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UK: Students start fundraiser for Armenian lecturer who escaped London fire

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London fire

Photo: RICK FINDLER/GETTY IMAGES

Kind-hearted students have started a fundraising page for a Croydon lecturer, Mesrob Kassemdjian, who lived in the Grenfell Tower and lost of all his possessions in the fire, including research for his PhD, Croydon Advertiser reports.

Kassemdjian, known as Robbie to his students, managed to escape his 17th floor flat with his girlfriend and elderly auntie before the fire engulfed the building.

So far 79 people are confirmed to have died or gone missing in the disaster .

The teacher of criminology at University Centre Croydon (UCC), based at Croydon College, watched as the building “caught fire like a candle”.

Now, his students, who describe Robbie as “much-loved” are trying to collect £1,500 for him to replace his extensive book collection, laptop and equipment he used to teach and for research into his PhD, which were all lost in the blaze.

The fundraiser has been opened on the JustGiving website.

The fire has left the building almost completely charred, and there were concerns about the tower’s structural integrity, as it appeared to lean slightly to one side.

Search-and-recovery efforts were paused on Friday, June 16 over safety concerns, but resumed Saturday afternoon, police said.

Croydon AdvertiserPhoto: RICK FINDLER/GETTY IMAGESearted students fundraising for ‘much-loved’ Croydon lecturer who escaped Grenfell Tower fire

Azerbaijan shoots intensive fire along Karabakh frontline

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Azerbaijan’s armed forces intensively violated the ceasefire along the Line of Contact overnight, releasing 1,600 gunshots against Armenian defense troops from heavy weapons.
In the eastern and north-eastern directions of the frontline, the adversary shot fire from the 88mm divisional gun D-44, and mine-launchers of different calibers.
In a press release, Nagorno-Karabakh’s Ministry of Defense says the advance military units of its Defense Army took preventive action to suppress the attacks. Azerbaijan’s military reported one loss in the wake of the skirmishes.
The situation on the frontline is under the Armenian defense forces’ full control.

Israel wildfires spread in West Bank, more settlers flee

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fireHundreds of more Israeli settlers have fled as wildfires spread through areas near settlements in the occupied West Bank.

A police spokeswoman said on Saturday that nearly 1,000 settlers were forced to leave the Halamish settlement near the  West Bank city of Ramallah as 45 settler units were damaged or destroyed by the fires.

Fires were also reported approaching the settlements of Dolev, Alfei Menashe, and Karnei Shomron in the d West Bank. No evacuations were reported there, however.

A lack of downpours together with very dry air and strong easterly winds contributed to the spread of the fires this week across the Israeli-occupied lands.

Israeli officials have suggested, however, that Arabs or Palestinians may be to blame for some of the blazes.

The Israeli police spokeswoman further said that they had arrested 14 people on suspicion of sparking the fires either deliberately or by negligence, without giving details on their identities.

Firefighting planes have arrived from Russia,, Greece, France, Spain, and Canada and continue to battle the fires at affected locations, including the village of Nataf near Jerusalem al-Quds.

People in Haifa, the hardest-hit city, have begun to return to assess the damage. The fire forced tens of thousands of them to flee on Thursday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday there was “no doubt” some of the fires reported had been set deliberately.

Earlier, the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the regime in Tel Aviv is “exploiting the fire” to level new allegations against Palestinians.

“What is burning are our trees and our land of historical Palestine,” said the West Bank-based movement in a statement.

The Palestinians reportedly joined the efforts overnight to put out the fires, sending 41 firefighters and eight trucks to Haifa.

Austrian FPÖ head compares failed Turkish coup to Reichstag fire in Nazi Germany

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Burning-reichstagThe head of Austria’s far-right party has likened the failed coup in Turkey and subsequent purges to the burning of the Reichstag in Nazi Germany. Turkish President Erdogan has firmly denied any coup involvement.

Heinz-Christian Strache, the leader of right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ), drew parallels between the aftermath of the Reichstag fire in Nazi Germany and a recent attempted military coup in Turkey, in an interview published on Saturday.

“One almost had the impression that it was a guided putsch aimed in the end at making a presidential dictatorship by Erdogan possible,” Strache told the Austrian daily Die Presse in an interview.

“He then grabbed complete power for himself – with prepared lists,” said Strache.

“We have dramatically experienced such mechanisms in history before, such as the burning of the Reichstag, where one seized complete power as a consequence,” added the FPÖ head.

In 1933, the fire on the German parliament building was depicted by the Nazis as a Communist ploy against the government. The blaze was used to justify curbing civil liberties and finalized Adolf Hitler’s powerful hold on Germany.

His comments were later echoed by Christian Lindner, the leader of Germany’s Free Democrat party (FDP), who also compared the recent failed coup in Turkey to the 1933 Reichstag fire. He told the “Bild am Sonntag” newspaper that Erdogan was “building an authoritarian regime tailored solely to himself.”

Lindner said the power grab meant that Erdogan “cannot be a partner for Europe.” He added that he was disgusted that EU accession talks for Turkey had not been stopped long ago.

Following the attempted military coup on July 15 by a faction within the Turkish army, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan used the coup plot to justify a crackdown on political opponents in universities, media, the judiciary, civil service and the army.

Erdogan has staunchly rejected any accusations that his government might have planned the coup. He has also blamed the attempted uprising on a US-based Muslim cleric.

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern suggested earlier this week that the European Union discuss the possibility of ending talks with Turkey over its EU membership bid.

Turkey’s foreign minister fired back on Friday, calling Austria the “capital of radical racism” following Kern’s comments.

rs/mm/bw (dpa, Reuters)

Karabakh soldier killed in Azerbaijani fire

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210579On Tuesday, April 19, at around 9:50am, a Karabakh serviceman, Gavorg Gevorgyan (b. 1996) was killed in Azerbaijani fire.

An investigation into the details of the incident is underway, the Nagorno Karabakh Defense Ministry said.

On the night of April 1-2, Azerbaijani armed forces initiated overt offensive operations in the southern, southeastern and northeastern directions of the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh.

The Armenian side has suffered 77 combat and 15 non-combat losses, 122 more were wounded. One soldier is still missing.

The Azerbaijani side has lost 26 tanks and 4 infantry fighting vehicles, as well as 1 BM-21 Grad multipl e rocket launcher, 1 engineering vehicle, 2 military helicopters and 14 unmanned aerial vehicles. The Azerbaijani side has admitted the loss of 31 fighters, 1 helicopter and 1 unmanned drone, whereas the Armenian side’s photo and video materials show dozens of killed Azerbaijani troops, 1 helicopter and 3 UAVs. Opposition media outlets, however, reported on the death of 95 Azerbaijani soldiers, stating that 39 more have been wounded. According to Karabakh authorities, 300 Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in clashes.

14 Karabakh tanks have been neutralized since April 2.

The parties to the Karabakh conflict agreed on a bilateral cessation of fire along the contact line which came into force at midday, April 5.

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out as result of the ethnic cleansing launched by the Azeri authorities in the final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from 1991 (when the Nagorno Karabakh Republic was proclaimed) to 1994 (when a ceasefire was sealed by Armenia, NKR and Azerbaijan). Most of Nagorno Karabakh and a security zone consisting of 7 regions are now under control of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now.

Azeri oil rig fire kills 32 workers in Caspian Sea – report

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© Archie Goodwin / YouTube

A major fire has broken out on an offshore oil platform in Azerbaijan’s waters. While no official casualty count was immediately available, an independent report indicated that the disaster claimed 32 lives.

The ongoing rescue operation is hampered by stormy weather with waves rising up to 11 meters high, Trend news website reported.

The fire started overnight at a rig at the Gunashli field southeast of Neft Daşları (Oil Rocks) settlement. It was caused by strong winds that damaged a gas pipeline on the platform, the Azeri state energy company SOCAR said.

The independent Oil Workers’ Rights Protection Committee told Reuters that 32 platform workers were killed in the blaze and 42 rescued. The numbers were not immediately confirmed by SOCAR. The Azeri news agency ARA reported that 63 people worked on the rig, which doesn’t match the numbers provided by the independent committee.

Rescuers reported saving 32 people from the platform, but didn’t confirm any deaths.

In a separate incident in the area, the storm waves hit a small house near e Caspian shore with three people inside who remain missing, according to the news website Day.Az.

Armenian village: About 200 tones of crop left in vineyards at Azerbaijani gunpoint

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grapesResidents of Aygehovit village in Armenia’s Tavush province, where it was decided to stop the crop harvesting of grapes, may receive compensation from the state. Around 150-200 tones of crop remain in those vineyards, but the villagers cannot harvest them since the vineyards are under the fire of the adversary.

Aygehovit governor Levon Grigoryan told Armenain News – NEWS.am that they will once again try harvesting the crop at the end of the month. “The people have agreements, so let’s see what happens. If we are not able to harvest the crop again, the state will have to pay compensation,”  Grigoryan said.

The regional administration of Armenia’s Tavush province promised to pay compensation to the villagers for the material damages incurred as a result of the Azerbaijani shelling.

The Azerbaijani side has been intensively firing at the border villages of Armenia’s Tavush province for several days. The Azerbaijani shootings resulted in deaths among the civilian population.

Azerbaijan shells Armenian border village

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ChinariAzerbaijan’s armed troops opened fire on the north-eastern border village of Chinari (Tavush region) on Tuesday, Tert.am has learned from the community’s governor.

Samvel Sahhoyan said that the gunshots, heard early in the morning, did not fortunately cause any damage or loss.
“The gunshots were in the morning. They have stopped now; we don’t have any damage or ruin,” he told our correspondent.