Category: News

The Foreign Ministers of the CSTO member states adopted a statement on Nagorno Karabakh conflict today, expressing support for the agreements reached at the summits of Vienna and St. Petersburg held on May 16 and June 20 “targeted at the prevention of the unacceptable escalation in the conflict zone, stabilization of the situation and creation of conditions for furthering the negotiation process.”

The Foreign Ministers stressed the need to solve the Karabakh conflict in a peaceful way and expressed support for the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group towards settlement of the conflict on the basis of the norms of international law, the UN Charter and provisions of the Helsinki Final Act – non-use of force and the threat of force, territorial integrity and the right of peoples to self-determination.”

The statement was signed by the Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Russia and Tajikistan.

Photo: Getty Images

 

The Iraqi government has declared three days of national mourning after a huge bomb in the capital Baghdad killed at least 125 people and wounded about 150, the BBC reports.

A lorry packed with explosives was detonated in the Karrada district while families were shopping for the holiday marking the end of Ramadan.

Rescuers said whole families had been wiped out and many victims were burned beyond recognition.

So-called Islamic State (IS) has said it carried out the suicide attack.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi visited the mainly Shia area on Sunday but his convoy was greeted by angry crowds.

His office later announced the three days of mourning, adding that Mr Abadi understood the angry reaction of residents.

As night fell on Sunday, teams of workers were still clearing debris from the site and searching the charred remnants of buildings.

The vast majority of the Armenian National Committee of Australia’s (ANC Australia) endorsed candidates won their seats in the Federal Parliament in Saturday’s Election, despite the fact that the overall result of the poll remains unclear.

Headlining the list of victors for Armenian-Australians is Tim Wilson (LIB), who won the seat of Goldstein in Victoria to ensure he becomes the second-ever Federal Parliamentarian of Armenian descent, after Joe Hockey (now retired from Federal politics).

The other Armenian-Australian contesting the poll was former ANC Australia National Board member, Hovig Melkonian (ALP), who unfortunately lost his seat of Casey, despite outstandingly clawing back the margin against his challenger, the incumbent Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tony Smith (LIB).

The most Armenian-populated seat in Australia, Bennelong in NSW, was won for a third time by John Alexander (LIB), who is the incumbent Chair of the Armenia-Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group, and an outspoken advocate on Armenian Genocide recognition and the rights to self-determination for the Armenians of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh.

The most Armenian-populated seat in Victoria, Bruce was won by Julian Hill (ALP), who has promised to advocate for Armenian-Australian issues of concern in the next Parliamentary term.

In the Senate, where results are also not yet clear, it seems likely that there will be stronger representation for the Nick Xenophon Team, whose leader Nick Xenophon is a strong advocate for Armenian Genocide recognition. The Greens will also likely end up with at least nine Senators and Rev. Fred Nile’s Christian Democratic Party (CDP) is projected to win one seat. The Greens and the CDP are both on the record to ANC Australia as supporters of Armenian Genocide recognition.

Generally speaking, the Liberal/National Coalition (LIB) and the Australian Labor Party (ALP) are in a neck-and-neck race to try and gain a majority of seats in the House of Representatives. As absentee votes and postal votes are still being counted, either party needs to reach the number of 76 in order to officially be in government – either on their own accord, or via negotiations with the cross-benches.

The result should be clearer by the end of this week.

Prior to the election, the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) met with candidates in key seats for Armenian-Australians, and produced a report card reviewing the key candidates.

President Serzh Sargsyan received today the Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Nikolay Bordyuzha and members of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers, who have arrived in Armenia for the sitting of the Council.

President Sargsyan attached importance to the activities of the Council targeted at raising the effectiveness of cooperation between foreign policies of the CSTO member states.

The President voiced hope that the sitting would be held in a constructive atmosphere and would result in the adoption of the CSTO collective security strategy by 2025.

The President attached importance to the consistent implementation of the principled agreements on consideration of each other’s vital interests on the international arena.

The CSTO Secretary General reported on the issues on the agenda of the sitting of the Foreign Ministers’ Council and the future plans and programs envisaged during the Armenian presidency.

Three servicemen wounded in the military clashes in April are still getting treatment at the Central Clinical Military Hospital of the Ministry of Defense. Doctors report positive changes in the condition of the three men.

Avetis Zargaryan and Roland Sahakyan remain in the intensive care department. Avetis, 19, had injured several vertebras and the spinal cord, but is gradually recovering.

Roland Sahakyan has undergone several surgeries.

Hovhannes Poghosyan had suffered a severe craniocerebral injury, brain injury, other multi-injuries. His speaking abilities are gradually recovering after treatment at the Department of Neurosurgery. He can now move his right hand and leg.

Minister of Helath Armen Muradyan visited the servicemen at the hospital today. He talked to the soldiers and discussed the details of their future treatment with the chief of the hospital Aram Asaturyan.

Photo: Getty Images

More than 180 people have been killed in flooding along the Yangtze River in China following torrential rain, officials say, the BBC reports.

Between 10cm and 50cm of rain has fallen in seven provinces, and storms stretching 1,600km  are sweeping across central and southern China.

At least 45 people are missing and 33m have been affected, officials say.

The rain has also washed away railway lines and shut down road networks.

The dead included 23 people who were killed in a mudslide in Guizhou Province and eight who died in the city of Wuhan in Hubei Province when a section of a wall collapsed, state media said.

Heavy rain is forecast to continue until Wednesday across parts of southern and western China, the South China Morning Post reported.

Photo: AP

 

Armenia has condemned the attack in Baghdad, which left more than 200 hundred killed.

“We strongly condemn the horrible Baghdad attack. We stand firmly with Iraq and its people in efforts to eliminate terrorism in all its forms,” the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a Twitter post.

The Upper Lars checkpoint will remain closed until July 10, the Ministry of Emergency Situations reports.

The border crossing point, the only land road that connects Armenia to Russia, has been closed for 10 days now because of landslide caused by flooding.

The vehicles jammed at the checkpoint can continue their way through the ports of Poti and Batumi.

The Terek River still risks flooding, the Ministry said.

A search vessel looking for the remains of victims of the EgyptAir plane that crashed into the Mediterranean in May has recovered all of the mapped bodies from the sea floor, investigators say, the BBC reports.

The Mauritian-based ship John Lethbridge is now sailing to Alexandria in Egypt.

It will later return to the crash site to look for more bodies.

The flight from Paris to Cairo crashed on 19 May, killing all 66 on board. The cause of the crash remains unknown.

A statement by the Egyptian Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee said that the search vessel John Lethbridge “retrieved all the human remains that were mapped at the crash location”.

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Russia Edward Nalbandian and Sergey Lavrov had a meeting on the sidelines of the sitting of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers in

The Ministers referred to issues related to Armenian-Russian allied relations, the process of implementation of the agreements reached between the leaders of the two countries.

The interlocutors discussed the steps towards implementation of the agreements reached at the Vienna and St. Petersburg summits on Nagorno Karabakh.

Edward Nalbandian and Sergey Lavrov exchanged views on the urgent regional and international issues.