Author: Antranik Varosian

Photo: NASA

 

Astronomers have spotted two huge waves of gas being “burped” by the black hole at the heart of a nearby galaxy, the BBC reports.

The swathes of hot gas, detected in X-ray images from Nasa’s Chandra space telescope, appear to be sweeping cooler hydrogen gas ahead of them.

This vast, rippling belch is taking place in NGC 5194 – a small, neglected sibling of the “Whirlpool Galaxy”, 26 million light years away.

That makes it one of the closest black holes blasting gas in this way.

The findings, presented at the 227th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Florida, are a dramatic example of “feedback” between a supermassive black hole and its host galaxy.

“We think that feedback keeps galaxies from becoming too large,” said Marie Machacek, a co-author of the study from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CFA).

“But at the same time, it can be responsible for how some stars form. This shows that black holes can create, not just destroy.”

US reality TV star Kim Kardashian and her rapper husband Kanye West reportedly plan to baptize their son at the St. James Cathedral in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem in April, according to .

Keeping up with family tradition, Saint West will be the second Kardashian child to undergo Christian ceremony in Israel after North West was  last April.

Saint West, who is a quarter Armenian, was born earlier this month to the celebrity couple.

The announcement of the baptism was first reported in the London-based Daily Mail, citing an unnamed source.

Reports claim that the celebrities and their entourage had initially planned to stay at the new Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem, but supposedly switched to another hotel after their plans were leaked to the public.

An Israeli security firm that specializes in protecting VIPs reportedly was hired for the visit.

Armenian Ambassador Tatul Margaryan had a meeting with the Parliament Speaker of Luxembourg, Mars di Bartolomeo on December 14.

Ambassador Margaryan noted that by adopting a resolution on recognition of the Armenian Genocide on May 6, the Parliament of Luxemburg made a precious contribution to the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the international efforts aimed at preventing genocides.

The Armenian Ambassador referred to Armenia-EU relations and urgent regional issues. He briefed Mars di Bartolomeo on the latest developments in the process of settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

During the meeting the parties exchanged views on the current state of Armenia-Luxembourg relations and the perspectives of their development, the reinforcement of inter-parliamentary relations and the ways of deepening the cooperation within the framework of international organizations.

The parties discussed the steps targeted at the intensification of business ties and the perspectives of expanding cooperation in the field of information technologies and telecommunication.

A stabbing at a Tube station in east London is being treated as a “terrorist incident”, the Met Police has said, the BBC reports.

Police were called to reports of people being attacked at Leytonstone around 19:00 GMT on Saturday. The knifeman reportedly shouted “this is for Syria”.

A man was arrested after being Tasered by police. One man suffered serious knife injuries while two others received minor injuries.

Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism detectives are investigating the case.

Downing Street said it was monitoring the situation closely.

The Met said the suspect was reportedly threatening other people with a knife.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Barack Obama held a meeting on the sidelines of the Paris climate conference that lasted for around 30 minutes, TASS reports.

The meeting, which was held behind the closed doors, had not been planned or discussed beforehand. The presidents used the opportunity of attending the international conference to speak about topical issues in the bilateral format. The two leaders also discussed the situation in Syria and Ukraine.

Putin said after the talks there is understanding between him and US President Barack Obama on future political settlement in Syria.

“In general, I think, there is understanding in what direction we should move [on Syria],” Putin told journalists after his visit to Paris. “If we are talking about the necessity of political settlement, then the new constitution is needed [in Syria], along with new election and monitoring the results,” the Russian president noted.

According to Putin, the world leaders generally hold similar views on the Syrian settlement.

Two Turkish generals and a colonel were detained on Saturday for intercepting Syria-bound trucks that belonged to Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT), the newspaper Today’s Zaman reported.

In January 2014, Ankara Gendarmerie Major-General Ibrahim Aydin, former Adana Gendarmerie Brigadier-General Hamza Celepoglu and former Gendarmerie Criminal Laboratory Head Colonel Burhanettin Cihangiroglu stopped Syrian-bound trucks in southern Turkey after they received information from an anonymous source that the trucks were illegally carrying weapons to militants in Syria.

When the information about the trucks became public, MIT officials and high-ranking Turkish politicians, including President Recep Teyyip Erdogan, who was Prime Minister back then, and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, then the country’s foreign minister, were furious that the gendarmes stopped the trucks and said the Syria-bound trucks were carrying “humanitarian aid” to Turkmen living just south of Turkey, the newspaper said.

“Yes, I’m saying this without any hesitation. That aid was going to the Turkmens. There will be a war next door and we will watch our Turkmen, Arab and Turkish brothers being massacred,” Davutoglu said, as cited by Today’s Zaman.

However, members of opposition parties and some Turkish media said the trucks were indeed transporting weapons to Islamic extremists in Syria.

Away fans have been banned from all football matches in France until mid-December following the Paris attacks, the BBC reports.

On 13 November, 130 people died in attacks across Paris, with three suicide bombs outside the Stade de France where France took on Germany.

French league games went ahead the following weekend without away fans.

The Interior Ministry has extended the ban due to a “lack of police forces available” during the ongoing state of emergency and upcoming Climate Summit.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will visit Tbilisi on November 26, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.

Minister Nalbandian will participate in the non-official meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Eastern Partnership countries.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has called a press conference for later on Monday, with head coach Rafael Benitez under pressure.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has called a press conference for later on Monday, at which he is expected to address the fall-out from the Clasico thrashing at the hands of Barcelona on Saturday.

Madrid were hopelessly outplayed by Luis Enrique’s men at the Santiago Bernabeu, Barca cruising to an impressive 4-0 win thanks to two goals from Luis Suarez and further strikes from Neymar and Andres Iniesta.

The home fans were quick to display their dissatisfaction by booing and waving white handkerchiefs, cranking up the pressure on head coach Rafael Benitez.

The former Liverpool boss came into the game already under pressure after suggestions he had lost the support of senior players inside the Madrid dressing room.

Armenia’s central bank said on Tuesday it had cut its key refinancing rate to 9.75 percent from 10.25 percent.

Annual inflation in the South Caucasus country was at 1.9 percent in October, down from 3.3 percent in September, according to central bank data.

The government forecasts annual inflation in a range of 2.5-5.5 percent in 2015, the same as last year’s target.