Category: News

Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata is said to have reached an agreement with manager Jose Mourinho over his role in the squad, accepting that he will have a reduced role in the squad compared to last season under the management of Louis van Gaal,  reports.

Mata played every single one of United’s league games last season, starting all but four of them, but looks set for a reduced role in the coming campaign even though he has started both of the club’s Premier League games so far.

The Spaniard even scored the club’s first goal of the season, striking the opener in a 3-1 win over Bournemouth, but the Telegraph report that he has accepted after talks with Mourinho that he will not have the same guaranteed first-team role he enjoyed under Van Gaal.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is expected to come in and replace Mata on the right when he has bedded into his role at the club, but the Spaniard will not be sold this summer as Mourinho puts his own stamp on the squad.

A number of players are still expected to leave Old Trafford before Wednesday’s transfer deadline, but Mata – who had attracted interest from Everton at one point – does not look like being one of them.

Photo: AP

 

Prince’s private estate and studio complex is to open to the public six months after his death, the BBC reports.

The singer died in an elevator at the 65,000 square-foot complex in Minneapolis in April.

The trust company overseeing his estate announced Paisley Park will open for daily public tours from 6 October, provided the city approves the plan.

Prince’s sister, Tyka Nelson, said: “Opening Paisley Park is something that Prince always wanted to do.”

The singer died after an accidental overdose of the painkiller fentanyl.

Officials investigating his death said earlier this week the pills had been mislabelled as hydrocodone, a weaker type of opioid.

The Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire 41 times at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces last night.

The rival used firearms of different calibers as it fired more than 620 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep full control of the situation at the frontline and confidently continue with their military duty.

The Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire 30 times at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces last night.

The rival used firearms of different calibers as it fired over 430 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army mostly remained committed to the ceasefire regime and resorted to retaliatory measures in case of extreme necessity.

Photo: Reuters

 

Thirteen people, including seven students, died in an attack by gunmen on the American University in the Afghan capital Kabul, police say, the BBC reports.

Two attackers were also shot dead by security forces nearly 10 hours after the assault began with an explosion on Wednesday evening.

Students and staff were trapped inside the university during the attack, which police said was now over.

No group has said it carried out the attack.

The victims also included three police and three guards. Thirty-five students and nine police were injured and about 750 students and staff were rescued, Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi told the BBC.

Photo: AFP/Getty Images    

Cristiano Ronaldo has beaten off Gareth Bale and Antoine Griezmann to be crowned UEFA’s Best Player in Europe for the 2015/16 season.

The announcement was made in Monaco on Thursday, following the draw for the Champions League.

The shortlisted trio received the most votes from journalists from each of UEFA’s 55 member associations, finishing ahead of Barcelona duo Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi, as well as Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon who were among the original list of six.

The death toll in the Italian earthquake has risen to at least 247 as thousands of rescuers continue efforts to find survivors, the BBC reports.

Dozens are believed trapped in ruined Amatrice, Accumoli and Pescara del Tronto, in mountainous central Italy.

The search went on through the night, and there was a strong aftershock which rocked already damaged buildings.

More than 4,300 rescuers are using heavy lifting equipment and their bare hands.

Many of the victims were children, the health minister said, and there were warnings the toll could rise further.

The documentary “Nagorno Karabakh: Return of War” was presented at Neri Conai hall of Rimini, Italy on Tuesday. The event was organized by the International Center of Communion and Liberation within the framework of the 37th edition of the Meeting.

Opening remarks were offered by Armenian Ambassador to Italy Victoria Baghdasaryan, author of the film Gian Micalessin and Director of the International Center of Communion and Liberation Roberto Fontolan.

Amb. Baghdasaryan expressed gratitude to the author of the film for presenting the truth about the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh in April this year.

The Ambassador briefed the guests on the history and essence of the Karabakh issue.  She underlined that the film not only presents the history of struggle of the people of Nagorno Karabakh, but also urges not to remain indifferent towards discrimination and violence against people and nations.

Photo: Mikhail Pochuev/TASS    

Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Pakistan will present their national expositions at the Army-2016 military-technical forum, a Russian Defense Ministry official told reporters on Thursday, TASS reports.

“It is planned to deploy four national expositions: the Republic of Armenia – 5 enterprises, the Republic of Belarus – 9 enterprises, the Republic of Kazakhstan – 6 enterprises, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan – 9 enterprises,” Alexander Mironov said at a meeting with foreign military attaches from more than 50 countries of Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.

Companies from Germany, India, Israel, Ireland, China, Malaysia, Thailand, France and Switzerland are also planning to take part in the forum. Mironov recalled that 28 foreign companies from 7 countries took part in the forum in 2015.

A total of 107 have been invited to the forum, 86 of them have confirmed their participation, while 45 countries are planning to send official delegations. In 2015, 73 countries attended the forum, 38 of them sent official delegations.

The Army-2016 international military-technical forum will be held on September 6-11 in the Russian Defense Ministry’s Patriot Park in the Moscow region.

 

System of A Down frontman Serj Tankian has finished a song for the Armenian Genocide-themed “The Promise” produced by Kirk Kerkorian’s Survival Pictures.

“I am really excited to have finished a beautiful song I did with my friends the Authentic Light Orchestra for “The Promise” soundtrack. The film produced by Survival Pictures and Eric Esrailian and directed by Terry George stars Oscar Isaac and Christian Bale along with my friend Angela Sarafyan in a powerful love story during the last, genocidal days of the Ottoman Empire,” Tankian said in a Facebook post.

“The Promise,” the Armenian Genocide-themed feature produced by Kirk Kerkorian’s Survival Pictures will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. The festival also announced on Tuesday that “The Promise” will be featured as one of the event’s coveted opening weekend galas on September 11.

“Michael, a humble Armenian apothecary, leaves his village to study medicine in cosmopolitan Constantinople. Chris, an American photojournalist who has come to the country to partly cover the geopolitics, is in a relationship with the talented Ana, a Paris-educated, Armenian artist. When Michael meets Ana, their shared heritage sparks an attraction that explodes into a romantic rivalry between the two men. After the Turks join the war on the German side, the Ottoman Empire turns violently against its own ethnic minorities. Despite their conflicts, everyone must find a way to survive — even as monumental events envelope their lives,” reads the film synopsis on the TIIF website.