Month: April 2016

Photo: Getty Images

 

Oil prices have fallen below $40 a barrel after Saudi Arabia said it would freeze production only if other major producers did the same, the BBC reports.

The comments by deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman are seen as a challenge to Iran.

It has vowed to increase oil production following the lifting of Western sanctions.

In the Bloomberg interview, the prince also spoke about his plan for a giant public investment fund.

Worth more than $2 trillion, it would be designed to reduce Saudi Arabia’s reliance on income from oil.

Part of the plan would be a sale of shares in the state-owned oil firm Aramco, which could start as soon as next year, according to the interview.

Legendary French Armenian singer Charles Aznavour will participate in the “Aurora” Award ceremony in Yerevan on April 24, the singer’s spokesperson Christina Sargsyan told Armenpress.

“We are planning to visit Armenia to be present at the award ceremony of the “Aurora” Prize,” she said.

The co-founders of 100 LIVES and the Aurora Prize Selection committee – co-chaired by Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel and Academy Award-winning actor and humanitarian George Clooney – will honor the Aurora Prize finalists for their exceptional acts of humanity with a weekend of events from April 22 through April 24, 2016.

On behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide, and in gratitude to their saviors, the Aurora Prize celebrates the strength of the human spirit that compels action is the face of adversity.

Recipients will be recognized for the exceptional impact their actions have made on preserving human life and advancing humanitarian causes. On behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and in gratitude to their saviors, an Aurora Prize Laureate will be honored each year with a US$100,000 grant as well as the unique opportunity to continue the cycle of giving by nominating an organization which inspired their work for a US$1,000,000 award.

The Aurora Prize will be awarded annually on April 24 of each year in Yerevan, Armenia.

The Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee of Merrimack Valley (AGCCMV) will join with the Armenian National Committee (ANC) of Merrimack Valley in jointly sponsoring its 101^st observance, the  reports.

The combined event will take place Sat., April 23, beginning at 10 a.m. with a procession along downtown Lowell to City Hall, where events will take place.

A proclamation will be issued by the mayor with pertinent remarks from government and state officials. A flag-raising ceremony will be conducted by the youth.

A light luncheon and cultural program will follow at the historic Masonic Center, across from City Hall. Children from the various church schools will combine their talents.

“Please join us and let your voices be heard for genocide recognition and justice and to celebrate our priceless Armenian heritage that will be so beautifully expressed in the youthful voices of our children,” said Sossy Jeknavorian, AGCCMV chairman.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan is attending the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington at the invitation of UN President Barack Obama. The summit featured more than 50 heads of state and government.

The goal of the two-day event is to come up with strategies for preventing would-be attackers against nation states from obtaining or building nuclear weapons capable of inflicting mass casualties.

A lobbying firm that’s a registered agent of the Turkish government is trying out a new argument during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the U.S. this week: the Russians are coming, and Armenia is helping them, the reports.

Representatives from Mercury LLC have contacted multiple congressional offices to argue that Russia’s presence in Armenia, a small country on Turkey’s border that has tensions with the Turks lingering from the 1915 genocide of Armenian Christians, makes it important for the U.S. to close ranks with fellow NATO member Turkey, according to two Capitol Hill aides.

Mercury, which registered to work on behalf of Turkey last month, hopes to convince lawmakers to attach their names to two separate documents, an aide told The Huffington Post.

One is a letter addressed to Secretary of State John Kerry that focuses on the “growing military alliance between Russia and Armenia” — citing the flow of Russian fighter jets, helicopters gunships and drones to Armenia. It calls the Russia-Armenia relationship “deeply concerning.”

Asked for comment, Mercury shared a statement from an organization called the Turkish Institute for Progress, the Huffington Post says.

“The Turkish Institute for Progress along with U.S. security experts and officials are calling on Armenia to expel the two Russian bases in Armenia and to sever its military ties with [President Vladimir] Putin’s Russia. The close relationship between Russia and Armenia speaks for itself,” said Derya Taskin, the institute’s president.