Author: Karapet Navasardian

Photo: NBC

 

Police in New York City are looking for a quick-thinking thief who stole an 86-pound bucket of gold flakes worth nearly $1.6 million off an armored truck in Manhattan, the Associated Press reports.

The unidentified thief swiped the 5-gallon metal bucket off the back of the vehicle on Sept. 29 when a guard briefly went to the truck’s cab to reportedly retrieve his cellphone.

The incident occurred in broad daylight on West 48th Street in Midtown Manhattan. The suspect is believed to be hiding out in Florida.

Security video shows the black bucket on a pallet inside the open back door of the truck. The man looks around, approaches the truck and lifts the bucket out.

Two men are standing on the sidewalk beside the truck, engaged in animated conversation, and don’t appear to notice the man with the bucket walking past them.

Lots of other pedestrians and vehicles stream past as he heads down the sidewalk with one arm wrapped around the bucket and his other hand beneath it.

At one point, he sets it down at the curb, takes a breather for a few seconds, then hoists it again and steps into the street.

Police say it took the thief an hour to complete what would normally be considered a 10-minute walk. He then hopped into a white van and fled.

Police say the suspect likely didn’t know what the bucket contained.

The Armenian language will be taught as a separate profession at the Beijing Language and Culture University. China’s Education Minister Chen Baosheng confirmed the plans at a meeting with Armenian Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtchyan.

He welcomed the agreement reached between the Beijing Pedagogical University and the Yerevan State Pedagogical University to implement joint programs and issue double diplomas.

The perspectives of functioning of the Chinese school being constructed in Yerevan were also discussed at the meeting.

The parties emphasized the importance of giving a regional status to the school and creating a training system.

All EEC economies are expected to generate positive growth in 2017, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said in a report on the Regional Economic Prospects in EBRD Countries of Operations in November 2016.

The EBRD leaves the growth forecast for Armenia unchanged at 2.0 per cent in 2016 and 2.0 per cent in 2017.

“Armenia’s economy made a good start in 2016 but growth slowed in the second quarter; GDP growth decelerated from 4.5 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter to 1.5 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of the year. In the first half of 2016, growth in exports and government consumption was offset, in part, by contraction in gross fixed capital formation and household consumption. Deflation in the first eight months of 2016 reflected weak domestic demand and low import prices. Armenia’s economy remained exposed to spill-overs from the recession in Russia. In the first half of 2016, net FDI inflow was low and remittances declined, albeit at a lower rate than in 2015. The current account deficit remained contained in the first half of 2016 after sizable adjustment in 2015 which was driven by a reduction in imports. In the first nine months of 2016, the dram was mostly stable vis-à-vis the US dollar,” the report reads.

“International reserves provided approximately five months of import coverage as of September 2016. Tax and customs revenues were affected by deflation and by decreased nominal value of import flows. The fiscal deficit is expected to widen in 2016 on the account of revenue shortfall, followed by fiscal consolidation in 2017. In response to slowing growth, negative inflation and a stabilizing exchange rate, the Central Bank of Armenia gradually lowered refinancing rate from 10.50 per cent in August 2015 to 6.75 per cent in September 2016. In the first seven months of 2016, commercial bank lending remained mostly flat in the context of weak domestic demand and continued consolidation in the banking sector. The conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region presents a risk to the growth outlook. Our growth forecast for Armenia is unchanged at 2.0 per cent in 2016 and 2.0 per cent in 2017,” the EBRD said.

Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan received today the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ambasssador Andrzej Kasprzyk.

The Armenian Defense Minister briefed Ambassador Kasprzyk on the situation at the line of contact and underlined that Azerbaijan has been recently keeping tensions high at the line of contact by increasing the number of shots and using weapons of larger caliber.

He said the Armenian forces resort to response actions only in case of extreme necessity and remain committed to the restraining strategy.

Ambassador Kasprzyk noted, in turn, that the Office of the Personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office maintains efforts to ease tensions at the line of contact and said he hopes for progress in that direction in the near future.

The prime minister of Iraq has urged the Islamic State group to surrender as government troops close in on its last urban stronghold in the country, Mosul, the BBC reports.

Haider al-Abadi appeared on state TV wearing combat fatigues and said: “They have no choice. Either they surrender or they die.”

Iraqi special forces are now about 1km (0.6 of a mile) away from Mosul’s eastern edge and preparing to enter.

Units of the army are meanwhile advancing from the south.

Using another name for IS, Mr al-Abadi said: “We will close in on Daesh from all angles and God willing we will cut the snake’s head. They will have no way out and no way to escape.”

Mr al-Abadi is the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces.

Young heartthrob Hovig Demirdjian will represent Cyprus at next year’s Eurovision song contest to be held in Kiev, Ukraine on May 9-13, the reports.

State broadcaster CyBC, a member of the EBU network that hosts the annual song contest in the previous year’s winning country, said that it had chosen the young singer “because he is especially talented and much loved by the public.”

It added that the composition of the entry song to represent Cyprus has been commissioned to the popular Swedish musician, Thomas G:Son.

The young Armenian singer made headlines when he reached the final stages of the Greek reality talent show, X-Factor, and from then on saw his musical career surge, as a singer songwriter, performing in Greece, the Middle East and more recently in Russia. He was a finalist among candidates for this year’s entry and had attempted several times in the past as well.

On his facebook page, Hovig posted, “Nai! (that’s Greek for yes), that’s all I said to CyBC when they popped the Eurovision question.”

“This year, I intend to work very hard, day and night, to deliver the best possible performance in Kiev.”

“Cyprus is a diverse (and hot) island. Diversity runs in our ideas, our people, our music. Our small island is an oasis of awesome talented people with amazing Mediterranean temperament.”

He concluded, “Eurovision is happening guys and it’s going to be fun. Let’s do this!”

Photo: Reuters

 

More than 1,200 police and officials in France have begun an operation to clear the “Jungle” migrant camp in Calais, the BBC reports.

The camp has been housing some 7,000 people in squalid conditions.

Migrants queued peacefully to be processed, and the first of some 60 coaches that will carry them to refugee centres across France, has now left.

There is concern that some migrants will refuse to go because they still want to get to Britain, and there were some clashes over the weekend.

The demolition of the camp is expected to take place on Tuesday.

The UK has begun to accept some of the estimated 1,300 unaccompanied children from the camp.

The Azerbaijani government has renewed its vicious crackdown on critics and independent groups, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The European Union and international financial institutions have a rare opportunity to insist on human rights reforms, as Azerbaijan actively seeks financial and other partnerships to offset a recent economic downturn.

The 75-page report, “,” documents the government’s concerted efforts to undermine civil society. Human Rights Watch found that in 2016, the authorities used false, politically motivated criminal and administrative charges to prosecute political activists, journalists, and others. The government has built a restrictive legal and policy framework to paralyze the work of independent groups. Lawyers willing to defend critics have faced retaliation and disbarment. Although the authorities released several human rights defenders and others in early 2016, many others remain in prison or fled into exile.

“With the release of some wrongfully imprisoned activists earlier this year, there were high hopes that Azerbaijan was turning a corner,” said Giorgi Gogia, South Caucasus director at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. “But optimism is fading fast as the government relentlessly pursues critics and tries to shut down independent groups.”

Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 90 human rights defenders, leaders of independent organizations, journalists, lawyers, and political party activists.

An ethnic Armenian identified as George Mutafyan has been wounded in a shelling on the Armenian General Athletic Union field located in the Armenian-populated Azizieh neighborhood of Aleppo, Kantsasar newspaper reports.

According to the source, the French rocket attack has left two killed and 10 wounded.

On September 27, in the framework of the working visit to Belgium Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Karen Mirzoyan met with the leadership of the EU-Armenia Friendship Group headed by the President of the group Eleni Theocharous.

During the meeting, a range of issues related to Artsakh-Europe relations, settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict and regional processes were discussed.

On the same day Karen Mirzoyan met with the President of the Friendship group with Artsakh in the European Parliament Frank Engel and other members of the group. During the meeting, a number of issues related to the activity of the friendship group were discussed. The sides highlighted the importance of deepening ties with various European structures, including the European Parliament.

Later in the day, Karen Mirzoyan, as a keynote speaker, delivered a speech at a round-table organized by Frank Engel entitled “Nagorno Karabakh Republic: 25 years of state-building in a volatile region” at the premises of the European Parliament.

In his speech, the NKR Foreign Minister stated, in particular, that 25 years ago the people of Nagorno Karabakh voted for independence on a nation-wide referendum which became the logical continuation of Artsakh liberation struggle in response to decades of discrimination and oppression by Azerbaijan.

“In spite of the peaceful and legitimate nature of the Karabakh movement, from the very beginning Azerbaijan rejected any dialogue and resorted to the language of threats and intimidation which led to a large-scale war against Nagorno Karabakh and its peaceful population”, Karen Mirzoyan said.

The NKR Foreign Minister stressed that even today the people of Artsakh literally have to defend the young democracy in the conditions of constant attempts of Azerbaijan to return Nagorno Karabakh to the past. Karen Mirzoyan noted that the NKR had repeatedly spoken out publicly about Azerbaijan openly preparing for the resumption of war by, however, the international community did not react to these warnings. The impunity enjoyed by Azerbaijan led to the resumption of hostilities against Nagorno Karabakh on April 2, 2016.

Karen Mirzoyan stressed that the people of Artsakh cannot remain hostage to the destructive policy of Azerbaijan and will continue to develop even in the conditions of the unresolved Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict. In this regard the Foreign Minister mentioned that the NKR authorities attach great importance to the expansion and deepening of foreign relations of the NKR at all levels, its integration into the international processes.

Karen Mirzoyan expressed confidence that expansion of the international cooperation will be an important contribution to strengthening peace and security in the region.

“We believe that the time has come for the international community to support our struggle. It’s time to recognize and support the reality – existence and consistent development of the free and democratic Nagorno Karabakh Republic”, Karen Mirzoyan concluded.

The NKR Foreign Minister answered questions of participants.

Members of the NKR National Assembly delegation, members of the European Parliament and experts attended the discussion.