Photo: SPL
Researchers say they have found the first clear evidence that the thinning in the ozone layer above Antarctica is starting to heal, the BBC reports.
The scientists said that in September 2015 the hole was around 4 million sq km smaller than it was in the year 2000 – an area roughly the size of India.
The gains have been credited to the long term phasing out of ozone-destroying chemicals.
The study also sheds new light on the role of volcanoes in making the problem worse.
Ryan Giggs has ended his 29-year stay at Manchester United by agreeing a settlement with the Old Trafford club, the reports.
United are expected to release an official statement in the coming days.
Giggs, 42, had a year remaining on his contract as assistant manager but new boss Jose Mourinho intends to fill that role with long-time friend Rui Faria.
Unable to reach agreement over another role at the Premier League club, Giggs, who made a record 963 appearances for United, has decided to move on.
Cardiff-born Giggs has passed all his coaching badges and has never made any secret of his desire to move into management.
Giggs was also disappointed to be overlooked in favour of former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss Mourinho, whose appointment was confirmed in May.
Giggs joined the United academy on his 14th birthday, turning professional aged 17 in November 1990 and making his first-team debut against Everton on 2 March, 1991.
Portugal are the first team into the Euro 2016 semi-finals after a penalty shoot-out win over Poland in Marseille, with the game ending 1-1 after extra-time, Reuters reports.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lewandowski scored the opening spot-kicks for each side and Portugal were leading 4-3 when Jakub Blaszczykowski saw his spot-kick pushed around the post.
That left it to Ricardo Quaresma to send Portugal into the last four, where they will face Wales or Belgium, and he found the roof of the net in style.
Robert Lewandowski notched his first goal of the tournament after less than two minutes to put Poland in front, converting smartly from Kamil Grosicki’s cut-back from the left.
However, his new Bayern Munich team-mate Renato Sanches, handed his first international start at the age of 18, pulled Portugal back level on 32 minutes when a deflection helped his rifled effort find the corner of the net.
Ronaldo missed a golden opportunity with five minutes remaining when he swung and missed a lovely lofted ball over the top from Joao Moutinho, ensuring the match would go into extra time.
The Public Television Company of Armenia has officially confirmed its participation in Eurovision Song Contest 2017. This time the artist will be chosen through a new, groundbreaking television project called “Depi Evratesil” (To Eurovision).
Through a three-month-long music competition Armenia’s previous entrants at Eurovision will search for their successor.
“If you are Armenian or of an Armenian heritage, aged 16 and older, if you think you have something to show to the world and if you’ve ever dreamed of rocking that big stage of Eurovision, then it’s your time to shine!” Public TV said in a statement.
The call for applications starts on July 6th. To register for the auditions, fill in and submit the online application at before 23:59 (Yerevan time), August 25th.
The winner will get a chance to represent Armenia at Eurovision Song Contest 2017.
US President Barack Obama has said the UK vote to leave the EU raises “longer-term concerns about global growth,” the reports.
He said Brexit would “freeze the possibilities of investment in Great Britain or in Europe as a whole”.
He appealed to the UK prime minister and other EU leaders to ensure an orderly process for the British exit.
Mr Obama was speaking at a summit in Ottawa with the leaders of Canada and Mexico, aimed at strengthening economic ties between North American countries.
He said the preparations by central banks and finance ministers indicated that “global economy in the short run will hold steady”.
But he added: “I think there are some genuine longer-term concerns about global growth if in fact Brexit goes through and that freezes the possibilities of investment in Great Britain or in Europe as a whole.
“At a time when global growth rates were weak already, this doesn’t help,” the president said.a
Photo: AP
Taliban bombers have attacked an Afghan police convoy outside the capital Kabul, killing at least 30 people and wounding 50 others, officials say, the BBC reports.
Two bombs hit a convoy of buses carrying graduates from a ceremony on the city’s western outskirts.
Paghman District Governor Musa Khan told the BBC that all but two of the dead were police cadets.
The bombing was claimed by the Taliban and follows an attack on a bus just over a week ago that killed 14 people.
During a special audience for jubilee pilgrims at St Peter’s Square in Rome today Pope Francis reflected on his recent journey to Armenia.
“This past weekend I made a pastoral visit to Armenia, the first nation to embrace the Christian faith and a people which has remained faithful even in the midst of great trials,” he said.
“I also plan to go to Georgia and Azerbaijan in the near future, to encourage peace and reconciliation in a spirit of respect for all.”
“With gratitude for the welcome and fellowship showed me by the Armenian Apostolic Church, I ask the Virgin Mary to strengthen Christians everywhere to remain firm in the faith and to work for a society of ever greater justice and peace,” he concluded.
On 30 June Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan had a meeting in Yerevan with OSCEChairman-in-Office, German minister for foreign affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Issues relating to the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict resolution and regional processes were on the discussion agenda.
President Sahakyan noted that the official Stepanakert remained adhered to the peaceful settlement of the conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, underlining the imperative of restoring the full-fledged negotiation format with the direct participation of Artsakh.
Bako Sahakyan highlighted elaborating and introducing mechanisms for investigating incidents of the ceasefire violation in the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict zone, which would foster maintaining peace and stability in the region and exert a constructive influence on the further pace of the negotiation process.
NKR foreign minister Karen Mirzoyan, personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk and other officials partook in the meeting.
Lusine Avanesyan
Public Radio of Armenia
Stepanakert
“It’s time for the Nagorno Karabakh to return to the negotiating table and represent its interests as an independent state,” former US Ambassador to Armenia John Evans told reporters in Stepanakert.
Mr. Evans is visiting Nagorno Karabakh with the delegation of the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF).
“I think that Nagorno Karabakh should participate in the negotiation process,” the ex-Ambassador said, reminding that Nagorno Karabakh was a party to the 1994 ceasefire agreement.
Asked about the negotiation process, John Evans said: “I do not participate in the process directly, but I respect the activity of US Ambassador James Warlick and the other Co-Chairs.”
He hailed the activity of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, noting that “he always stresses the need to solve the issue in a peaceful way.
John Evans is the Adviser to the COAF Board of Directors. “Together with COAF Chairman Dr. Garo Armen we are ready to help the people of Artsakh, because they have been experiencing difficulties with the whole Armenian nation for more than a century now. We know there have been tragedies. The latest events have further strengthened the people, but we are confident we can achieve even more together. I mean the humanitarian programs,” he said.
The ex-Ambassador has already been blacklisted by Baku for his visit to Nagorno Karabakh.