Category: News

Photo: Reuters

 

Europol has warned that militants from so-called Islamic State (IS) will aim to step up attacks on European targets, as they face defeat in the Middle East, the BBC reports.

The European police force says more foreign fighters will try to come back to Europe, and “several dozen” capable of attacks could already be there.

Their tactics could include car bombs, kidnappings and extortion, it said.

But the report plays down the likelihood of attacks on critical infrastructure, such as nuclear sites.

It says that IS militants now prefer soft targets, and there is now a greater emphasis on “lone actors” such as the perpetrator of the lorry attack in Nice in July.

It warns that some Syrian refugees in Europe may be vulnerable to recruitment by extremists who infiltrate refugee camps.

Europe has been shaken by a series of attacks in recent years blamed on IS militants.

At a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, the Military-Industrial Commission approved the draft on Military-industrial and military-technical policy strategy.

Deputy Defense Minister, head of the State Military Industry Committee David Pakhchanyan said the strategy aims to turn the scientific-technical and industrial-technical potential into practical innovative means, which will help ensure the competitiveness of the production of the military industry complex.

Pakhchanyan underlined that the document has been worked out on the basis of the experience of the years of independence and the analysis of the April events.

He noted that the strategy also aims to boost the development of military industry, implementation and development of innovative technologies and organization oflocal production.

The main objective is to create a scientific-technical complex with a view of implementing the priorities of development of the military-technical policy.

According to Pakhchanyan, with the “nation-army” formula in the spotlight, it is necessary to review the education process in Armenia in order to turn the school-higher educational establishment-industry-science link into a scientific-educational complex.

During the meeting reference was made to development of the military industry complex and other issues related to the military-technical policy.

Photo: Getty Images

 

US President-elect Donald Trump has named Gen James Mattis, a former marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, as his defence secretary, the BBC reports.

“He’s our best,” Mr Trump said, as he announced his pick in a speech in Ohio.

Gen Mattis, who is known as “Mad Dog”, was an outspoken critic of the Obama administration’s Middle East policy, particularly on Iran.

He has referred to Iran as “the single most enduring threat to stability and peace in the Middle East”.

Mr Trump made the announcement in Cincinnati at the start of a “USA Thank You Tour 2016” for his supporters.

“We are going to appoint ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis as our secretary of defence,” he told the crowd.

The Armenian national team will face Uzbekistan in a friendly in February, Press Service of the Football Federation of Armenia reports.

The fixture will be held in Antalya, Turkey on February 12, 2017. The kick off is at 18:00 Yerevan time.

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.

Man of the Match Henrikh Mkhitaryan was delighted with his own and the team’s performance as Manchester United brushed aside West Ham United in Wednesday’s EFL Cup quarter-final tie, accordig to

After starring against Feyenoord, the Armenian captain earned his second star man award in a week – taking 78 per cent of the votes on United’s official Twitter feed – with another positive display in the Reds’ 4-1 victory over the Hammers at Old Trafford.

The summer signing from Borussia Dortmund, who was making his third start for the Reds, received a rapturous applause from the United faithful when replaced by Marcus Rashford late on. And he told afterwards he was pleased with his contribution to a fine overall display from the team to set up a two-legged semi-final against fellow Premier League side Hull City.

“I’m excited for the performance, I’m excited for my performance,” Mkhitaryan said. “We’ve done a good job. We’ve tried our best to win because the last game, on Sunday against West Ham, wasn’t very good for us when we didn’t win. But I think this time everything worked out and we’re very pleased.”

The Reds have often reserved the best form for the cup competitions on home soil having also put four past both Feyenoord and Fenerbahce, as well as knocking out EFL Cup holders Manchester City in the previous round, at Old Trafford. And Mkhitaryan believes the clinical edge was the difference in putting Slaven Bilic’s Hammers to the sword second time around – something the Reds must maintain heading into Sunday’s league game at Goodison Park.

He said: “The last game we couldn’t score our chances, but now we’ve scored our chances so the difference is that. This time we’ve done maybe more than what we have to do and we’ve scored four goals. Maybe we could score more but in the end we stopped on four goals and I think we’ve done a very good game and the transition from defence to offence was great. We have to keep working to be ready for the next game against Everton.”

The 27-year-old was a constant menace to the West Ham defence, setting up a goal apiece for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Anthony Martial, but he acknowledged the team’s efforts and said it was a performance which can allow the Reds to kick on as the busy festive period approaches.

“Sometimes after the game you’re feeling tired but it’s a very good tired because you’ve done everything on the pitch and you’re satisfied with the work you’ve done on the pitch, so I think this is the day that everyone is tired but satisfied,” Mkhitaryan added.

“Of course, it’s always a pleasure to win games because you’re recovering faster, you’re recovering better, you have more fun in the dressing room so it makes you keep the good atmosphere in the dressing room which is what we’re trying to do.”