Month: October 2016

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) shared the lessons drawn from more than a century of Armenian-American efforts to foster a culture of caring and building durable, resilient and responsive community institutions at a Diaspora in Development forum in Washington, DC, that attracted hundreds of American diasporan civic, development and economic leaders with roots across Asia, Africa, the Americas, the Middle East, and Europe.

The day-long forum, held in the Knight Conference Center of the iconic Newseum in the nation’s capital, was jointly hosted by the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the International Organization for Migration, and the George Washington University.

ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian participated in the conference, taking part in a panel discussion titled “Case Study: Creating Powerful Diaspora Networks.”  He spoke alongside two internationally respected experts in diasporan development, Jo Addy of the African Diaspora Network and Magalie Emile-Backer of Haitian Renewal Alliance.

The panel was moderated by Nicolas Bassey, USAID’s innovative Division Chief for Frontier Partnerships.  Among the themes stressed by Hamparian were the long-term benefits of constructively managing diversity and consensus building, standing up sustainable, multi-generational models of community engagement, and developing smart solutions to transform the challenges of diasporan life into opportunities to promote more robust community engagement and civic advocacy.  The panel discussion was held in an open, interactive format, featuring an open discussion among the participants and panelists.

Photo: AP

 

The US has accused Islamic State (IS) militants of using civilians as human shields as Iraqi forces move closer to the group’s stronghold in Mosul, the BBC reports.

Some 700,000 people are believed to remain in the city, where up to 5,000 IS fighters face the third day of the operation to retake Mosul.

News that the nearby town of Qaraqosh had been liberated was later denied by a government commander.

But the US-backed coalition say they have driven IS out of 10 villages.

Government troops are moving up from the south while their Kurdish allies are approaching from the east in a two-pronged campaign which began on Monday.

US President Barack Obama has sought to allay concerns about an exodus of civilians from the area, saying “plans and infrastructure” are in place for dealing with a potential humanitarian crisis.

About 35 cases of ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani side were registered at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces last night.

The rival used firearms of different calibers as it fired over 6,100 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions, the NKR Defense Ministry reports.

The Azerbaijani side used DShK large-caliber machine guns (1,160 shots) in the southern direction.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army resorted to response actions to pressure the activeness of the rival and confidently continued with their military duty.

Arthur Petrosyan will head the Armenian national team from November 1, 2016, the Football Federation of Armenia said after completing talks on the appointment of the head coach.

Arthur Petrosyan previously played for the Armenian national team and is currently coaching the Swiss “Zurich-2.”

Varuzhan Sukiasyan quit as head coach after the unsuccessful start of the 2018 World Cup qualification campaign.

Photo: Getty Images

 

A Saudi Arabian prince has been executed for shooting dead a man during a brawl three years ago in the capital Riyadh, the interior ministry has said, the BBC reports.

Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir was put to death in the capital. No details were given as to how he was executed – most condemned people are beheaded.

The prince is the 134th person to be put to death this year, according to a list compiled by the AFP news agency. But it is rare for royal family members to be executed

The prince had pleaded guilty to shooting his compatriot, the interior ministry statement said.

Announcing the execution, the ministry said it would assure everyone the government was “keen to preserve security and achieve justice.”

Photo: Sputnik/ Sergey Malgavko

Speaker of the People’s Council of Syria, the country’s legislative authority, Hadiya Khalaf Abbas, told she considered Crimea an integral part of Russia which rejoined the country following expression of free will in referendum.

“Due to the events which unfolded after the collapse of the Soviet Union until present times, this [federal] subject returned to its roots [Russia] after the expression of free will of the people at a Crimean referendum… We accept that Crimea is an integral part of Russia,” Abbas said.

Manchester United duo Anthony Martial and Morgan Schneiderlin have returned to training ahead of the Europa League tie against Fenerbahce, according to reports.

Martial and Schneiderlin suffered injuries on Saturday and did not travel to Liverpool for the Premier League draw on Monday but could be available against the Turkish side tomorrow night.

The injured Phil Jones and Sam Johnstone were the only absentees during training. Johnstone started for United U23s in their Monday night draw against Liverpool at Leigh Sports Village so his absence was understandable. Those who started at Liverpool did a warm down away from the rest of the squad.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan trained again and could return to the side for the first time in over a month. Mkhitaryan has not played since the derby defeat to City on September 10 but returned to training three weeks ago on the eve of United’s Europa League tie against Zorya Luhansk.

The Armenian has been recovering from a thigh injury and was available for the Premier League match at Liverpool on Monday but did not travel to Merseyside.

Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan hosted His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.

The Prime Minister expressed gratitude to His Holiness for visiting the government and noted that “he highly values the state-church cooperation.”

The Catholicos wished success and effective activity to the Prime Minister and the newly-appointed Ministers for the sake of prosperity of the country, overcoming of difficulties and reinforcement of achievements.

PM Karen Karapetyan and His Holiness Karekin II discussed a number of issues related to the further reinforcement of church-state ties and other questions.

A plane transporting members of Fenerbahce was forced to make an emergency landing in Hungary on Oct. 19 after a crack appeared in the front window, according to the club’s official Twitter said.

The club said in a statement that the plane made an emergency landing after it collided with a bird, adding that the situation was not worrying, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

A second plane meanwhile took off from Istanbul to take the team to Manchester.

The team is scheduled to play against English giants Manchester United at Old Trafford on Oct. 20 in the Europa League.