Category: News

Supporters at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar could be housed in traditional Bedouin-style desert camps, the BBC reports.

Some of the 500,000 fans expected in the Gulf nation might be accommodated under canvas near stadiums.

“At the heart of this World Cup is a commitment to showcase hospitality and friendship of the Middle East,” said a spokesman.

“As a result, we are actively researching the concept of supporters sleeping under the stars.”

Bedouin campsites are inspired by the homes of tribes that have historically lived in the Arabian and Syrian deserts.

The tournament has already been moved from its traditional June-July slot to December over concerns about high temperatures.

Photo: Valeriy Matytsin/TASS    

Flights have resumed from Rostov-on-Don’s airport for the first time since Saturday’s crash of the FlyDubai’s Boeing 737-800.

Two Donavia flights have taken off from the airport, the company’s press secretary Inna Churliayeva told TASS on Monday adding that the two planes were bound for Russia’s St. Petersburg and Armenia’s Yerevan respectively.

A FlyDubai’s Boeing 737-800 crashed at Rostov-on-Don’s airport in the small hours on March 19 during a second attempt to land in complicated weather conditions of strong side wind and rain. The plane served regular Flight FZ 981 from Dubai. The passenger jet capable of carrying 189 passengers had 62 people aboard, including the crew. No one has survived.

 

 

 

 

Only mountains can be better than mountains, famous Tbilisi-based Armenian mountaineer Lev Sarkisov says.

Lev Sarkisov first discovered his love for mountains, when working at the Tbilisi Aviation Factory.  A group of mountain climbers there was organizing periodic expeditions. In 1962 the group decided to climb Kazbek, the highest peak of the Caucasus Mountains.

Sarkisov later joined the mountaineer group of the Armed Forces and worked as coach for a long time.

Sarkisov is one of the few Armenians to have climbed Everest – the highest peak in the world. In 1999 he was recognized by the Guinness book of world records as the oldest mountaineer to conquer the highest peak.

He climbed Mount Ararat four times and took the Armenian tricolor to the peak. “Taking the Armenian flag was a great risk. I could be arrested had the flag been found in my rucksack. I bought fabric of three colors at a  store in Bayazet and sew the flag at the hotel,” he said.

In 1999 Georgian President Edward Shevarnadze awarded him with an Order of Honor. He’s also the recipient of Snow Leopard award, a Soviet mountaineering award, given to climbers conquering all five peaks of 7,000m and above located in the former USSR.

Even at 70, Lev Sarkisov is ready to take the road to mountains.

Ethnic Armenian soldier Gevorg Mkrtchyan was killed in clashes between the Syrian Army and the Islamic State, reports, quoting its sources in Aleppo.

Terrorist groups violated the ceasefire regime in Aleppo, opening fire in the Sheikh Maqsud neighborhood, leaving four killed and 7 wounded.

“The Armenian Chess Federation is among the most active ones in the world, and can serve an example for many others,” FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has said, speaking within the framework of the Candidates Tournament in Moscow.

“Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and his team are doing a lot for the popularization of chess, and it’s no coincidence that Armenia has been crowned Olympic Champion thrice,” Ilyumzhinov said.

“Armenia is doing a targeted work to bring up professional chess players,” FIDE President said. He reminded that “Armenia was the first country to introduce chess as compulsory discipline in schools.”

Tensions were high at the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan over the weekend despite the agreement between the parties to refrain from escalating the situation.

The rival fired more than 2,400 shots from weapons of different caliber in the direction of the Armenian positions over the weekend, the NKR Ministry of Defense reports.

The Azerbaijani side used artillery weapons of different caliber, as well as 60 and 82 mm mortars in the southern, southeastern and northern directions of the line of contact.

The NKR Ministry of Defense said in a statement the Defense Army keeps control of the situation all along the line of contact, simultaneously trying to prevent any provocative action by the rival.

Photo: AP

 

At least 14 people have been killed after a bus carrying foreign exchange students crashed on a motorway between the cities of Barcelona and Valencia, the BBC reports.

Most of the 57 people on board the bus were students on the Erasmus programme who were returning to Barcelona after a trip to a fireworks festival.

Photographs from the scene show a white roofed coach lying on its side, surrounded by emergency vehicles.

The accident occurred near Freginals, some 150km south of Barcelona.

Pope Francis joined Instagram on Saturday.  

Within an hour of signing up to the photo-sharing app he had gained 10,000 followers. The number has already exceeded 1.2 million.

Not bad for someone who has only posted two photos so far but there are an estimated 1.2 billion Roman Catholics in the world.

He is using the name @Franciscus, Latin for Francis.

Pray for me Rezad por mí Pregate per me صلوا من أجلي Priez pour moi Módlcie się za mnie Rezem por mim Betet für mich Orate pro me

Photo published by Pope Francis (@franciscus)Mar 19 2016 at 4:24 am PDT

The first photo wasn’t a selfie, it was a picture showing Pope Francis kneeling with his head bowed in prayer.

The accompanying caption reads “Pray for me” and is repeated in eight other languages.

The account won’t be maintained by Pope Francis himself – other people within the Vatican will be responsible for the content.

The Pope is no stranger to social media, he already has a Twitter account using the handle @Pontifex.

He used that to announce his presence on Instagram.

An ethnic Armenian has been injured in Istanbul blast today. Oksan Khachanyan, 40, was at his workplace, when the bomb blast occurred in the city’s shopping area, editor-in-chief of teh Istanbul based Armenian Jamanak daily Ara Gochunyan told Public Radio of Armenia.

A suicide bomb attack killed at least four people, officials say. Another 36 were injured – 12 foreign nationals – as the bomb went off near a government building on Istiklal Street.

No-one has admitted carrying out the attack, the latest to target Turkey in recent months.

The Turkish government has blamed Kurdish militants for previous attacks and has retaliated against them.