Category: News

Photo: Reuters

President Barack Obama has called on Americans to defend their democracy in his farewell speech in Chicago, the BBC reports.

“By almost every measure, America is a better, stronger place” than it was eight years ago when he took office, he told thousands of supporters.

But he warned “democracy is threatened whenever we take it for granted”.

He implored Americans of all backgrounds to consider things from each other’s point of view, saying “we have to pay attention and listen”.

The country’s first black president, now 55, was first elected in 2008 on a message of hope and change.

His successor, Donald Trump, has vowed to undo some of Mr Obama’s signature policies. He will be sworn into office on 20 January.

Raucous chants of “four more years” from the crowd were brushed aside by the president. “I can’t do that,” he said with a smile. US presidents are limited to two terms by the constitution.

“No, no, no, no no,” he said, when the crowd booed the prospect of Mr Trump replacing him.

Striking an upbeat tone, Mr Obama said that the peaceful transfer of power between presidents was a “hallmark” of American democracy.

But, he outlined three threats to American democracy – economic inequality, racial divisions and the retreat of different segments of society into “bubbles”, where opinions are not based on “some common baseline of facts”.

The visit of His Holiness Aram I, the Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, to Syria was a source of great inspiration for Aleppo Armenians. The Catholicos’ call for reconstruction of Aleppo became a guarantee of restoration and survival for the community.

Avo Avoshyan, lecturer at the Yerevan State University’s Chair of Diaspora Studies, says “it’s hard to estimate the percentage of Armenians that have stayed in Aleppo.”

According to him, there could still be 6-8 thousand Armenians living there despite the cruel five-year war. He’s confident the visit of the Catholicos will inspire Aleppo Armenians to return.

Administrator of the “Aleppo Armenians Facebook page Sosy Mishoyan-Dabbaghian considers that those, who have settled in Armenia or the West, will hardly return to Syria, but believes that the families that have moved to safer places in Syria are likely to return to their homes in Aleppo.

Both hope the support for Aleppo Armenians will be maintained and the community will be reorganized.

His Holiness Aram I visited Syria earlier this month. The Catholicos had a meeting with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and representatives of the Armenian community.

His Holiness Aram I celebrated the Christmas Liturgy at the Holy Mother of God Church, assisted on the altar by Archbishop Shahan Sarkissian, the Diocesan Bishop, and Bishop Norayr Ashekian, a member of the brotherhood accompanying the Catholicos.

Catholicos Aram I focussed his sermon on the biblical verse, “Do not be afraid, for God goes with us,” assuring the community of the solidarity of Armenians everywhere. He said that in their history, Armenians have overcome persecutions through their faith in Jesus Christ. He then invited the community to pray that the Good News of the Prince of Peace will renew them in their faith, inspire new hope and fill their lives with the love of God.

Jose Mourinho moved a step closer to a major trophy in his first season as Manchester United manager as goals from Juan Mata and Marouane Fellaini secured a first-leg victory over Hull City in the semi-final of the EFL Cup, the BBC reports.

A near full-strength United struggled to break down resilient Hull in a first half in which the hosts had just two shots on target – Mata forcing a good save out of goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic, who also tipped over Paul Pogba’s long-range effort.

The visitors had chances of their own against a side who had won their eight previous games in all competitions, Robert Snodgrass causing problems from set-pieces.

However, Mata got the breakthrough just before the hour mark when he tapped in from Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s knockdown.

Substitute Fellaini scored a second late on, heading in from Matteo Darmian’s cross to put United in command heading into the second leg on 26 January.

On January 12, 2017, in accordance with an agreement reached with the authorities of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, the OSCE Mission will conduct a planned monitoring of the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan in the direction of the NKR Martuni region, north-east of Ashaghy Veysali settlement, press service of the NKR Foreign Ministry reports. 

From the positions of the NKR Defense Army, the monitoring will be conducted by staff member of the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Peter Svedberg (Sweden) and head of the OSCE High Level Planning Group Colonel Hans Lampalzer (Austria). 

The NKR authorities have expressed their readiness to assist in conducting the monitoring and to ensure the security of the OSCE Mission members.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been credited as the key player in Manchester United’s upturn in fortunes, accoridng to .

The Armenian was initially frozen out by Jose Mourinho but since being brought into the fray has excelled. It’s coincided with a run of results that sees Manchester United unbeaten in 11 Premier League games and on a nine-game winning run in all competitions.

Liverpool legend Didi Hamann believes Mkhitaryan deserves much credit.

‘Mkhitaryan has been a key man in United’s changing fortunes,’ said the German. ‘He’s played a far greater role in the league since the end of November, scoring against Sunderland and bagging the winner at home to Tottenham, and in that time United have won six and drawn two in the league. He’s been excellent playing just off Ibrahimovic and has helped shape United’s style of football.’

The Georgian Government has given nod to a deal with Gazprom on the terms of gas transit to Armenia, Minister of Energy Kakha Kaladze has declared, Gruzia Online reports.

The Minister said the parties would shift to partial monetization of payments for the transit of Russian gas to Armenia.

Kaladze noted that “the changes will not increase Georgia’s dependence on Russia.”

Previously, Russia paid Georgia for gas transportation by supplying natural gas in the amount of 10% of the transported gas volume, but the agreement expired on December 31.

“As a result of multi-round talks we managed to reach an optimal proposal with the exiting circumstances taken into account,” Kakha Kaladze told reporters after the government sitting. “The government discussed and decided to sign the deal,” he added.

The Minister said the rates will be among the highest in Europe.

Last year Georgia transported 2.1 cubic meters of natural gas through its pipeline from Russian to Armenia, of which 0.3 cubic meters stayed in Georgia.

The Stepantsminda-Lars highway is open for all types of vehicles as of 10 a.m. January 11, the Georgian Ministry of infrastructures and Territorial Development has informed the Armenian Ministry of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies.

The Ministry warns, however, that tire chains need to be used.

Photo: AP Photo/ Burhan Ozbilici

Ankara’s Cagdas Sanat Merkezi modern arts center exhibition hall where Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov was killed has been named after the diplomat, local media reported on Thursday, Sputnik reports.

Karlov was shot dead by off-duty police officer Mevlut Mert Altintas at the opening of an art gallery exhibition at the Cagdas Sanat Merkezi center in the heart of Ankara. The gunman was killed at the scene by the police.

“Terrorism is a crime against humanity. We condemn terrorists, who have no nationality or religion. This hall will always hold the memory of Karlov,” Ankara’s central Cankaya municipality Mayor Alper Tasdelen was quoted as saying by the Anadolu news agency commenting on the decision.

On Monday, Ankara authorities decided to rename the street where the Russian embassy is located after Karlov as well.