 people were shot dead.

Three more attackers blew themselves up outside the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, after staff denied them entry to a football match between France and Germany.

More than 350 people were injured in the attacks – the worst in recent French history.