Six months into Congo’s Ebola outbreak, many cases are likely being missed, transmission in hospitals in some areas is rife and the virus is still spreading out of control, Reuters reported, citing Médecins Sans Frontières.

With the number of confirmed cases now surpassing 11,000, the outbreak — declared in mid-May and caused by the rare Bundibugyo species of the virus, for which there are no approved treatments or vaccines — is the second-worst on record.

Help, however, is not reaching those who need it most, the medical charity said, pointing to untrained and unpaid staff, ambulances without fuel and a lack of surveillance teams and supplies to safely manage suspected cases.

“Despite the vast amounts of money provided for the response, many frontline responders are left trying to contain the outbreak with empty hands and ⁠empty pockets,” Dr. Javid Abdelmoneim, MSF’s international president, said on Thursday.

“Our teams are often left speechless by the dysfunctions they witness in many areas. Six months into the response, this situation is simply unacceptable,” he said.

MSF called on the Congolese government and UN agencies, which include the World Health Organization, to ensure the resources that have been mobilized translate into support on the ground.

At a separate briefing on Wednesday, British epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, who has been working to model the outbreak in real time, said case detection remained a major challenge.

For that reason, he said it was likely transmission would still be ongoing a year from now and the outbreak could outstrip the 2014-2016 West African outbreak — the biggest ever — which saw more than 28,600 cases and killed more than 11,000 people.

His team estimated there are currently between 2,000 and 3,000 Ebola patients in Congo.

Nvidia’s board is meeting to decide whether to oust CEO Jensen Huang, Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the matter, as the world’s dominant supplier of AI chips grapples with reports of two extramarital affairs involving its longtime leader.

The meeting marks a sharp shift from Sunday, when Nvidia’s board expressed confidence in Huang and his leadership team. Under Nvidia’s bylaws, Huang can be removed “with or without cause” by a majority vote of directors. Nvidia has 11 directors and considers all but Huang independent.

Nvidia’s stock slid more than 8% in extended trading after the Wall Street Journal first reported that the company was preparing to fire Huang. If those losses hold, Nvidia will have lost about $600 billion in market value since the board announced its investigation into his relationship with a businesswoman called Alice Huang alleged to be a Chinese spy.

Revelations that US intelligence was probing Alice Huang for facilitating shipments of Nvidia chips to Chinese firms set off a series of events: Wall Street began raising questions about Nvidia’s governance and Jensen Huang’s personal conduct, the company’s ⁠board launched an internal investigation and hired outside counsel, while lawmakers began to push for tighter curbs on chip exports to China.

Huang’s potential departure would leave a leadership vacuum at the roughly $4 trillion chipmaker he co-founded and built over more than three decades to become the top supplier of chips at the center of the global AI boom and US-China technology rivalry.

Huang, 63, has no obvious successor and owns about 3.6% of Nvidia’s stock. He also has dozens of direct reports, underscoring the tight control he maintains over the company.

Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Nvidia’s board has been working with an outside firm to identify potential replacements for Huang, citing a person familiar with the situation.

The New York Times reported that Huang had also had an extramarital affair with a company executive who reported to him. The relationship was with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare, the New York Times said, citing five people who worked at the company.

Political analyst Armen Petrosyan said the trilateral talks between Russia, the United States and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi were an attempt to resume contacts that had been interrupted since the beginning of the year. He said it would be unrealistic to expect the talks to make substantial progress towards resolving the Russia–Ukraine conflict.

Speaking to Armenpress, Petrosyan discussed the trilateral talks in the capital of the United Arab Emirates and what they might mean for the prospects of resolving the conflict.

“The conflict has deepened and its consequences have become so entrenched that we cannot expect significant results from a single round of talks, especially at this level. The most we could have expected was for the parties to reach agreements on humanitarian issues or, at best, to ensure that the talks continue. I do not think it is reasonable to expect more,” Petrosyan said.

He disagreed with the view that the United States stood to benefit most from a settlement, arguing that an end to the conflict would benefit everyone.

“The continuation of the conflict is in no one’s interests, so many actors stand to benefit from its end, including the parties directly involved, the US and the European Union. The question is on what terms the conflict ends. If it ends on terms that run counter to one side’s interests, there will clearly be resistance, as we can see from the positions of Ukraine and the European Union. The EU has already said that negotiations and the settlement process cannot take place without European participation. It is no coincidence that representatives of the EU, the United Kingdom and NATO had an indirect presence at the Abu Dhabi talks and were kept informed of their progress through separate contacts with the Ukrainian side,” he said.

Petrosyan added that the negotiating format concerned both an end to the Russia–Ukraine conflict and Europe’s future security architecture. It was therefore logical, he said, for the EU to take part in the process at some stage.

“Both Russia and the US are currently resisting an expansion of the format, and objectively that is the right approach. At this stage, when the talks are still focused on the principles of a settlement, bringing more parties into the process could make it much less effective,” the analyst said.

Asked about the absence of national leaders from the Abu Dhabi talks, Petrosyan said it would have been naive to expect them to meet in the UAE straight away. In conflicts of this kind, he said, leaders sit down together at the final stage of negotiations, when a document is ready and the parties need to agree the final details and sign it.

“That possibility is still a long way off, and it is hard even to predict whether it could happen in the short term. In conflicts like these, there are usually talks. The problem arises when there is no active channel for negotiations while the conflict continues. Such a channel is needed at least to discuss humanitarian issues, agree a ceasefire in a particular area or find quick solutions to tactical problems. We should not expect these talks to produce results quickly, but keeping them going is very important if we are to achieve even modest, tangible results,” Petrosyan concluded.

Russia, the United States and Ukraine held talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at resolving the Russia–Ukraine conflict. The trilateral meeting also addressed key questions about establishing a new security system in Europe after the conflict.

Participants focused on developing mechanisms to prevent threats and strengthen regional stability.

The Russian delegation was led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, and the Ukrainian delegation by Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service. The United States was represented by presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

The first International Jazz Club Exchange Forum will be held in Yerevan at the AGBU on November 21 at 14:30 under the theme “From Local Scenes to International Networks.”

The forum will bring together international jazz clubs, cultural organizations, international professional networks and diplomatic representatives to discuss opportunities for club exchanges, international artist mobility and the development of long-term partnerships. Participation is open to everyone interested.

The event will introduce JCEP (Jazz Clubs Exchange Platform) in Yerevan, co-founded by Ulikhanyan Jazz Club. The platform enables partner clubs internationally to host each other’s musicians, share professional experience and establish sustainable cross-border cooperation. JCEP aims to expand the international connections of Armenia’s jazz community, promote Armenian jazz worldwide, and provide access to new touring destinations and international funding opportunities.

Among the international guests are Raluca Baicu, a member of the Board of Directors of Europe Jazz Network and music programmer at Rotterdam’s BIRD festival; Benjamin Demelemester, International Project Manager at France’s Centre national de la musique (CNM); and Tona Isidron, Programming and Artist Relations Manager at Dubai’s Jass Lounge, among others.

The forum’s program includes a professional presentation, a panel discussion, live jazz performances and networking opportunities. The Armenian Music Network initiative will present the stages of organizing international artist exchanges, from artists’ readiness and practical and financial obstacles to long-term cooperation that begins with a single concert.

The panel discussion, titled “International Cultural Cooperation,” will focus on the transition from exchanges to tours, visa, travel, logistics and funding issues, as well as opportunities for institutional and diplomatic support.

The forum will take place as part of the inaugural JazzJans festival, which will connect the jazz scenes of Yerevan and Tbilisi from November 19 to 29. Georgian musicians will perform in Yerevan on November 19–22, while Armenian musicians will travel to Tbilisi on November 27–29.

Human Rights Defender of Armenia Anahit Manasyan is on a working visit to Nicosia to participate in the international conference “The Ombudsman Institution in a Changing Democratic and Human Rights Landscape,” marking the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the Ombudsman institution of the Republic of Cyprus.

The conference discussions focus on the evolving role of Ombudsman institutions, the expansion of their mandates, strengthening their independence, ensuring the effective implementation of their recommendations, and enhancing public trust, Manasyan said on Facebook.

Opening addresses were delivered by Maria Stylianou-Lottides, Commissioner for Administration and the Protection of Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Cyprus; Demetris Demetriou, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Institutions, Merit and the Commissioner for Administration (Ombudsman) of Cyprus; and Reinier van Zutphen, President of the European Region of the International Ombudsman Institute and National Ombudsman of the Netherlands.

“I was invited to speak at the first session, “From Complaints to Impact: The Evolving Role of Ombudsman Institutions,” sharing the experience of Armenia’s Human Rights Defender institution and my own experience as Human Rights Defender in bringing about systemic change in the field of human rights. Fellow speakers included Reinier van Zutphen, National Ombudsman of the Netherlands; Joseph Zammit McKeon, Parliamentary Ombudsman of Malta; and Carmit Fenton, Director General of the Office of the Ombudsman within Israel’s Office of the State Comptroller and Ombudsman. I congratulated the Ombudsman of the Republic of Cyprus and her team on the institution’s anniversary, wishing them continued success in protecting and promoting human rights. In my address, I emphasised that recurring complaints concerning the same issue indicate systemic problems. The effectiveness of these institutions therefore cannot be assessed solely by the number of individual cases resolved. It must also be measured by the fundamental changes achieved in addressing systemic problems. In this regard, I noted that, during my tenure, the implementation rate of the Human Rights Defender’s recommendations on systemic issues by public authorities has increased significantly: approximately 70 per cent of the previous year’s systemic recommendations have been fully or partially implemented. I presented examples of systemic changes achieved through the examination of individual complaints. I particularly stressed that criticism by an Ombudsman institution must serve to identify and remedy human rights violations, rather than become an end in itself. The Human Rights Defender must also support public authorities in identifying problems and addressing them through a professional approach,” Manasyan said.

Institutional independence requires freedom from external interference, but does not mean isolation from other institutions. Effective human rights protection requires combining independence with constructive cooperation with all relevant actors, she added.

“We must be principled and courageous enough to raise any issue of concern, while also being flexible enough to negotiate effectively on mechanisms for resolving it,” Manasyan said.

“Addressing the prerequisites for systemic change, I noted that problems cannot be resolved using the same mindset and approaches that gave rise to them. A fundamental shift is also needed in how human rights and the means of protecting them are understood,” the Armenian ombudsperson said.

Armenia’s Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan has moderated a session dedicated to enhancing the effectiveness and independence of Ombudsman institutions, the impact of their recommendations and public trust at the international conference entitled “The Ombudsman Institution in a Changing Democratic and Human Rights Landscape,” held in Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus.

The conference marked the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the Ombudsman institution of the Republic of Cyprus.

“In my opening remarks, I emphasized that the very existence of an Ombudsman institution is of significant importance in a democratic state governed by the rule of law. At the same time, its tangible impact on society depends primarily on its independence and effectiveness. I noted that ensuring independence requires both the institution’s ability to operate autonomously and withstand potential interference, and State guarantees of its independence in law and in practice. Addressing effectiveness, I highlighted the importance of public authorities implementing Ombudsman recommendations and achieving systemic change through them. In this context, I underscored the crucial role of Ombudsman institutions in identifying and addressing systemic problems alongside examining individual complaints. Turning to public trust, I addressed the spread of disinformation and attempts to politicize the work of Ombudsman institutions in polarized and politicized environments. Such challenges call for effective response strategies,” Manasyan said on Facebook.

The panel brought together Armen Avetisyan, Human Rights Officer with the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT); Claudine Konsbruck, Ombudsman of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg; and Tamar Gvaramadze, First Deputy Public Defender of Georgia.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has arrived in Ireland to participate in the 9th summit of the European Political Community in Dublin.

Pashinyan shared a video from Dublin on his Facebook page.

Bilateral meetings between the Prime Minister and his foreign counterparts are also scheduled during the visit.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has described his latest meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as “very positive”.

Pashinyan met with Erdogan on the sidelines of COP31 in Antalya on November 11.

“We had a very positive meeting with President Erdogan, and we have very positive dialogue. We are looking forward to further development in our relations,” Pashinyan told TRT World.

Asked whether he values partnership with Türkiye regarding regional connectivity, Pashinyan said: “Yes, of course, now we need to repair the railway between our countries and open, we are working on that.”

According to the readout of the meeting issued by Pashinyan’s office, the two leaders discussed the process of normalizing Armenia-Türkiye relations and emphasized the importance of advancing this process toward a logical conclusion. In this regard, the parties highlighted the significance of the measures taken and agreements reached thus far, as well as the further promotion of trade and economic relations. The sides also exchanged views regarding regional processes. Nikol Pashinyan and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan highlighted the establishment of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, noting that it has provided a new impetus for the development of regional cooperation. The unblocking of transport and communication links was also discussed, including steps toward implementing the TRIPP project.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal met on the sidelines of the ongoing ninth European Political Community summit in Dublin.

The Armenian prime minister’s office said the two leaders highlighted the close engagement between their countries, noting that high-level contacts had recently become regular. They expressed confidence that this would help develop and expand ties between Armenia and Estonia across various sectors.

Pashinyan and Michal also discussed Armenia’s relations with the European Union and how to deepen them further. They exchanged views on other issues of regional importance.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has commented on the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization process, welcoming the efforts of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to establish peace in the South Caucasus.

“I welcome the efforts made by the leaders of the two countries, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Ilham Aliyev,” Nausėda said at a press briefing on the sidelines of the European Political Community Summit in Dublin.

“I think they have yielded very positive results, and peace has now been established between the two countries. I hope that relations between them will continue to improve in the future. This is very important for the European aspirations of both countries,” the Lithuanian President emphasized.

Addressing relations with Armenia, Nausėda noted that the victory in the parliamentary elections of the political force led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan showed that the Armenian people have chosen the path of peace, prosperity, and a European future.

“Lithuania is a longstanding and close ally of Armenia. We will use our experience and knowledge to support Armenia on its path toward European integration,” Gitanas Nausėda said.