ARMENIA
Voters back amendments
Early results showed that voters in Sunday’s referendum supported constitutional changes that would give more powers to the prime minister and parliament at the expense of the president. The Central Election Commission yesterday said in a statement that 63 percent supported the amendments that would make the president largely a figurehead. The opposition has seen the reform as an attempt by President Serzh Sargsyan to extend his rule. Sargsyan has denied the claim, saying he has no intention of shifting into the prime minister’s seat after his second term in office ends in 2018. Sargsyan’s government has promoted the constitutional changes as a step toward improving democracy in the former Soviet state by providing for a greater balance of power and a stronger judicial branch.
FRANCE
U2 pay respects to victims
U2’s Sunday night performance in Paris was not just about music — it had a mournful tone, too. Frontman Bono paid his respects to the 130 people killed by extremists in Paris on Nov. 13 and the 14 people killed in a mass shooting last week in California. Names of Paris attack victims were projected on a huge video screen in the arena, not far from the site of the Nov. 13 rampage. Bono wrapped himself in a French tricolor flag for the encore, in which he sang a verse from French crooner Jacques Brel’s Ne me quitte pas, “Don’t Leave Me.” “We stand together with the families of those killed in Paris. We stand together with the families of those killed in San Bernardino,” Bono said.
PALESTINE
Israeli jets hit Hamas target
The Israeli military said its aircraft yesterday struck a Hamas target in the Gaza Strip in response to two shooting incidents. The statement said the aircraft hit a military post belonging to Hamas Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades. No injuries from the strike were immediately reported. The military said shots fired from Gaza hit army vehicles along the border on two separate occasions over the weekend. The border with Gaza has remained mostly quiet during a nearly three-month wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence. However, several Palestinians have been killed in violent clashes along the frontier and some rockets have been launched at Israel.
UNITED KINGDOM
Troops move flood victims
The army was called in on Sunday to help put down sandbags and evacuate people from their homes as stormy weather left northern towns and cities severely flooded. Storm Desmond’s torrential rain and strong winds swept across northwestern England and Scotland over the weekend. In Cumbria, known for its scenic Lake District, officials said the rainfall between Friday and Saturday likely exceeded the average for the month. The deluge left the Cumbrian city of Carlisle and hundreds of homes submerged. Many rivers burst their banks and in some streets cars were left almost entirely underwater. Rescue teams helped ferry those forced to leave their homes in boats. About 60,000 homes were left without electricity. In Kendal, rescue teams were searching for an elderly man who reportedly fell into a swollen river, while in London police said a 90-year-old man died after he was believed to have been blown into the side of a moving bus by a gust of wind. Further flooding and disruption was expected as forecasters warned of more heavy rain in Scotland, northwestern England and Wales.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number