Category: News

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.

Photo: AFP

 

In the wake of the powerful earthquake that struck central Italy on Wednesday, Pope Francis at the General Audience postponed his prepared catechesis, and led the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square in the recitation of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary, Vatican Radio reports.

The Holy Father expressed his “heartfelt sorrow and spiritual closeness” to all those affected by the earthquake and its aftershocks. He said he was deeply saddened upon learning several children were among the dead, and of hearing of the total destruction of the town of Amatrice.

“I want to assure all the people of Accumuli, Amatrice, the Diocese of Rieti,Ascoli Piceno, and all the people of Lazio, Umbria, and Le Marche, of the prayers and close solidarity of the entire Church, who in these moments extends her merciful love, as well as the concern of all of us here in the Piazza, Pope Francis said.

He asked everyone to join him in prayer to Jesus, that the Lord might “console the broken-hearted, and, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, bring them peace.”

“With Jesus,” Pope Francis concluded, “let our hearts be moved with compassion.”

Photo: AFP

 

Heavy shelling of so-called Islamic State positions has marked the start of a Turkish offensive to drive the militants away from the Syrian border, teh BBC reports.

Military sources told Turkish media 70 targets in the Jarablus area had been destroyed by artillery and rocket strikes, and 12 by air strikes.

Turkish tanks are now reported to have crossed into Syria.

The operation is aimed in part at pre-empting any move by Syrian Kurds to establish themselves on the border.

Turkish special forces are already inside Syria as part of the offensive.

The Catholicosate of Cilicia held consultations on the lawsuit asking the Return of its historic Seat from Turkey, the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia reports.

Since his arrival in Geneva, His Holiness Aram I has been consulting with experts regarding the lawsuit asking from Turkey the Return of the historic Seat of the Catholicosate in Sis (Kozan).

Discussions focussed on the recent attempted coup in Turkey and its temporary suspension of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Catholicosate will keep the constituency informed of developments.

More than 25 cases of ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani side were reported at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces last night.

The rival used firearms of different calibers as it fired over 370 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The front units of the NKR Defense Army keep control of the operational-tactical situation at the line of contact and confidently continue with their military duty.

Photo: John Carl D'Annibale

 

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United States Attorney Richard Hartunian, the Albany-based federal prosecutor for the Northern District of New York, was appointed Monday to lead an advisory committee on policy for U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

It is the first time a prosecutor in charge of the 32-county district, which includes the Capital Region, has been named to head the panel.

Hartunian, 55, of Delmar, who graduated Georgetown University in 1983 and Albany Law School in 1986, became vice chair of the panel in January 2015. Now he will head a panel that is tasked with establishing policies for the U.S. Department of Justice, fostering cooperation with state attorneys general and promoting consistency in the application of legal standards.

The panel dates to 1973. Hartunian succeeds former U.S. Attorney John Walsh of Colorado. Hartunian will be joined by a new vice chair, U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade, who heads the Eastern District of Michigan.

“The attorney general’s Advisory Committee plays an essential role in shaping the Justice Department’s policies, implementing its programs, and ensuring that equal justice and the rule of law are upheld throughout the United States,” Lynch said in a statement. “As a former chair of the AGAC, I know firsthand the significant duties required of the committee’s leaders, and I am certain that U.S. Attorneys Richard Hartunian and Barbara McQuade are ready to assume the responsibility of chairing such an important and distinguished body. They are both seasoned prosecutors, exemplary law enforcement officers, and devoted public servants, and I look forward to benefiting from their long experience and wise counsel as we advance the department’s vital work in the months ahead.”

Hartunian, a one-time Albany County prosecutor and a frederal prosecutor in Albany since 1997, served as coordinator of his office’s Organized Crime Drug Task Force from 2006 until his appointment to U.S. attorney in 2010.

Hartunian has been on the committee since 2013 when he was appointed by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

He has co-chaired the panel’s Border and Immigration Subcommittee and has sat on subcommittees focused on Native American issues, health care fraud and environmental crimes.