Armenia's third President and President of the Armenian Chess Federation Serzh Sargsyan, Vice-President of the Armenian Chess Federation Smbat Lputian and Executive Director of the Armenian Chess Federation Armen Gevorgyan visited the Tigran Petrosyan Chess House-Sports School in Yerevan on Friday.
Their purpose was to observe the ongoing progress of the 84th Armenian Men's and 79th Armenian Women's Chess Championships, the Chess Federation said.
After Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statement that Armenia “needs a new constitution” on Friday, media outlets and social media were quick to recall Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s 2021 interview in which he made a similar remark.
In an interview with Turkish Anadolu Ajansı on 27 September 2021, Aliyev said that "Armenia should change its constitution to abandon territorial claims against Turkey.”
“There are territorial claims against Turkey in the Constitution of Armenia. They should renounce it. They need to work out and adopt a new constitution,” the Azeri leader said.
"How can a weak country like Armenia make a territorial claim against a giant country like Turkey? They should also abandon their claims against Azerbaijan to normalize relations with the country,” he added.
Under the auspices of His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, the Analysis and Awareness Platform (AAP) commenced its two-day conference titled "Armenian World and Recent Regional Events" in Antelias on Friday, January 19. It will extend through Saturday, January 20, the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia reports.
Following a series of online consultations within the AAP, the conference serves as a pivotal platform for in-depth discussions on critical issues about Armenia, Artsakh and regional developments.
In addition to addressing Azerbaijan's historical falsifications, the conference will explore legal avenues for the collective return of indigenous Artsakh Armenians to their homeland, predict regional political developments, outline strategies to release prisoners of war and abducted political and army leaders, and seek international commitments to preserve Artsakh's spiritual and cultural heritage.
A comprehensive message summarizing the key insights and resolutions will be published following the conference.
09:37,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. Twenty-seven people were killed and 25 injured when Ukrainian forces shelled the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, Denis Pushilin, the Russian-appointed head of the Donetsk region, said on Sunday.
Reuters cited Alexei Kulemzin, the city's Russian-installed mayor, as saying that Ukrainian forces bombarded a busy area where shops and a market are located. Pushilin said the city was shelled by Ukrainian artillery.
In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy did not address the attack but said that in a single day, Russia had shelled more than 100 cities, towns and villages in nine regions in Ukraine, and that the attacks in Donetsk region had been "particularly severe."
Ukraine's forces in the Tavria, or southern zone, said in a Facebook post that soldiers under its command were not responsible. "Donetsk is Ukraine!" it said. "Russia will have to answer for taking lives of Ukrainians."
Pushilin said 18 of the injured were hospitalised and seven being treated as outpatients.
In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry called the attack "a barbaric act of terrorism" by Ukraine that was carried out "with the use of weapons supplied by the West".
The governor of the Ukrainian-controlled part of the region, Vadym Filashkin, said Russian attacks killed at least two people at two locations west of the city of Donetsk on Sunday.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned an attack on the city of Donetsk, but refused to pin the blame for the shelling that left at least 27 civilians dead and over two dozen injured, including several children.
The Secretary-General strongly condemns all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including today’s shelling of the city of Donetsk in Ukraine,” the spokesperson for the UN chief said in a brief statement on Sunday night.
“Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international humanitarian law, are unacceptable and must stop immediately,” it added.
13:41,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. Poland's new Prime Minister Donald Tusk arrived in neighboring Ukraine on Monday to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, aiming to strengthen relations after months of political friction between the two wartime allies, Reuters reports.
Tusk's government is exploring how to make more ammunition and military equipment as part of a new aid package for Ukraine, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said last week.
Warsaw has emerged as a key ally for Kyiv as it defends itself against Russia and seeks more financial and military support from Western partners.
Poland has also taken in more than a million Ukrainian refugees.
"There is no more important issue than supporting Ukraine in its war effort – that is number one," said Tusk, who assumed office last month, in comments carried on Polish television.
Relations between the two had deteriorated in recent months amid blockades by Polish truckers at the border, which threatened to dent Ukraine's GDP.
They agreed last week to suspend their protests, which had been aimed at revoking Ukrainian truckers' permit-free access to the European Union, until March 1.
Tusk said his visit was also aimed at "solving problems as quickly as possible".
A video released by his office showed the newly installed leader arriving at Kyiv's main train station in his first trip to Ukraine as prime minister.
Tusk's visit, during which he will also meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Shmyhal, coincides with Ukraine's Unity Day holiday, which celebrates the unification of western and eastern Ukraine in 1919.
10:35,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected conditions presented by Hamas to end the war and release hostages that would include Israel's complete withdrawal and leaving Hamas in power in Gaza, Reuters reports.
As Israeli planes resumed bombing Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters the Israeli leader's refusal to end the military offensive in Gaza "means there is no chance for the return of the (Israeli) captives."
"In exchange for the release of our hostages, Hamas demands the end of the war, the withdrawal of our forces from Gaza, the release of all the murderers and rapists," Netanyahu said in a statement. "And leaving Hamas intact."
"I reject outright the terms of surrender of the monsters of Hamas," Netanyahu said.
Under a deal brokered in late November by the United States, Qatar and Egypt, more than 100 of the estimated 240 hostages taken captive to Gaza during an attack by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 were freed in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Since then, Netanyahu has faced mounting pressure to secure the release the 136 hostages who remain in captivity.
15:29,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday ended his U.S. presidential campaign and endorsed former President Donald Trump, The Washington Post reports.
His exit came just two days before voting in New Hampshire’s primary, where Trump appears to be closing in on another victory that would underscore his unrivaled grip on the GOP.
DeSantis, 45, had seemed to many Republicans like the most viable challenger to Trump after the 2022 midterms, when the governor won reelection by a landslide. But he started to lose ground in polling even before his official campaign launch in May — via a glitchy live chat that neatly embodied the way his grand plans were going awry.
“It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” DeSantis said in a video message he posted Sunday afternoon on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter. “They watched his presidency get stymied by relentless resistance, and they see Democrats using lawfare to this day to attack him.” He acknowledged “disagreements” with Trump — he spent the past year effectively calling Trump self-absorbed and ineffective — but suggested Trump’s remaining GOP rival, Nikki Haley, was worse.
Trump’s campaign said in a statement it was “honored” by DeSantis’s endorsement and said “it is now time for all Republicans to rally behind President Trump” against Biden.
19:26,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. Greek politician Theodoros Roussopoulos was elected as the new Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) President, PACE stated in a post on X.
Rousopoulos is the 35th PACE President since 1949 and the first Greek national to hold the office.
He serves a one-year term, which may be renewed once.
Previously, Theodoros Roussopoulos was Vice-President of Group of the European People's Party and Chairman of the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons.
19:53,
11:16,
YEREVAN, JUNE 22, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan has met with the country’s ambassadors to a number of states to discuss foreign policy issues and the situation in South Caucasus. The gathering was held in Vienna, Austria.
“On January 20-21 in Vienna with participation of Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan, meeting of #Armenia’s Ambassadors accredited in European countries, USA & Canada as well as representatives in int’l organizations took place,” the Foreign Ministry said in a post on X. “FM’s remarks were followed by discussion on current situation in South Caucasus, efforts aimed at establishing stability, peace agenda, challenges as well as prospects for enhancement of ARM bilateral & multilateral agenda. Views were exchanged on int’l & regional topics.”