Author: Alex Nanijanian

Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for AFI

ABC News – Cher has been out of the spotlight lately, but she’s doing good work behind the scenes.  The singer and actress is teaming up with Icelandic Glacial spring water to donate more than 181 thousand bottles of water to the residents of Flint, Michigan.

President Obama has declared a federal emergency in the city, where the residents haven’t had clean water to drink since 2014.  In April of that year, the city started drawing its water from the Flint River, rather than from Detroit.  The water has since been linked to a number of serious illnesses, and this past September, a group of doctors urged the city to stop using the Flint River after finding high levels of lead in the blood of children.

Cher, who’d been following the story and has been critical of Michigan’s lack of response, reached out to a friend who is an investor in Icelandic Glacial.  The company committed to doubling Cher’s purchase, and the water — 181,440 bottles — will arrive at the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan on Wednesday.  It will be distributed to community centers, food banks and fire houses in low-income housing areas.

Calling the situation “a tragedy of staggering proportion,” Cher said in a statement that it’s “shocking that it’s happening in the middle of our country.”

She adds, “I cannot wait for the water to get there to help these people who have been poisoned because the water they’ve been getting out of their taps has been polluted for so long and remains that way without the state or the federal government stepping in with any substantial plan to resolve this problem.”

The diva on Twitter that she feels a personal connection to Michigan because her former husband and musical partner, the late Sonny Bono, was born in that state.

Armenia has welcomed the lifting of sanctions against iran.

“We welcome the start of implementation of‪ ‎Iran deal‬ and lift of Iran sanctions.” Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said in a statement.

“‎Armenia‬ is keen to deepen its mutually beneficial cooperation with friendly ‪‎Iran,” Minister Nalbandian added.

The US calls on the parties to the Karabakh conflict to take all steps to avoid violence and to improve the atmosphere for negotiations, Spokesperson for the Department of State John Kirby told a daily press briefing.

“We express our deep condolences to the families of those who died or were injured in recent incidents in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The recent escalation of violence and the use of heavy weapons are unacceptable and we call for the sides to strictly adhere to the ceasefire regimen,” he said.

We also remind the sides that these attacks do not conform to the commitment by the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict peacefully. Later this month the OSCE Minsk group co-chairs will hold the next presidential summit between the presidents. We call on the sides to take all steps to avoid violence and to improve the atmosphere for negotiations to take place in good faith at the summit,” John Kirby added.

Asked whether the tensions between Turkey and Russia might have contributed to the escalation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Spokesman said: “We’re concerned about the escalation itself and not necessarily the source. Obviously, in both cases we want to see tensions de-escalated and for cool heads to prevail. But rather than do a cause and effect, let me just state we’re – as I said, we’re concerned about this violence and we are certainly – continue to monitor and watch the relations between Turkey and Russia, particularly over the shootdown a couple weeks ago. We want to see the tensions de-escalate.”

Companies from Turkey, China and Taiwan are to be strongly represented at InnoTrans 2016, which will also include exhibitors from Armenia and Vietnam for the first time, reports.

Armenian company Thermorex specialises in manufacturing of bimetal thermostats and temperature limiters, while Vietnamese firm Petech will present its wastewater and toilet systems.

More than 90% of the exhibition space at InnoTrans 2016 has now been booked ahead of the January 7 deadline, and over 200 companies will be exhibiting at InnoTrans for the first time.

InnoTrans 2016 will be held at the Messe Berlin exhibition centre from September 20 to 23 2016.

Five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant, widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players in history, will retire at the end of the season, the BBC reports.

Bryant has scored 32,683 points during a 20-year career with the LA Lakers torank third on the NBA’s all-time list.

The two-time Olympic gold medallist, 37, has been hindered by injuries in recent seasons and been below his best this year for the struggling Lakers.

He told the Players’ Tribune: “My body knows it’s time to say goodbye.”

Photo: Mikhail Metzel/TASS

French President Francois Hollande told Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Thursday world powers must create a “grand coalition” to combat Islamic State militants who control swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, Reuters reports.

Hollande is on a diplomatic offensive to build a common front against the militant Islamist group that has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Paris on Nov. 13 that killed 130 people.

Islamic State has also said it downed a Russian plane on Oct. 31 over the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, killing all 224 people on board.

“Our enemy is Islamic State, it has territory, an army and resources, so we must create this large coalition to hit these terrorists,” Hollande said in televised remarks at the start of bilateral talks with the Russian leader in the Kremlin.

“I’m in Moscow with you to see how we can act together and coordinate so that we can strike this terrorist group, but also reach a solution for peace,” Hollande said.

Putin said Moscow was ready to unite with Paris against a “mutual enemy” following the downing of the Russian airliner and the attacks in Paris.

“You’re paying big attention and putting a lot of efforts into the emergence of a broad antiterrorist coalition,” he said at the start of his emergency summit with Hollande in the Kremlin, according to TASS.

“What’s more, we think this coalition is absolutely necessary and that’s where our positions are the same,” Putin said.

AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin called the downing of an Su-24 fighter jet in Syria a stab in the back at a meeting with the King of Jordan Abdullah II in Sochi, Sputnik News reports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and UK Prime Minister David Cameron have said during a meeting in Antalya that it is necessary to fight against terrorism together, TASS reports.

“The recent tragic events in France show that we need to — and we should have done that a long time ago — join forces in the fight against this evil,” Putin said during his meeting with Cameron in Antalya, Turkey, during the G20 summit.

For his part, the UK prime minister expressed condolences on the crash of the Russian plane in Egypt. Cameron noted that the meeting was held after the tragic events in Paris, reiterating the need to work together to counter terrorism. He voiced confidence that it would be possible to discuss Syria during the meeting as well.

He voiced confidence that it would be possible to discuss Syria during the meeting as well. The Russian leader also thanked Cameron for the information provided by Britain.

Relations between Russia and the UK are not at their best, it is necessary to analyze cooperation and outline specific plans for the future, Putin said. “As far as bilateral relations are concerned, they are not at their best, but there is some upturn, including through the intergovernmental commission,” Putin said.

He added that, in general, a good mechanism of cooperation in various areas had been created.

“I think there is a need to analyze what has been done previously, look into the future and outline specific development plans,” the president said.

US forces have carried out an air strike targeting the Islamic State group militant “Jihadi John”, with a “high degree of certainty” he was hit, the BBC reports.

Mohammed Emwazi, the Kuwaiti-born British militant, appeared in videos of the beheadings of Western hostages.

It is believed there was at least one other person in the vehicle targeted in the attack near Raqqa, in Syria.

The UK government said it was “working hand in glove with the Americans” to “hunt down those murdering hostages”.

A US official told the BBC Emwazi had been “tracked carefully over a period of time”.

Another senior military source said there was a “high degree of certainty” he had been killed, while another source said: “It was a great hit.”

A formal statement from the Pentagon stopped short of asserting that Emwazi had definitely been killed, adding that it was assessing the operation.

Prime Minister David Cameron is due to make a statement later on Friday.

“The prime minister has said before that tracking down these brutal murderers was a top priority,” a spokesperson said.