Category: News

AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin called the downing of an Su-24 fighter jet in Syria a stab in the back at a meeting with the King of Jordan Abdullah II in Sochi, Sputnik News reports.

A €4.3 million project promoting more secure and easy traffic between the border of Georgia and Armenia is coming to its end, according to Georgia Today.

On November 25th, a summary conference in Tbilisi will bring together representatives of border management agencies in Georgia and Armenia and also international organizations.

The delegation of the European Union to Georgia, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Ministry of Finance of Georgia and Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia are completing a project to assist the governments of Armenia and Georgia in reducing the barriers for trade, transit and movements of people acrodd the Bagratashen-Sadakhlo border.

The project helped the governments of the two countries to tackle smuggling and trafficking, ease people’s movement at the border crossing point, equip and train border guards and promote professional cooperation between the border management agencies of Armenia and Georgia.

The European Union and UNDP also assisted the Government of Georgia to prepare and endorse the Border Management Strategy of Georgia from 2014-2018.

The initiative at the Bagratashen-Sadakhlo border crossing point is part of the European Union assistance program to the South Caucasus countries to help introduce Integrated Border Management recognised as one of the most effective tools to maintain open but secure and controlled borders.

A similar project is being implemented at the land border between Azerbaijan and Georgia.

FIFA will announce the names of 2015 FIFA Baloon d’Or winners and Coach of the year on January 11, 2016. The sports journalists, head coaches and captains of all national teams from FIFA member countries take part in the voting. Interim head coach of the Armenian national team Sargis Hovsepyan and captain Henrikh Mkhitaryan have also announced their votes.

Sargis Hovsepyan

Player of the year: 1. Lionel Messi, 2. Cristiano Ronaldo, 3. Luis Suarez

Coach of the year: 1. Pep Guardiola, 2. Louis Enrique, 3. Unai Emeri

Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Player of the year: 1. Lionel Messi, 2. Cristiano Ronaldo, 3. Zlatan Ibrahimovich

Coach of the year: 1.Louis Enrique, 2. Unai Emeri, 3. Pep Guardiola

Conservative Mauricio Macri has been confirmed as the winner in Argentina’s presidential elections after his ruling party opponent conceded, the BBC reports.

With almost all votes counted, Mr Macri led Daniel Scioli by 51.5% to 48.5%.

He danced on stage at a victory rally at his Buenos Aires headquarters and thanked his staff for their support.

Mr Macri’s victory is the first in more than a decade for Argentina’s centre-right opposition and ends the 12-year rule of the Peronist Party.

“Today is a historic day,” said Mr Macri, addressing thousands of cheering supporters. “It’s the changing of an era.”

Sunday’s victory completes a turnaround for Mr Macri, who is currently mayor of Buenos Aires, after he lost in the first round of voting to Mr Scioli.

But Mr Scioli, who is the governor of Buenos Aires province, did not command enough of a lead to win the vote outright, forcing a run-off – the first in the country’s history.

Amal Clooney has reportedly taken off her dazzling £450,000 engagement ring…in favour of something more low key, the  reports.

The human rights lawyer, 37, who married George Clooney in September last year, is said to be seeking a simple platinum band instead, after fearing that the hugely expensive sparkler was too ostentatious for her work as a human rights lawyer.

The Lebanese-British lawyer regularly jets around the world for high-profile cases and, according to reports, felt that the ring might detract from the seriousness of her work.

In recent years, she has represented controversial Ukraine leader Yulia Tymoshenko, worked with the Greek government to try and secure the re-patriation of the Elgin marbles and earlier this year was part of the legal team that defended Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed.

Amal Clooney recently represented Armenia at teh European Court of Human Rights in an Armenian Genocide denial case.

A source told the Mirror: ‘Amal has told friends she wants a more understated engagement ring specifically for when she’s working on serious cases.

‘People constantly stop her and admire it for a closer look. It is a massive rock and there is no hiding it.

‘She absolutely loves the ring and won’t be getting rid of it but she just wants something simpler for her big cases.’

Amal has sported the huge rock since soon after actor husband George, 54, first proposed in April 2014.

After the couple were wed in a star-studded ceremony in Venice, both wore wedding bands with Mrs Clooney favouring a diamond-encrusted band.

AP Photo/ Alexander Kots

The Syrian Army has managed to regain control of the Christian villages of Mheen and Hawwarin, located in southeastern Homs province, a source in the Syrian military told RIA Novosti.

“The army has regained control over the Christian villages of Mheen and Hawwarin in the southeastern part of Homs province. Scores of terrorists were killed,” source said.

The village of Mheen was seized by Islamic State militants on November 1. The attack on the settlement, populated mostly by Christians, was supported by Islamic radicals from the region. Christians from the neighboring village of Sadad fled, fearing for their lives.

At the moment, the ISIL militants still maintain their hold over the settlement of Al Quaryatayn.

The annual Pan-European Phoneathon of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, headed by the Fund’s French affiliate and held during November 18-22, raised over 1.3 million euros in donations and pledges.

The large-scale fundraising campaign mobilized the Armenian communities of France   (1,205,569 euros), Germany (76,050 euros) and Switzerland (24,554 euros). Proceeds form the Phoneathon will be used for the construction of community centers in Artsakh, expansion of agricultural projects in Armenia’s Tavush Region and assistance to the Armenian communities of Syria and Iraq.

The Greek community traditionally joined the Phoneathon with their fundraising held in Greece on November 22. The phoneathon raised around 29,000 euros, which will be used for the construction of a kindergarten in Karin Tak, a village in Nagorno Karabakh’s Shushi region.

Contributions are still being made.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has called a press conference for later on Monday, with head coach Rafael Benitez under pressure.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has called a press conference for later on Monday, at which he is expected to address the fall-out from the Clasico thrashing at the hands of Barcelona on Saturday.

Madrid were hopelessly outplayed by Luis Enrique’s men at the Santiago Bernabeu, Barca cruising to an impressive 4-0 win thanks to two goals from Luis Suarez and further strikes from Neymar and Andres Iniesta.

The home fans were quick to display their dissatisfaction by booing and waving white handkerchiefs, cranking up the pressure on head coach Rafael Benitez.

The former Liverpool boss came into the game already under pressure after suggestions he had lost the support of senior players inside the Madrid dressing room.

The terrorist acts in Paris showed that there is no security anywhere in the world, not even Europe, expert of Turkish studies Hakob Chakryan told reporters today.

Chakryan said “the evil of terrorism has become a global threat since September 11, which is a consequence of the incorrect policy of the United States.”

Turkey, along with Qatar and Saudi Arabia, supported the jihadists of the Islamic State from the very beginning, the expert said, adding that “Ankara is playing a ‘double game’ today.”

“Turkey pretends to be fighting against IS, while continuing to support the terrorist group, providing weapons,” he said.

To what extent is Turkey-backed ISIS dangerous to Armenia? Hakob Chakryan believes “Ankara will not engage in confrontation with Moscow.”

Besides, he said, the developments in Syria provide ground for optimism. “The Syrian authorities have regained control over Lattakia, the ISIS links to its stronghold in Raqqa will soon be cut and Aleppo will be completely cleared of terrorists.”

Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition leader Selahattin Demirtas was unharmed after his car was hit by a bullet on Sunday in an apparent assassination attempt, a spokesman for his political party said, Reuters reports.

The rear window of Demirtas’s bullet-proof car was hit once as he and his security team were driving in the city of Diyarbakir in the largely Kurdish southeast of the country, the spokesman said.

Demirtas told the Firat News Agency that the bullet dent was noticed when they got out of the car. He also said the car was taken away by police, but no bullet cartridge was found.

“Death is God’s command,” Demirtas tweeted after the incident.

Demirtas led his People’s Democratic Party (HDP) through a highly successful election campaign in June, seeing it cross the threshold to enter parliament as a party for the first time and depriving the ruling AK Party of its majority. The AK Party won back a majority in a rerun this month, but the HDP remained above the 10 percent threshold to stay in parliament.

HDP supporters have been attacked three times over the past few months. One of the attacks, believed to have been carried out by Islamic State sympathizers, killed more than 100 people in the Turkish capital, Ankara.

A two-year ceasefire between the Kurdish militant group PKK and Turkey collapsed in July this year. The PKK insurgency, largely fought in southeastern Turkey, has killed some 40,000 people since 1984.

Demirtas’s party had been a facilitator in the ceasefire negotiations, which angered nationalist Turks who demanded a harsher military crackdown on the Kurdish militants.