Category: News

Photo: AFP

 

Magnus Carlsen of Norway has won the World Chess Championship for the third consecutive time after defeating challenger Sergey Karjakin of Russia, the BBC reports.

Carlsen sealed victory following three weeks of play and a series of tiebreakers in New York.

Karjakin tied against Carlsen in 12 regular rounds but was beaten in the final phase of four quickfire games.

Organisers said the event was followed by about six million chess fans around the world.

Hundreds of spectators paid between $100 and $500 to watch the games at a former fish market in Manhattan, separated from the two grandmasters by soundproof glass.

After his victory, Carlsen’s supporters greeted him by cheering and singing “Happy Birthday”, to mark his 26th birthday.

The prize of $1.1m is divided between the two players with the winner taking 60%.

Photo: NBC

 

Police in New York City are looking for a quick-thinking thief who stole an 86-pound bucket of gold flakes worth nearly $1.6 million off an armored truck in Manhattan, the Associated Press reports.

The unidentified thief swiped the 5-gallon metal bucket off the back of the vehicle on Sept. 29 when a guard briefly went to the truck’s cab to reportedly retrieve his cellphone.

The incident occurred in broad daylight on West 48th Street in Midtown Manhattan. The suspect is believed to be hiding out in Florida.

Security video shows the black bucket on a pallet inside the open back door of the truck. The man looks around, approaches the truck and lifts the bucket out.

Two men are standing on the sidewalk beside the truck, engaged in animated conversation, and don’t appear to notice the man with the bucket walking past them.

Lots of other pedestrians and vehicles stream past as he heads down the sidewalk with one arm wrapped around the bucket and his other hand beneath it.

At one point, he sets it down at the curb, takes a breather for a few seconds, then hoists it again and steps into the street.

Police say it took the thief an hour to complete what would normally be considered a 10-minute walk. He then hopped into a white van and fled.

Police say the suspect likely didn’t know what the bucket contained.

Manchester Uited set up an EFL Cup semi-final clash against Hull with a deserved 4-1 victory over West Ham.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Anthony Martial both scored braces as United cruised into the last four at Old Trafford.

Ashley Fletcher gave the visitor’s hope 10 minutes before the break, pouncing on David De Gea’s error to make the score 1-1.

Armenia international Henrikh Mkhitaryan  was a constant menace to the West Ham defence, setting up a goal apiece for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Anthony Martial.

Portuguese boss was clearly pleased with his efforts against a strong West Ham side.

“I’m so happy because today was against a Premier League team with Premier League qualities with Premier League characteristics,” Mourinho said.

Oganesson (Og)  – the element named after Russian Armenian scholar Yuri Oganessian has been added to  Mendeleev’s periodical table.

On 28 November 2016, the (IUPAC) approved the name and symbols for four elements: nihonium (Nh), moscovium (Mc), tennessine (Ts), and oganesson (Og), respectively for element 113, 115, 117, and 118.

In line with the tradition of honoring a scientist, the name oganesson and symbol Og for element 118 was proposed by the collaborating teams of discoverers at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna (Russia) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (USA) and recognizes Professor Yuri Oganessian (born 1933) for his pioneering contributions to transactinoid elements research.

His many achievements include the discovery of superheavy elements and significant advances in the nuclear physics of superheavy nuclei including experimental evidence for the “island of stability.”

 

Kanye West is reportedly back at home more than a week after he was admitted to hospital with exhaustion, the BBC reports. 

According to multiple reports in the US, the rapper left UCLA Medical Centre in Los Angeles with wife Kim Kardashian and his doctor, Michael Farzam.

The 39-year-old was admitted to hospital last Monday suffering from “temporary psychosis due to sleep deprivation and dehydration”, said .

quoted a source saying he was “home, getting some rest.”

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) responded to a report of a disturbance last week but later said it was a “medical emergency”.

The rapper was admitted to hospital a day after he cancelled his Saint Pablo tour after a series of rants on-stage.

FourFourTwo has ranked Armenia international Henrikh Mkhitaryan 60th in its list of  2016.

“Mkhitaryan’s meagre two starts in 2016/17 – Jose Mourinho being oddly reluctant to play the £27m signing – are comfortably outweighed by the playmaker’s phenomenal 2015/16. After all, Mkhitaryan was named Player of the Year by 235 Bundesliga pros surveyed in German magazine Kicker and came third in the official players’ vote. How quickly we forget. How quickly Jose forgets,” the website writes.

The Armenian was reborn under Thomas Tuchel in his final Borussia Dortmund campaign. Mkhitaryan scored or assisted – and this isn’t a typo – 55 goals in 52 games, which is frankly obscene. Operating sometimes behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang but more commonly drifting in from the right, Mkhitaryan showed he’s a true raumdeuter, a space investigator, and one who knows where the goal is.

“If that’s not enough, he speaks seven languages fluently and his dad was called Hamlet,” FourFourTwo reminds.

Harlem Désir, French Secretary of State for European Affairs, received a delegation of the Armenia-France Friendship Group of the Armenian National Assembly.

They spoke about the development of bilateral relations and the prospects for the process of settling the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Harlem Désir recalled the commitment of France, whcih co-chairs the Minsk Group.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Armenian counterpart signed an agreement on establishing combined forces, a RIA Novosti reports.

Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan said the group would include Russia’s military base in Armenia, as well as units of the Armenian armed forces. The ministers signed a cooperation plan for 2017.

Russian President Vladimir Putin singed off on a decree to establish a combined task force on November 14. Previously, Russia and Armenia signed the agreement that established regional Unified Air Defense System as part of Joint Commonwealth of Independent States Air Defense System in December 2015.

The United States has pledged to fund concrete measures designed to improve confidence in the election process and help prevent fraud in next year’s Armenian parliamentary elections. The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) strongly encouraged the U.S. government support this initiative considering its importance to strengthening the democratic process in Armenia.

U.S. funding will support agreements signed by the Armenian government and three leading opposition parties on voting conduct for the April 2017 elections.  Funds will go toward equipment required for live online broadcasts of voting and ballot counting, as well as electronic verification of voters’ identity, and other amendments to Armenia’s Electoral Code. The United States joins the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Germany in providing financial support towards the new voting processes and equipment for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

“Both the government and the opposition deserve credit for working out the agreement which sets Armenia apart,” stated Armenian Assembly Co-Chairs Anthony Barsamian and Van Krikorian. “The need for national unity was dramatically reemphasized after the April war initiated by Azerbaijan and the ongoing ceasefire violations attempting to goad Armenia to respond,” the Assembly Co-Chairs continued.  “We commend the U.S. and the EU for providing financial assistance to support this initiative to further the rule of law in Armenia. We are nonpartisan in both the American and Armenian contexts but this type of support to improve confidence in the democratic process serves us all,” they concluded.

According to the statement by the United States Embassy in Armenia: “The U.S. Government welcomes the agreement that was reached in June and September between the Armenian government and parliamentary political factions – with input from civil society representatives – on strengthening the integrity and credibility of the Armenian election process. We consider this agreement a meaningful step towards restoring public trust and accountability in Armenia’s electoral processes.”

“With our fellow international donors, all of whom are working in partnership with the United Nations Mission to Armenia, the U.S. Embassy will help fund the efforts of the Armenian government, political opposition, and civil society to strengthen trust in the Armenian electoral process via same-day voter authentication and the publication of signed voter lists after the elections, all as agreed in the June and September agreements,” stated the U.S. Embassy in Armenia.

Photo: AFP

 

President-elect Donald Trump has announced he is leaving “business in total” to focus on presidency and avoid perceived conflicts of interest, the BBC reports.

Mr Trump said he would be expanding on his plans at a press conference with his children next month.

He previously dismissed concerns over potential conflicts between his businesses and the presidency.

There is no legal requirement to liquidate assets but past US presidents have set aside their business dealings.

In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Mr Trump said: “I will be holding a major news conference in New York City with my children on December 15 to discuss the fact that I will be leaving my great business in total in order to fully focus on running the country in order to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

“While I am not mandated to do this under the law, I feel it is visually important, as President, to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses.

“Hence, legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations. The Presidency is a far more important task!”