Author: Arsine Chaltikian

The documentary ‘We Are Egyptian Armenians,’ directed by Waheed Sobhi, relays the history of the Armenian community in Egypt as recounted by many of its members and supported with archival materials including photos, videos and paintings.

The film, created in cooperation with scriptwriter Eva Dadrian and researcher and executive producer Hannan Ezzat, was screened at the Cairo International Film Festival 2016.

The documentary also participated in the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam and the Karama Human Rights Film Festival in Jordan.

The film is set to be screened in Egypt, the US and Canada.

Ahram Online sat down for an interview with the filmmakers Sobhi, Dadrian, and Ezzat.

“There are many ways to make a film about the Egyptian Armenians. We chose to focus on their history in Egypt, and their contribution to Egyptian history and society. The film has many archival images and videos as well as information relayed by a narrator,” director Waheed Sobhi said in an interview with .

“We wanted to show the many different aspects of the Armenian community, their contributions to Egyptian history, and so on. It is like a panorama of the Armenian community in Egypt. This film may even invite more research and more work on the Armenian community in Egypt,” the director said.

For the full interview click .

Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s first goal for Manchester United helped Jose Mourinho’s men seal a win over Zorya Luhansk and ensured their progress to the Europa League last-32.

The two teams played out an underwhelming opening period at the Chornomorets Stadium with the best chance of the half falling to Wayne Rooney, who saw his long-range effort saved well by Igor Levchenko.

But three minutes into the second half and United had the lead their performance deserved after summer signing Mkhitaryan drifted past a few players with ease to slot home and score first goal for the club.

And Zlatan Ibrahimovic made sure of the three points with a simple finish as the full-time whistle approached, the Swede running clear at goal before scoring past the helpless Levchenko.

Russia and China have vetoed a UN Security Council resolution demanding a ceasefire in Syrian Aleppo. The document was supported by 11 countries members of the Security Council, while Russia, China and Venezuela voted against. Angola abstained, TASS reports.

The draft resolution was not passed as two permanent members voted against, Security Council President Roman Marchesi (Spain) said. To have a UN Security Council document approved, it must be supported by nine countries on condition that none of the permanent members – Russia, the UK, China, the US and France – votes against.

The resolution drafted by Egypt, Spain and New Zealand demands a truce in Syrian Aleppo for at least seven days. Under their plan, this pause in warfare would make it possible to deliver aid to the embattled city and create conditions for restarting negotiations on a political settlement of the Syrian conflict.

Prior to the voting, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said putting the resolution to vote was in violation of Council rule of procedure, under which the vote should take place no earlier than 24 hours after the final version of a draft is submitted to the Security Council.

‘The vote cannot take place before 11 a.m. local time tomorrow (19:00 Moscow time),” he said.

He said additional time could let the UN Security Council members “to take account of certain new circumstances and arrive at a consensus resolution” that would help to improve the humanitarian situation in Syria in practice.

He said the co-authors of the resolution had come under pressure from the US, the UK and France. The UN ambassador said such actions were provocative and undermining international efforts towards a peaceful settlement in Syria.

Moldova’s Foreign Minister Andrei Galbur will visit Armenia on November 16 at the invitation of Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.

The Moldovan Foreign Minister will have meetings with Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.

The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the two countries will be followed by a joint press conference.

PHOTO: KYODO/REUTERS

A giant sinkhole swallowed a five-lane street in the centre of one of Japan’s biggest cities on Tuesday morning, the reports.

The collapse began at around 05:00 local time (20:00 GMT Monday) near Hakata Station, the busiest in Fukuoka city in the southern island of Kyushu.

It began with two smaller holes that grew steadily until they formed one huge depression around 30m (98ft) wide.

There were no reports of serious injuries but it disrupted power, water, gas and transport links in the area.

Broadcaster NHK reported that an elderly lady slipped on some stairs because of the power cut.

Engineering work to extend a nearby underground train line may be related to the sinkhole’s sudden appearance, city officials said.

Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan had a meeting with French Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia Jean-Francois Charpentier.

The Armenian Defense Minister attached importance to France’s efforts towards the settlement of the Karabakh conflict in its capacity as an OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair.

The interlocutors praised the high level of interstate relations and noted that there is a great potential for developing bilateral cooperation in the field of defense, especially in international peacekeeping.

The parties agreed to work towards intensification of cooperation in the field of defense and on the military-political level.

Reference was made to issues of regional security.

The 200-year-old Armenian Beyaz Church in Bahcesaray district of Van province, also known as Dera Geli (in Kurdish), is being destroyed by treasure hunters, Akunq.net reports, quoting the Turkish Dicle agency.

According to the source, obscene notes can be seen on the walls of the church, many sections of it have been destroyed by treasure hunters, while shepherds use it as a barn.

The church has been left to the mercy of fate, and the authorities are doing nothing to save it.

Head of the European Union Delegation to Armenia, H.E. Piotr Antoni Świtalski and the RA First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments, Garegin Melkonyan announced today the launch of the EU4Business Week in Armenia during the opening of the Eastern Partnership 8^th Business Development Panel in Yerevan. 

Running from 24 to 28 October 2016, the EU4Business Week will highlight the EU support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through series of events and include other activities facilitating private-public dialogue for the benefit of businesses both in the Eastern partner countries and in Armenia.

H.E. Piotr Antoni Świtalski, Ambassador, Head of the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Armenia said  ‘EU4Business Week starting today for the entire week, makes Armenia the centre of various events and activities that highlight EU’s role in supporting economic development, innovation and businesses in the entire Eastern Partnership. It is very symbolic to launch the week by the Business Development Panel. SMEs provide the vast majority of the job opportunities, therefore the economic opportunities linked to SMEs should also be significant. This initiative launched is a strong signal for the EU commitment to support businesses, for the direct benefit of real economy and increasing the country’s and the region’s competitiveness’.

First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments Garegin Melkonyan said: “On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, Ministry of Economic Development and Investments and on my behalf, I welcome the launch of the EU4Business Week in Yerevan and extend my gratitude to our European partners for this outstanding initiative. Armenia attaches great importance to the EU assistance provided to partner countries within the framework of the Eastern Partnership for the implementation of the economic reforms with a special focus on ensuring and deepening of bilateral and multilateral cooperation. The competitive and effective small and medium-sized enterprises are one of the most important preconditions for the economic development in our country. Today’s conference is also important in terms of the implementation of the “EU4Business” initiative, given the fact that it will be succeeded by a series of other events aimed at the development and strengthening of economic enterprises and especially SMEs. They will include bilateral and regional programmes aimed at the development of private sector and SMEs. These events reaffirm our mutual interest and common objective to foster successful implementation of the joint programme and move forward with enlarging and deepening our cooperation.”

The 8^th Business Development Panel opened today focuses on innovation as an essential tool for boosting competitiveness both on regional and national level. The panel will also officially launch the pilot version of the EU4Business aiming at making EU support to Businesses more accessible and visible. Country specific EU4Business webpages in local languages will follow shortly.

Implemented by EBRD, the workshop on SME finance on 26 October focuses on instruments of creating value for small businesses, as well as providing insights into cashflow analysis, private equity, debt and credit risk analysis as essential tools to mitigate financial risks, attract investment and achieve greater success in SME development. The East Invest 2 Annual Partner Conference on 27 October will highlight public-private dialogue as a vehicle for business reforms. The EU4Business week concludes with an official launch of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development in Armenia (SMEDA) on 28 October. All events will be attended by Armenia’s development partners, international organisations and representatives of the EU-funded projects.

In addition, during this week on October 26-27, for the first time in Armenia, a high level international conference “Fostering Sustainable Development in Eastern Partnership countries” also takes place. Representatives of central, regional and local authorities will gather in Yerevan to discuss new EU initiatives and instruments for sustainable urban development and best practices for successful modernisation of urban infrastructure in the Eastern Partnership countries. The conference will feature a signing ceremony with 25 Mayors of new signatory cities from EaP countries to join the new Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy including 4 from Armenia.

Photo: Getty Images

Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Wayne Rooney are reportedly facing a straight fight at Manchester United for their Premier League place, reports.

The attacking pair are currently struggling to nail down a regular place in Jose Mourinho’s first XI.

But both are set to start in tomorrow’s Europa League clash at Old Trafford against Zorya Luhansk.

It will be a chance to show their worthiness to the manager, especially after Mourinho dropped his captain from the side which beat Leicester 4-1 on Saturday.

According to the though, Mkhitaryan and Rooney are going head-to-head ahead of Sunday’s clash with Stoke.

United host the Potters in the Premier League with a spot potentially up for grabs, and Mourinho is said to be undecided yet between the duo.

The boss must be convinced he should change the team who comfortably saw off the reigning champions.

And the No.10 role could be the one altered against Stoke with it being both players’ main position.