Author: George Mamian

Four tourists who posed naked on a mountain in Malaysia have been given jail terms and fined, the BBC reports.

Briton Eleanor Hawkins, Canadians Lindsey and Danielle Peterson, and Dutchman Dylan Snel admitted causing a public disturbance.

The group was blamed for a magnitude 5.9 earthquake after stripping on Mount Kinabalu, which is considered sacred.

They were jailed for three days, but their sentences were back-dated to reflect time already served.

A judge at Kota Kinabalu Magistrates’ Court said the four had shown remorse and ordered the jail terms to run from 9 June, meaning the group is free to leave.

He also fined each defendant 5,000 Malaysian ringgit ($1,331).

 

 

 

The national minorities residing in Armenia have decided to unite efforts to call the attention of the world to the events that happened 100 years ago. They have prepared a message to the leaders of the UN member states.

Representatives of the 11 national minorities of Armenia are preparing to address an official letter to the heads of the UN member states. Strongly condemning the genocide of Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915, the minorities demand from the progressive world to “establish justice and restore the rights of the national minorities residing in Turkey.”

“As descendants of the peoples that have seen consequences of the genocide, and are aware of the bitter results of denialism, we call on the Ambassadors of the UN member states to condemn the crime of genocide committed in the Ottoman Empire 100 years ago and anticipate an adequate assessment of this heaviest crime against humanity,” the letter reads.

Representative of the Armenian Assyrian community Razmik Khostoyev said “the material demands from Turkey are between the lines.” He believes claiming lands from Turkey is still untimely.

Siaband Bakoyan, representative of the Yezidi community said “the failure to condemn results in new crimes.  “In this particular case I mean the mass killing of Yezidis in the Middle East starting from August 2, 2014,” he said.

Adelina Livshic from the Jewish community confesses that “many in Israel accept there was genocide, but one should remember about geopolitics.”

President Bako Sahakyan participated in the opening session of the 6^th convocation of the National Assembly.

In his opening remarks the President congratulated the attendees on the beginning of the 6^th convocation National Assembly activities, pointing out that elections held through free competition, complying with democratic principles lay an important foundation for the effective work of the newly-formed parliament.

Bako Sahakyan conveyed words of gratitude to the 5^th convocation National Assembly deputies, adding that the previous had carried out quite comprehensive work in the legislative field, playing a very visible role in the internal and external political life of our republic.

Touching upon the 6^th convocation National Assembly the Head of the State underlined that professional parliament would require a high-level responsibility from each deputy. “Expectations from the newly-elected parliament first of all concern its law-making activity. We hope that a new impetus will be given to law elaboration process, taking into consideration the experience of developed countries and the peculiarities of our republic,” Bako Sahakyan stressed.

The President also actualized the activity of the National Assembly in the development of inter-parliamentary ties, considering it among the most effective measures of establishing bilateral relationships and international recognition of Artsakh.

“The efficiency of the National Assembly’s activities to a great extent is derivative from a civilized, working atmosphere based on mutual respect, which should be prevalent in the parliament”, – noted Bako Sahakyan in his speech. According to the President the formation of such an atmosphere is one of the components of political culture, and our state being in a unique geopolitical situation, must do everything possible for acquiring a high and exemplary political culture.