Author: Karakhanian Suren

Photo: AFP

 

US private rocket company SpaceX has announced that two private citizens have paid to be sent around the Moon, the  BBC reports.

The mission is planned for late 2018, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said, adding that the tourists “have already paid a significant deposit”.

“This presents an opportunity for humans to return to deep space for the first time in 45 years,” he said.

The two unnamed people will fly aboard a spaceship which is set for its first unmanned test flight later this year.

Mr Musk said the co-operation of America’s Nasa space agency had made the plan possible.

He said the two passengers “will travel faster and further into the solar system than any before them”.

Mr Musk declined to reveal their identities, only saying that they knew each other and that “it’s nobody from Hollywood”.

On February 17, Edward Nalbandian, Foreign Minister of Armenia, had a meeting in Munich with Masoud Barzani, the President of the Iraqi Kurdistan.

The sides appreciated the high-level political dialogue and exchanged views on organising mutual visits as well as on trade and economic cooperation.

The interlocutors discussed the issues related to the opening of the Consulate General of Armenia in Erbil. In this context, Edward Nalbandian expressed his gratitude to the authorities of the Iraqi Kurdistan for the provided comprehensive support.

Upon the request from the Foreign Minister of Armenia, the head of the Iraqi Kurdistan informed of the latest developments in the fight against terrorist groups in Iraq.

Foreign Minister of Armenia and the President of the Iraqi Kurdistan touched upon urgent regional and international security related issues.

Rex Tillerson, the former chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil, has been sworn in as President Donald Trump’s secretary of state, the BBC reports.

The Texas native, 64, was cleared for full Senate approval in a 56-43 vote.

Mr Tillerson, who has never held political office, faced intense scrutiny over his ties to Russia.

“If confirmed, I will work with the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan to find a peaceful, long-term solution that allows for stability and prosperity in the region,” Tillerson during his  confirmation hearingat the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 23.

“The first step in this process must be to build trust by ensuring that all agreements between the parties are respected,” said Tillerson, calling the “frozen” Nagorno-Karabakh conflict “a threat to stability in the region and U.S. national security interests.”

On a question regarding US recognition of the Armenian Genocide and holding Turkey accountable for pursuing its current policy, Tillerson responded to Menendez (D-NJ) and Markey (D-Mass.) by saying, “The tragic atrocities of 1915 remain a painful issue in the relationship between Armenia and Turkey, and it is in the U.S. interest to ensure peaceful and stable relations between the two countries. If confirmed, I will support a full accounting of the historical events and an open dialogue between Armenia and Turkey in the interest of regional stability.”

Under notes exchanged between the Foreign Ministries of Armenia and Russia, citizens of the Russian Federation will now be able to visit Armenia without foreign passports.

Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan has instructed the National Security Service to settle all technical issues to ensure the entry of Russian nationals to Armenia with internal passports.

The Ministry of Economic Development and Investments, the State Committee of Tourism have been instructed to work with other interested bodies and the private sector to prepare a broad package of tourism services for Russian citizens.

“Territorial integrity of a country can’t be opposed to the people’s right to self-determination,” Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan has said.

The comments come after the statement of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the opening of a military camp in Baku.

“We will never allow the creation of the second fictitious Armenian state on the territory of Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh will never be granted independence”, Aliyev said.

“The fact that the state of Azerbaijan appeared on the world’s map less than a century ago, cannot serve as a justification for Azerbaijani leadership’s lack of knowledge of fundamental norms of international law,” Shavarsh Kocharyan said in comments to Panorama.am.

“It is worth reminding that according to the UN Charter the status of self-determined subject is decided by its people, and the territorial integrity of a country can’t be opposed to the people’s right to self-determination,” he added.

“The leadership of Azerbaijan should have read the UN Charter long ago not to become an object of mockery with its rattling illiteracy, and should come to terms with the inevitability of the prospective to recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,” the Deputy Foreign Minister stated.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has led tributes to former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who has died at the age of 82, the BBC reports.

Ayatollah Khamenei hailed a “companion of struggle” despite their differences, saying this was a “difficult” loss.

President Hassan Rouhani praised Mr Rafsanjani as a great man of the Islamic revolution.

The government has announced three days of mourning, making Tuesday a public holiday for his funeral in Tehran.

Mr Rafsanjani, who served as president from 1989 to 1997, was pivotal in the 1979 revolution. But later in life he became a counterpoint to hardline conservatives.

“The different opinions and interpretations at time in this long period could never entirely break up the friendship between us,” said Ayatollah Khamenei.

Mr Rafsanjani died on Sunday in a hospital in Tehran after suffering a heart attack.

His body was taken to Jamaran prayer hall, the residence of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Rohullah Khomeini, where relatives, politicians and religious figures gathered to pay their last respects.

“The CSTO Secretariat was worried to learn about the armed incident near the village of Chinari in the Republic of Armenia,” CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha said in a statement.

“We consider these actions on the territory of a CSTO member state as a provocation, especially against the background of a rather serious incident in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic with application of heavy weapons and armored vehicles in April this year,” Bordyuzha said.

“It seemed that considering the efforts taken by both parties, as well as the leaders of a number of countries, the process of settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh issue could finally proceed more actively,” the Secretary General said.

However, he said, the recent reports from the region on the ceasefire violations, especially the recurrent incident on December 29 that resulted in the death of servicemen, cause serious concerns,” he said.

Thirty-seven Syrian Armenians have moved from Aleppo to Armenia with the support of the IDeA Foundation’s “Support for Syrian Armenians” initiative.

Another 18 people have applied to the “Aleppo” compatriotic union with a request to move to Armenia.

On October 15 the IDeA Foundation announced a $250 000 contribution to Syrian Armenians. The sum will be allocated through the strategic partner AGBU that has been involved in relief efforts from early days of the conflict and other non-governmental organizations who currently implement Syrian Armenian support projects in Armenia – RepatArmenia, Mission Armenia, Aleppo NGO, and the funds will be aimed at planning and implementing the following:

– aid to those who continue to remain in Syria

– aid to those who seek temporary refuge outside Syrian borders

– aid to those who have decided to relocate to Armenia

– aid to those who want to work and live in Armenia

AP – The European Union and Cuba signed a first-ever agreement on closer ties on Monday, and vowed that the arrival in office of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump would not impact on their future relations.

“This is a historic day, we’ve turned a page. Today we’re starting to write together a new chapter,” said EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini as the 28-nation EU’s top diplomats and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez signed the pact in Brussels.

The accord, aimed at supporting economic development and promoting democracy and human rights on the island, will form the legal platform for future ties between Brussels and Havana. The EU’s official stance toward Cuba dates from 1996.

Rodriguez said the priority would be to develop the Cuban economy, but he noted “one major obstacle to trade relations between the EU and Cuba” – the U.S. economic and financial blockade.

“We’ll have to see how things develop. But we very much hope that relations between the European Union and Cuba will continue to grow and enrich both sides,” he said, adding that ties “between the EU and Cuba do not go by Washington.”

Mogherini said the agreement is the result of a long process and that Trump’s inauguration in January “will not affect in any way relations between the European Union and Cuba.”

She also underlined that “the European Union has raised concerns about the extraterritorial effect of U.S. sanctions on Cuba. We will continue to do so because we believe that this is not only in the interest of the island and its people – all of them – but most of all in our case, it’s in the interest of Europeans to tackle this issue.”

Cuba puts the total cost of the 55-year-old embargo at $125.9 billion, including $4.6 billion last year.

The new pact must now be ratified by national and regional parliaments in all EU member states before it can enter completely into force, although the bloc has decided to provisionally apply parts of it immediately.

Two contract servicemen of the Armenian Ministry of Defense – Lieutenant Armen Vesmir Musikyan and Captain Alexan Simonyan – were killed in an accident on Yerevan-Goris highway at about 11 a.m. this morning. Press Service of the Defense Ministry has confirmed the information.

Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan was not in the vehicle, Defense Ministry Spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan has said.