Author: John Hovhannisian

A Libyan passenger plane with 118 people on board has been forced to land in Malta in what the Maltese prime minister called a “potential hijack situation,” the BBC reports.

The Airbus A320 was flying inside Libya for airline Afriqiyah Airways when it was diverted, local media report.

There were two hijackers involved, who threatened to bomb the plane, according to initial reports.

Maltese PM Joseph Muscat said security operations were standing by.

US business magazine Forbes named Wednesday Russian President Vladimir Putin the most influential person in the world for the fourth time in a row, Sputnik reports.

The magazine also included US President-elect Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the list of The World’s Most Powerful People, granting them the second and the third places, respectively.

“For the fourth consecutive year, Forbes ranked Russian President Vladimir Putin as the world’s most powerful person. From the motherland to Syria to the U.S. presidential elections, Russia’s leader continues to get what he wants,” the magazine said.

The magazine ranks global state leaders, capitalists, philanthropists and entrepreneurs along four criteria. The magazine editors assess the extent and use of the person’s political power, influence and financial resources.

The Council of Europe’s constitutional law experts, the Venice Commission, at its latest session on 9-10 December, have adopted the .

“The draft constitutional law, like the previous draft law on the Human Rights Defender, largely complies with European and international standards, is detailed, well-structured and deals with most of the major issues that a law on the Ombudsman should regulate. It has taken most of the recommendations made by the Venice Commission in its previous opinions into account,” the Venice Commission concluded.

Nevertheless, the Commission said there are a number of important recommendations it would like to make and these include, inter alia:

– Candidates: providing for a transparent competitive selection of the Human Rights Defender, include proposals from civil society and from political parties in order to enable the selection of highly qualified candidates so as to provide legitimacy to the process;

– Functional Immunity: including express provisions on the functional immunity of the Defender, Defender’s staff and experts of the NPM for words spoken or written, recommendations, decisions and other acts undertaken in good faith while performing their functions.

– The Human Rights Defender as the National Prevention Mechanism should: ·

* Have access to all private and public institutions where persons are held against their will, including “semi-closed” institutions; ·

* Guarantee the institutional participation of NGOs in its work.

Other recommendations include:

– Budget: Consider introducing safeguards against unwarranted cutbacks to improve the Defender’s functional independence;

– Grounds for dismissal: a disqualifying conviction should, as grounds for dismissal due to criminal offences or other acts incompatible with the position of Defender, exclude minor convictions (e.g. minor traffic offences);

– Pluralism: including gender balance and diversity provisions pertaining to Defender’s staff at all levels;

– Regional presence: Consider introducing a regional presence of the Human Rights Defender or regional ombudspersons in order to provide effective accessibility to human rights protection across the country.

The Venice Commission said it remains at the disposal of the Armenian authorities for any further assistance they may need on the legal framework pertaining to the Human Rights Defender of Armenia.

Cuba’s state-run telecommunications company Etecsa has signed a deal with Google that will enable faster access to content from the American company, the BBC reports.

Under the deal, the technology giant will install servers in Cuba to improve connectivity speeds to Google services, including Gmail and YouTube.

Google and Etecsa have reached their agreement in the final weeks of Barack Obama’s presidency.

It is not clear whether his successor will change US policies towards Cuba.

President Obama restored relations with Cuba earlier this year, after more than five decades of hostility between the two former Cold War rivals.

Even though most Cubans are likely to see the deal with Google as a step forward, it will do little to change the overall online accessibility in the country.

Cuba still has one of the lowest online connectivity rates in the world.

The majority of the population is not allowed access to the internet from home and must rely, instead, on expensive wi-fi points to get online.

Photo: AP

 

At least 50,000 militants from so-called Islamic State have been killed since the US-led coalition started fighting in Iraq and Syria two years ago, a US military official has said, the BBC reports.

The senior official described the figure as a “conservative estimate”.

The figure showed air power and a small number of US figures supporting local forces were having an impact, the official said.

The US has, however, repeatedly warned that IS can replace fighters rapidly.

The official on Thursday said that coalition air strikes could be intensified in places like Mosul, which Iraqi troops are now battling to recapture, but that had to be offset against the risk of civilian casualties.

The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s 17th annual Pan-European Phoneathon, held during November 16-20, has raised 1.34 million euros in donations and pledges exceeding the last year’s result by 1%.
The large-scale campaign mobilized the Armenian communities of France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Greece.
In the course of the four-day Phoneathon, around 700 volunteers have called some 46,000 households, businesses, and organizations to request their support. This year’s phoneathon involved 1700 new donors.
Proceeds from the large-scale fundraising campaign will be used to rebuild Artsakh communities that have sustained heavy damage as a result of the four-day war this year, to support the continued growth of agricultural-development projects in Armenia’s Tavush Region, and to provide assistance to the Syrian-Armenian and Iraqi-Armenian communities. Proceeds from the Greek affiliate will be contributed to the construction of the kindergarten, now underway, in Artsakh’s Karin Tak village.

The Hayastan Fund’s European affiliates will continue to accept donations and pledges till January 15, 2017.

Some 58 young people from Armenia gathered today in Yerevan for the start of a two-day simulation of the OSCE’s Permanent Council, one of the key decision-making bodies of the Organization, to build their skills in negotiation, diplomacy, conflict prevention and to learn more about the OSCE.

Organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan, the two-day Model OSCE Conference will see participants discuss the diplomatic relations between the hypothetical countries of Dalutia and Varbia, which need to solve questions related to territorial disputes and cyber-security. The aim of the exercise is to give young people hands-on experience on dealing with some of the most important issues that states face in the era of information technology.

“The Model OSCE Conference has become a good tradition in Armenia, providing participants with an opportunity to practice and improve their negotiating skills,” said Ambassador Argo Avakov, Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. “The Conference has proved to be a productive way to promote OSCE values among youth. It also enables young people to come together and try to reach consensus through peaceful negotiations.”

Prior to the Model OSCE conference, the participants attended practical trainings in negotiation skills, public speaking, as well as lectures on the OSCE, its activities and cyber-security. The simulation aims to promote the engagement of Armenia’s youth in  issues that are important for the country. It gives them a chance to act as ambassadors and to discuss an agreement that meets the interests of all.

Last month a Model OSCE Conference was organized for students of the Russian-Armenian University. The focus of that simulation exercise was to find a solution to challenges relating to national minorities between two hypothetical states. The OSCE Office in Yerevan has been organizing Model OSCE Conferences since 2008.

An earthquake measuring 6.3 in magnitude has hit New Zealand’s South Island, hours after an initial quake killed two people, the BBC reports.

The new tremor struck at 13:45 local time (00:45 GMT) at a depth of 10km (6 miles), northeast of Christchurch.

A 7.5-magnitude quake, with the same depth, had hit the same area just after midnight, triggering tsunami warnings.

A large river dammed up by a landslide has now breached its banks sending a “large wall of water” downstream.

Residents around the Clarence River – one of the largest on South Island – were being urged to move immediately to higher ground.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is determined to prove his worth at Manchester United.

Mkhitaryan, who played in the whole of his country’s dramatic World Cup qualifying win over Montenegro in Yerevan on Friday, says he will not give up his quest to impress his new boss.

In an interview on the , Mkhitaryan said: “I know I can succeed at Manchester United, and I want to show everyone that I deserve to be a key player in this team and this league.”

“Today I don’t have enough playing time, so I have to do my best so the coaching staff give me the chance to play,” he said.

“There are no disappointments, just challenges. I never give up when I encounter obstacles in my way. I just continue going until I reach my career objectives,” Mkhitaryan added.

Mkhitaryan went on to hail Mourinho’s “fantastic record” as a coach.

He added: “Regarding Jose Mourinho, I hope I can learn a lot from him – he is a coach with a fantastic record.

“I saw the move to Manchester United as an opportunity to grow as a player and as a person.

“It was definitely not the salary that made me join Manchester United, I went for football reasons – for the history of the club, the fans and the coach because he is one of the best in the world.

“The EPL is the best league in the world and it gives me something different, a new challenge. I think I can become stronger by playing there.”

Photo: Reuters

 

The detention of journalists from independent newspaper Cumhuriyet, the closure of the remaining Kurdish media, and the jailing of elected mayors in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir in the space of two days is evidence of the deepening crackdown in Turkey, Human Rights Watch said today.

On the morning of October 31, 2016, police detained Murat Sabuncu, the editor of the independent Cumhuriyet daily newspaper and, during the course of the day, 11 more of its journalists and managers. There are warrants out for the arrest of at least three more, including former editor Can Dündar. The Istanbul prosecutor alleges that the newspaper has “committed crimes on behalf of” both the armed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and what the government refers to as the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization, led by the US-based cleric Fethullah Gülen.

“Targeting one of Turkey’s last independent opposition newspapers with ludicrous charges shows the depths of the Turkish government and president’s crackdown,” said Emma Sinclair-Webb, Turkey director at Human Rights Watch. “Over 160 media outlets have been closed down since the failed coup, and there are few critical voices that have not been ruthlessly silenced.”