Author: Emma Nadirian

Countries participating in the first Semi-Final of Eurovision Song Contest 2016 had their first dress rehearsal in a full run through of the show at the Globe arena in Stockholm.

 

The Islamic State (ISIS) group carried out rare attacks in Iraq‘s deep Shiite south Sunday, May 1, killing at least 33 people with twin suicide car bomb blasts in the city of Samawa, AFP reports.

“The hospitals have received 33 dead,” a senior official in the Muthanna health department, which covers Samawa, told AFP. An officer in Muthanna Operations Command confirmed the toll.

They said at least 50 people were also wounded in the blasts in Samawa, 230 kilometers (145 miles) south of Baghdad.

“Two car bombs went off in town. The first one was at around midday near a bus station in the city centre,” a senior police officer in Muthanna province said.

“The other exploded about 5 minutes later, 400 metres from the spot of the first explosion,” he said.

ISIS issued a statement later on social media claiming two suicide attackers detonated their car bombs against members of the security forces.

Photo: Reuters

 

Oil prices tumbled on Monday after a meeting by major exporters in Qatar collapsed without an agreement to freeze output, leaving the credibility of the OPEC producer cartel in tatters and the world awash with unwanted fuel, Reuters reports.

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran were blamed for the failure, which revived industry fears that major government-controlled producers will increase their battle for market share by offering ever-steeper discounts.

“OPEC’s credibility to coordinate output is now very low,” said Peter Lee of BMI Research, a unit of rating agency Fitch. “This isn’t just about oil for the Saudis. It’s as much about regional politics.”

Morgan Stanley said that the failed deal “underscores the poor state of OPEC relations,” adding that “we now see a growing risk of higher OPEC supply,” especially as Saudi Arabia threatened it could hike output following the failed deal.

Oil prices have fallen by as much as 70 percent since mid-2014 as producers have pumped 1 to 2 million barrels of crude every day in excess of demand, leaving storage tanks around the world filled to the rims with unsold fuel.

Sunday’s meeting in Qatar’s capital Doha had been expected to finalize a deal to freeze output at January levels until October 2016 in an attempt to slow that ballooning oversupply.

But the agreement fell apart after top exporter Saudi Arabia demanded that Iran, which was not represented, should also sign up.

refers to George Clooney’s upcomng viti to Armenia, where he will present a $1 million humanitarian prize designed to highlight – and help – the cause of people challenging genocide worldwide.

Clooney, who will travel to Armenian capital Yerevan next month to make the award accompanied by his wife, prominent British-Lebanese human rights lawyer, Amal Clooney, is a co-chair of the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity. The main prize – which will also give $100,000 to one of four finalists chosen for their courage in saving lives in the face of human hatred – will be awarded to the charity of organization that inspired the struggle against genocide.

Clooney, known for his Not On Our Watch project to eliminate genocide – and a highly publicized visit to Sudan in 2014 – has teamed up with 100 Lives, an initiative set up by Armenian businessmen and philanthropists Vartan Gregorian, Rubebn Vardanyan and Noubar Afeyan to commemorate those who helped Armenians during the Armenian Genocide that began in 1915 and to “continue in their spirit by supporting people and organizations that keep the legacy of gratitude alive.”

Amal Clooney is also separately involved as patron of a scholarship in her name that will each year send one female student from Lebanon to an international baccalaureate program at a college in Armenia.

The Yerevan visit – which includes a global forum on genocide, a visit to Yerevan’s Armenian Genocide Museum and lunch with the Armenian prime minister – concludes with the prize award ceremony on Sunday April 24.

The four finalists for the prize are an orphanage founder in the central African state of Burundi who stood up against a bloodthirsty mob; the only doctor serving 500,000 people in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains; a Pakistani champion for indentured laborers; and a Roman Catholic priest who saved more than 1,000 Muslims from fatal persecution in the Central African Republic.

Clooney will be joined by other members of the prize selection committee that include Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor, Eli Wiesel; former Irish president and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson and former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans.

Mino Raiola’s visit to Juventus was to discuss Moise Kean’s contract and Borussia Dortmund’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan,  reports.

The agent appeared in Turin yesterday, leading to a flurry of speculation that he was there to talk about a number of his clients including Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

However, Gazzetta dello Sport today reports that the two players at the centre of the discussion were youngster Moises Kean and Dortmund playmaker Mkhitaryan.

The latter is a long-time target of the Bianconeri and the outlet believes Raiola told Juve sporting director Fabio Paratici that the Armenian is willing to move to Italy.

The Old Lady underlined their interest in the attacking midfielder but the problem remains Dortmund, who consider him indispensable.

The suspected hijacker of an EgyptAir airliner surrendered to authorities on Tuesday, Cyprus’s state broadcaster said.

The hijacker emerged from the aircraft with his hands in the air, state TV said.

The Cypriot foreign affairs ministry said the crisis has ended with the arrest of the alleged hijacker.

Its over. The arrested. # Egyptair

— Cyprus MFA (@CyprusMFA)

“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.”

An explosion at a major tourist shopping area in the Turkish city of Istanbul has injured a number of people, Turkish media say.

According to the Hurriyet Daily News, two people were killed and seven others were injured, on the busy İstiklal Avenue in Taksim.

The attack happened on Balo Street near the Demirören Mall and one of the killed was the attacker.

The pedestrian street was completely sealed off and police officers and ambulances were deployed to the area.

 

 

 

The National Assembly voted 103 to 0 (with one abstention) today to adopt amendments to RA Law on Value Added Tax at third reading.

Under the bill, the government refuses from charging VAT for cars imported from the Eurasian Economic Union.

The offer will apply to physical entities only and will work in accordance with the “one person – one car” method.

American celebrity Kim Kardashian-West shared the second photo of her son with hip-hop mogul Kanye West on social media, Saturday (March 12, 2016), whom she referred to as the “sun” in her morning.

Kim first gave her followers a look at her youngest child last February 22, wherein baby Saint West can be seen sleeping soundly in a white onesie. In the latest photo of her son, Saint West can be seen with opened eyes.

“You’re the sun in my morning babe,” captioned Kim in her Instagram post which has immediately garnered millions of likes.

The 35-year-old television personality gave birth to Saint West last December 5, 2015. Saint is her second child with 38-year-old Kanye, following North West who is now two years old.