Author: Garo Vardanian

Photo: Reuters

The governor of the southern Yemeni city of Aden has been killed in a large explosion, security sources say, the BBC reports.

A convoy carrying Jaafar Mohammed Saad was hit in the Tawahi area of the port city.

Houthi rebels based in northern Yemen have seized much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

Earlier this year Aden was recaptured by government troops backed by a Saudi-led coalition.

Security sources said several members of Mr Saad’s entourage also died in the attack.

Armenia and Greece have signed the 2016 military cooperation plan.

Within the framework of military cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and the Hellenic Republic the delegation headed Levon Ayvazyan, Head of the Defense Policy Department of the Ministry of Defense, paid a visit to Athens on November 30.

As part of the visit he had meetings with Rear Admiral Ioannis Pavlopoulos and Brigade General Miltiadis Grilakis.

Issues related to the development and deepening of military cooperation were discussed. Reference was made to the situation in the region and other issues of reciprocal interest.

Photo: Reuters

Prosecutors in Brazil have requested the indictment of former international football player Edilson for involvement in a lottery fraud scheme, the BBC reports.

Edilson, 45, played in Brazil’s 2002 World Cup winning squad and for some of the country’s top clubs.

Investigators say he used his fame and prestige to persuade bank managers to cooperate with the scheme.

The gang produced false winning lottery tickets, which were validated by the managers.

The prize money was then paid into accounts set up by the gang.

AP Photo/ Alexander Kots

The Syrian Army has managed to regain control of the Christian villages of Mheen and Hawwarin, located in southeastern Homs province, a source in the Syrian military told RIA Novosti.

“The army has regained control over the Christian villages of Mheen and Hawwarin in the southeastern part of Homs province. Scores of terrorists were killed,” source said.

The village of Mheen was seized by Islamic State militants on November 1. The attack on the settlement, populated mostly by Christians, was supported by Islamic radicals from the region. Christians from the neighboring village of Sadad fled, fearing for their lives.

At the moment, the ISIL militants still maintain their hold over the settlement of Al Quaryatayn.

President Serzh Sargsyan has sent a telegram of condolences to his French counterpart Francois Hollande over the terrorist attacks in Paris last night.

“Honorary Mr. President,

I’m deeply shocked by the news of this unprecedented act of terrorism in Paris.

I strongly condemn these nasty actions, which claimed the lives of a dozens of innocent people.

The growth of such inhumane acts of violence in different countries of the world is worrisome.

I’m confident that every member of the civilized international community will join the struggle against this evil.

We cannot allow violence, extremism and intolerance to dominate. We have to join efforts to reveal and eradicate all factors that cause such horrifying expressions of radicalism.

At this hard moment, Armenia stands by France and is ready to provide every support.

Mr. President, I offer my deep condolences to you, the friendly people of France and the relatives of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.

Our prayers, hearts and souls are with the people of France.”

A powerful earthquake has struck northern Afghanistan, with tremors felt in Pakistan and northern India, the BBC reports.

At least 40 people are said to have been killed in Pakistan, with about 20 deaths reported in Afghanistan.

The magnitude 7.5 quake was centred in the mountainous Hindu Kush region, 75km (46 miles) south of Faizabad, the US Geological Survey reported.

Buildings were evacuated in the capitals of all three countries and communications disrupted in many areas.

In the Afghan province of Takhar, a stampede at a girls’ school triggered by the quake is reported to have left 12 students dead. Another 25 students were injured.

Five people died in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, hospital sources said.

Most of the casualties in Pakistan are reported to have happened in the northern tribal areas.

Officials said the quake happened at a depth of 212km. The magnitude was initially put at 7.7 but later downgraded.

Azerbaijan’s claims to Nagorno Karabakh are void of any historic, legal, political or moral ground, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said at the Third Forum of International Forum of MGIMO (Moscow State Institute of International Relations) Graduates.

“The people of Nagorno Karabakh are struggling for their indisputable right for self-determination, a right enshrined in the UN Charter and other founding documents of international law,” the President said.

“Nagorno Karabakh has proven its right to exist through a persistent centuries-long struggle. Nagorno Karabakh has never been part of independent Azerbaijan,” he added.

“A new formation called Azerbaijan appeared on the political map of the South Caucasus after the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1918. Therefore, the claims that Nagorno Karabakh belonged to Azerbaijan before 1918 are absolutely improper, since the state never existed before. The League of Nations turned down newly-formed Azerbaijan’s bid for membership because of the uncertainty of its borders. Azerbaijanis tried to annex Karabakh by force. Between 1918 and 1920 the Azerbaijani military units committed a massacre of the Armenian population. Over 40 thousand Armenians were killed or deported from Shushi, the regional cultural center, only in March 1920. This terrible massacre left a deep and bleeding wound,” the Armenian President said.

President Sargsyan added that at the moment of collapse of the Soviet Union, there were two independent and equal subjects formed on the territory of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan – the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and the Republic of Azerbaijan.”

“Azerbaijan, which had a second chance to create an independent state, repeated the attempt of 1918, launching an aggression against Nagorno Karabakh, shelling peaceful cities and villages, killing and deporting Armenians,” he said.

The President reminded that the negotiations on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict are being held within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group – the only body authorized with an international mandate. He noted, however, that Azerbaijan constantly turns down any proposal on the resolution of the conflict and the confidence-building measures.

Bu inciting tensions at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan not only violates the international commitments to refuse from the use of forces or the threat of use of force enshrined in the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act and the Declaration on Principles of International Law, but also the commitments assumed under a trilateral ceasefire agreement, ignoring the numerous calls of the heads of state of the Minsk Group co-chairing countries.

To conclude with, Serzh Sargsyan reiterated Armenia’s commitment to solve the Karabakh conflict exceptionally in a peaceful way.

Armenia will join the world on October 24 to mark the 70^th anniversary of the United Nations.

Zvartnots Cathedral will be lit in blue from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Some 250 sites around the world will be lit in ‘UN blue’ beginning on Friday as part of the global celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the United Nations.

The celebration will kick off in New Zealand and from there a wave of blue – the official colour of the UN – will move across countries and continents as monuments around the world take part in the event to commemorate UN Day, October 24.

The Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force of the UN Charter. With the ratification of this founding document by the majority of its signatories, including the five permanent members of the Security Council, the Organization officially came into being.

Among the famous landmarks taking part in the ‘Turn the World UN Blue’ campaign will be the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, the Great Wall of China, Russia’s Hermitage Museum, and the ancient city of Petra in Jordan.

The 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded for discoveries in DNA repair, the BBC reports.

Tomas Lindahl and Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar were named as the winners on Wednesday morning at a news conference in Stockholm, Sweden.

Their work uncovered the mechanisms used by cells to repair damaged DNA – a fundamental process in living cells.

The prize money of eight million Swedish kronor ($970,000) will be shared among the winners.