Category: News

Nine people have been killed and seven injured in a shooting at a college in the US state of Oregon, say police, the BBC reports.

The gunman, 26, opened fire at Umpqua Community College on Thursday morning and was killed in a police shootout.

There were conflicting reports on casualties but Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said 10 dead, including the gunman, was “the best” figure.

Police have not identified the attacker but un-named officers have told US media his name is Chris Harper Mercer.

Mr Hanlin said he would not confirm the name, adding: “I will not give him the credit he probably sought prior to this horrific and cowardly act.”

The killer’s motive is not known, although police said they were investigating reports that he had warned of his intentions on social media.

Hours after the attack, in which seven were also injured, a visibly frustrated President Barack Obama demanded tighter gun laws, saying prayers are “no longer enough”

On the last day of his working visit to the U.S., October 1, Serzh Sargsyan took part in a “reference-free” discussion held by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In his extensive speech to representatives of the U.S. expert community, the president touched upon the issues on Armenia’s foreign policy agenda, and the present-day international problems and challenges which pose a threat to peace and security.

The president presented the problems existing at the current stage of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process and the situation in the region. Serzh Sargsyan also reflected upon the Middle East crisis and Armenia’s approaches to that issue. Armenia’s president presented the status of ongoing reforms being implemented in Armenia with the support of its European partners, the process of RA constitutional amendments and the logic of changes envisioned in the Draft Constitution.

Serzh Sargsyan responded to multiple questions from the discussion participants, touching upon, inter alia, issues on Armenia’s socio-economic development, our country’s policy to ensure steady economic growth through getting involved in different integration processes, and upon the prospects of Armenia-Turkey relations.

Serzh Sargsyan also had a private conversation with William Burns, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The House of Representatives of the province of Misiones, Argentina, approved a laaw that adheres to the National Law 26,199, which establishes every April 24 as the “Day of Action for Tolerance and Respect between Peoples” in commemoration of the genocide against the Armenian people, reports.

was enacted on September 3 in Posadas, and was promulgated on 18 March.

The Law 26,199, enacted on December 13 2006 and promulgated on 11 January 2007, invites provincial governments to “adhere to the provisions of this law,” according to Article 4.

The list of Argentine provinces that adhered to this law are: Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Córdoba, Corrientes, Jujuy, La Pampa, Neuquén, Río Negro, San Juan, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero and Tierra del Fuego.

James Cromwell and Jean Reno have joined Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac in the historical romance “The Promise,” a new Armenian Genocide-themed film, reports.

Terry George (“Hotel Rwanda”) is directing from a script he wrote with Robin Swicord, centering on a love triangle in 1922 with a medical student, an American journalist based in Paris and a beautiful and sophisticated woman, portrayed by Charlotte Le Bon. Bale will play the reporter, and Isaac will portray the student, conflicted by old-world traditions.

Cromwell will play an American ambassador who becomes heroic when challenged, while Reno will play a French admiral deeply conflicted in the face of life-threatening danger. The story is set amid the final days of the Ottoman Empire.

Shohreh Aghdashloo and Daniel Gimenez Cacho also star.

Shooting has started in Spain and Portugal and will go into December. Eric Esrailian will produce on behalf of Survival Pictures with Mike Medavoy for Phoenix Pictures, Ralph Winter and William Horberg (“Milk”). Survivial was unveiled as a production company in July by Tracinda Corp., the holding company founded by the late Kirk Kerkorian.

“‘The Promise’ beautifully intertwines heroism and love,” said Esrailian and Medavoy.

Cromwell was most recently seen on AMC’s “Halt and Catch Fire.” Reno starred in the French action film “The Squad.”

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has pledged to recognize the Armenian Genocide if elected, Turkish Yeni Safak newspaper reports.

The party presented its election platform today.

HDP Co-Chair Figen Yüksekdag stressed the need to apologize on the state level for genocides and massacres committed against different peoples over history.

The Party also promised that the national minorities will be granted the right to organize education in their native languages.

The HDP also vowed to open the Armenian-Turkish border without any preconditions, lift the economic blockade of Armenia and help reach a democratic solution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Indonesia’s Aviastar airline said on Friday contact had been lost with a Twin Otter small passenger aircraft travelling between Masamba and Makassar on the island of Sulawesi.

Ten people were on board the aircraft, Wisnu Darjono, an official at Indonesia’s flight safety agency told Reuters. He confirmed authorities had lost contact with the aircraft.

Indonesian authorities have launched a search for the plane.

The Transportation Ministry said a search has begun for the aircraft that lost contact on a flight from the town of Masamba, about 30 minutes before its was scheduled to land in Makassar city.

“It was around 60 nautical miles from Makassar,” ministry spokesman J.R. Barata told MetroTV. “We have now started a search.”

“Most importantly, we will work out its position first,” Barata said adding that 10 people – seven passengers and three crew – were on board.

Aviastar, which flies domestic routes, said it had lost contact with the aircraft in the mid-afternoon and it had then contacted search authorities.

More than 50 warplanes and helicopters are part of an air group of Russia’s Aerospace Forces conducting airstrikes on the positions of the Islamic State terrorist group in Syria, Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov has said, TASS reports.

“The air group was deployed in the shortest time. We managed to do that as the main materiel supplies and ammunition were in the material-technical facility in Tartus. We only had to relocate aviation and bring some equipment,” Konashenkov said.

Russia’s Aerospace Forces launched the operation against the Islamic State gunmen in Syria on Wednesday.

As Gen. Igor Konashenkov told the journalists, modernized Su-24M and Su-25 fighter jets are deployed in the aviation unit of Russia’s Aerospace Defense Forces formed in Syria.

“More than 20 sorties were made targeting eight facilities of ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – former name of Islamic State terrorist organization] terrorist groups. Modernized Su-24M and Su-25 jets with modern aiming systems were among the aircraft that made sorties,” Konashenkov said.

Last night, the Russian Aerospace Forces attacked four Islamic State facilities in Syria.

“Strikes were made during the night on 4 facilities of Islamic State. The Sukhoi Su-24M frontline bombers and Su-25 attack aircraft made eight sorties,” he said.

“A stronghold of terrorist groups and ammunition depot near the city of Idlib were destroyed, as well as a three-level command post of militants near the settlement of Hama,” Konashenkov said.

“An explosives and ammunition production plant was completely destroyed after being directly hit by a bomb to the north of the city of Homs,” he noted adding that “precisely at this location, cars were stuffed with explosives and then used for terrorist attacks, including by suicide bombers.”

The Council of Europe and European Union will carry out four projects in Armenia under the Programmatic Cooperation Framework in 2015-2017.

The projects will focus on improving electoral processes in the country, combatting ill-treatment and impunity, strengthening healthcare and human rights protection in Armenian prisons, as well as fighting corruption in higher education in Armenia.

The projects are funded by the EU and the Council of Europe, and are implemented by the Council of Europe. The total budget of these projects is 2.2mn euro. In addition to these country-specific projects, Armenia also participates in 14 regional initiatives covering several countries.

 

 

 

It’s high time for the international community, and first of all the Minsk Group Co-Chairs to understand that the blurred and ‘balanced’ statements they make  result in human losses, said MP Karen Bekaryan, President of the “European Integration” NGO.

According to him, the international community has levers to influence Azerbaijan in case of escalation at the border, but it fails to make effective use of them.

“The reason is simple; interests are being placed above values,” Bekaryan told a press conference today.

He said this position is dangerous, especially considering that no one wins anything here, not even those who place certain interests above values.

Karen Bekaryan considers that by keeping silence on border incidents the international community assumes responsibly for the bloodshed and human losses.

“I think this perception is gradually maturing, but too slowly. Unfortunately, this slow pace leads to more losses,” he said.

The MP reminded the shooting down of an Armenian helicopter by Azerbaijan last November, when the international community once again failed to give a proper response, forcing us to recover the bodies of the pilots through military actions.

“Azeri soldiers were killed as a result of the operation. But did anyone ask why we did so? No, because it was clear to everyone that this was the only option left.”

Referring to President Serzh Sargsyan’s address to the UN General Assembly, Karen Bekaryan said there was a serious focus on the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, and this could be considered one of the most essential achievements of the centennial year.

“The speech highlighted the main targets of the pan-Armenian agenda in this centennial year. Naturally, it was stressed that there can be no essential progress on issues of security unless such crimes are recognized and condemned,” Bekaryan said.

A total of 12 people have been killed after a public bus rammed into a bus stop in the Dikimevi neighborhood of Ankara, according to initial reports, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

The public bus rammed into people waiting at the bus stop near the central Dikimevi metro station when the unidentified driver lost control of the wheel.

The bus, which also struck several parked cars, finally came to a stop after 60 meters.

Ankara Gov. Mehmet Kılıçlar said eight people were wounded in the incident.

The main road where the incident occurred was closed to traffic in the aftermath of the mishap.

Firefighters are continuing to pull dead bodies from under the bus.