Category: News

Beyonce was the big winner at last night’s MTV VMAs in New York, the BBC reports. 

The singer scooped seven awards in total including the prestigious prize for video of the year for the track Formation.

“First of all I’d like to thank my beautiful daughter and my incredible husband for all of their support,” she said during one acceptance speech.

Held annually, the VMAs, rewards musicians for their visual efforts.

This year’s ceremony was held at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Beyonce, who was nominated for eight awards, also went home with the prize for Best Female Video, Best Direction and Best Cinematography.

She was presented with one of her awards by four members of the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team.

The 34-year-old rounded off an impressive night with a 16 minute medley of songs taken from her latest album, Lemonade.

Other winners included Calvin Harris, Fifth Harmony and Drake.

David Bowie meanwhile was posthumously rewarded, the late singer’s album Blackstar won the Best Art Direction accolade.

Rihanna was honoured on the night with the, Michael Jackson Vanguard Award, which recognizes an artist’s entire catalogue of work. Canadian rapper Drake presented Rihanna with her trophy.

 

Suicide bomb attack on army training camp in Yemeni city of Aden had killed at least 45 people,  medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres said on Monday, Reuters reports.

A spokesperson for the group said at least 60 other wounded people had been brought into a hospital run by the charity in Aden.

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand believes Jose Mourinho should consider starting Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford ahead of Juan Mata and Martial.

“The thing Marcus Rashford and Henrikh Mkhitaryan give you that the other two don’t is the ability to take a man on,” Ferdinand told BT Sport.

“Rashford and Mkhitaryan were the bright spark in the second half that changed the game for Man Utd,” Ferdinand said, commenting on United’s win over Hull City on Saturday.

“Anthony Martial too often wants the ball to feet. Marcus Rashford will get the ball and ask defenders questions.”

United are in second place in the Premier League table after successive victories over Bournemouth, Southampton and Hull City.

About 55 cases of ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani side were registered at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces over the weekend.

The rival fired more than 600 shots from weapons of different calibers in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep control of the situation at the line of contact and confidently continue with reliable protection of the military positions, the NKR Defense Ministry said.

Photo: Sputnik/Asatur Yesayants

 

A court in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, has dismissed a motion filed by prosecutors seeking detention of Russian national Sergei Mironov charged with money laundering and illegal arms export, RIA Novosti reported on Monday.

The issue of Sergey Mironov’s possible extradition is not yet closed and will be solved within 40 days, Ruben Kirakosyan, President of the Russian-Armenian Bar Association, told RIA Novosti.

“Before that Mironov will be in freedom, but will have to stay in Yerevan. He will not be allowed to leave the country until the issue is settled,” Kirakosyan explained.

Mironov, 30, was detained in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, on Friday for alleged money laundering and illegal transfer of military technology after the US government request.

The man is an employee of Moscow office of Synesis, the company developing intelligent video surveillance and business intelligence based on computer vision, RIA Novosti reported.

 

Summer 2016 marked another successful campaign for the Land and Culture Organization (LCO)/Organisation Terre et Culture (OTC).  After three summer campaigns of volunteers, and four years of historical archaeologists, local workers and artisans, LCO/OTC celebrated the completion and consecration of the its fifth historical restoration project 16th century Sourp Stepanos Nakhavegah (St. Stephen the Protomartyr) church in the village of Shikaghogh.  Shikahogh is located in the southern Syunik region, adjacent to the Shikahogh Forest Reserve 20 miles south of Kapan.   Being near the Armenian-Artsakh border, the Azeris shelled Shikahogh during the Karabagh conflict.  Now, they are hoping to develop ecotourism in the Shikahogh State Reserve area.

Sourp Stepanos was blessed on August 6nd by Holy Etchmiadzin Bishop Hovannes Hakopyan and clergy of the Syunik Diocese.  Present at the consecration ceremonies were Kegham Kevonian President of UIOTC (Union of Land and Culture International), Haig and Hilda Manjikian and Nazaret Kevonian of LCO-USA, project architect Stepan Nalbandian of LCO/OTC Armenia “Yergeer Yev Meshagiut”, along with LCO/OTC volunteers and members.  Over two hundred members of the Shikahogh community, neighboring villagers, and mayors from surrounding villages and attended the ceremonies.  It was an emotional moment for all present following the culmination of years of hard work by volunteers and local craftsmen.   Some community elders remember being baptized at Sourp Stepanos. 

Throughout the project’s duration, 60 volunteers from the diaspora lived in Shikahogh and worked on Sourp Stepanos.  Volunteers participated in every aspect of the project from archaeologic digs, clearing the exterior and interior of the church, fixing the roof, rebuilding the altar and more.  Since 1989, LCO/OTC has worked on 20 projects including renovation of community centers, schools, construction of solar dryers, and historical church restoration in Armenia and Artsakh.  

In addition to the completion of Sourp Stepanos, LCO/OTC began work on a new project in southern Armenia.  This year’s campaign brought 40 dedicated volunteers from the United States, France, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Armenia, and Artsakh to spend three-weeks in the Syunik region, rebuilding the 17thcentury historical Sourp Hovannes (St. John) church in Armenia’s southern most point of Meghri.  The Meghri restoration project will take four to five years to complete. During the campaign, workdays of physical labor participating in the renovation of this Armenian church is just one part of the LCO/OTC experience.  Volunteers live in a very modest rural home and spend non-working hours bonding with village residents, while enjoying local activities and their surroundings.  In addition to experiencing village life, the volunteers go on excursions of Armenian historical sites. 

A bomb has gone off at the Brussels Institute of Criminology, without causing casualties, Belgian media say, the BBC reports.

Shortly before 02:30 local time (00:30 GMT), a car rammed through three fences, RTL Belgium reports.

“One or more” suspects then reportedly detonated a bomb near the laboratories.

Belgium’s terror alert level remains high since bomb attacks on Brussels airport and the city’s metro, claimed by so-called Islamic State, that killed 32 people in March.

It is unclear what happened to the suspects behind the latest blast, which Belgian media said had caused “significant” damage.

Fire service spokesman Pierre Meys told Agence France-Presse that the “extremely powerful” blast “was probably not accidental”. Some 30 firefighters helped put out the resulting fire.

Prosecutors said an investigation was now under way.

Russian President Vladimir Putin does not plan to attend a friendly match between football teams of Russia and Turkey in Antalya on August 31, press secretary of the President Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, TASS reports.

“No,” Peskov said responding to a question whether such a trip is in Putin’s working schedule. “We will root remotely,” he added.

 

 

 

“The rumors about the return of territories are simply speculation,” former member of the Supreme Council Azat Arsahakyan told a press conference today.

“The speculation is not just artificial, but also provocative. Those raising the issue of return of Artsakh territories are simply provocateurs. The goals they pursue are unclear to me,” he said.

According to NKR President’s Spokesman David Babayan, the concerns connected with the return of territories have both positive and negative trends. The positive side, he said, is that “when the nation is concerned with the fate of the Motherland, it means the immune system is strong. “ The negative side is that some people start speculations, pursuing some restricted interests,” he added.

“One should understand that there can be no return to the past. Artsakh will never refuse from its status and will not allow its security system to weaken,” David Babayan said.

MP from the Republican Party of Armenia Sukias Avetisyan said, in turn, the statements about the return of territories are dictated from the outside. “We must be strong as a state, as a nation, in order not to allow the artificial ideas and movements take root here. This is the most important for the two Armenian states,” he said.

Legendary artist, author and world-renowned singer Charles Aznavour calls for applications for the 2017 edition of the Aurora Prize.

Nominations are open to the public from until September 9, 2016.

Anyone can nominate a candidate they believe has overcome great personal challenges to make an exceptional impact on preserving human life and advancing humanitarian causes.

Every year, an Aurora Prize Laureate is honored with a US$100,000 grant, as well as a US$1,000,000 award to be donated to charitable organizations that inspired their work.

The first-ever Aurora Prize Laureate, Marguerite Barankitse of Maison Shalom, was honored in April for saving and caring for 30,000 children, orphans and refugees during Burundi’s civil war.

The second annual Aurora Prize will be presented on April 24, 2017, in Yerevan, Armenia.