Author: Lilit Nahapetian

 

 

 

The Golden Apricot 13^th International Film Festival will be held in Yerevan July 10-17. This year’s event will be dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Armenia’s independence.

More than 900 applications for participation have been received from 91 countries, 135 films have been included in the competition and non-competition programs.  The festival will start with the screening of Hamo Beknazaryan’s Zareh, Director of Golden Apricot IFF Harutyun Khachatryan told reporters today at a press conference hosted by the Ministry of Culture.

The best feature and documentary films, produced during the 25 years of independence will be presented to spectators in a special program titled “Armenian Cinema: Our Days.”

To coordinate the program film critics have been invited, who not only will introduce the story behind every film, but will also hold a round table to rebound the history of the independent cinema, the issues and the ways of its development. The film A Story of People in War and Peace (2007) by Vardan Hovhannisyan will open the program.

How has the Golden Apricot Film Festival contributed to the development of Armenian cinematography over the 13 years of its existence? “We stepped on the path of independence without studios, programs and new films, while today we are welcoming the 25th anniversary of statehood with new names and films in Armenian cinematography,” Harutyun Khachatryan said.

Second, he said, “we showed the high level of Armenian cinematography,” and finally “Armenian filmmakers worldwide were given the chance to establish ties with the Motherland.”

Golden Apricot Film Festival in cooperation with British Council in Armenia will present a special film program, dedicated to the 400th anniversary of renowned British writer William Shakespeare’s death. The best films, based on Shakespeare’s works, will be screened in the frames of the program.

The “French New Cinema” program will be realized in cooperation with the Embassy of Francein Armenia. It includes the best three films of French production.  The program will open with Two Remis, Two, (2015) by Pierre Léon.

The “Danish New Cinema” program will be implemented in cooperation with the Danish Film Institute. The program will present the best Danish films of the last five years. The Commune (2015) by Thomas Winterberg will open the program.

The four best films by Basque directors will be presented in a separate film program titled “Basque New Cinema.” The film Autumn without Berlin (2015)by Lara Izagirre is to open the film program.

The General Partner of the festival is Armenia’s Leading Telecommunications Operator VivaCell-MTS.  The 10-year anniversary of cooperation between Golden Apricot Yerevan IFF and VivaCell-MTS will be celebrated this year.

Photo: AP

 

Singer Christina Grimmie, who had competed on the US TV programme The Voice, has died of her wounds after being shot in Florida, police say, the BBC reports.

They say a man opened fire on her when she was signing autographs after a concert in Orlando.

The assailant – who was tackled by Ms Grimmie’s brother – then shot and killed himself. The 22-year-old singer died in a local hospital.

In 2014, Ms Grimmie finished third during season six of The Voice.

In a tweet, Orlando’s police wrote: “With deep regret, we have confirmed Christina Grimmie, @TheRealGrimmie has died from her injuries.”

United Nations agencies congratulate Belarus for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of both HIV and syphilis and Armenia and the Republic of Moldova for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, respectively.

During a ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York, elimination validation certificates were presented to the ministers of health of the three European countries, who are attending the UN General Assembly High-level Meeting on ending AIDS.

“To ensure children are born healthy is to give them the best possible start in life. It is immensely encouraging to see countries succeed in eliminating mother-to-child transmission of these two diseases”, said WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan. “This is a tremendous achievement – a clear signal to other countries that elimination is possible and that the world is on the way to an AIDS-free generation.”

Ending the epidemics of AIDS by 2030 is a key target of the Sustainable Development Goal on health and well-being.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been working in Armenia, Belarus and the Republic of Moldova since 2010 with the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), UNICEF, and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.

“This is a success for these countries and a celebration for children and families. We expect that these achievements will inspire many other European countries to seek validation that they have ended mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis”, added Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe. “It is only by ensuring truly universal access to HIV and syphilis prevention, treatment and care for all, while respecting individual rights, that the HIV and syphilis epidemics in children will be eliminated”.

“After two decades of intensive efforts in the Region, we now have validated proof that it is possible to realize the right of all children to be born HIV-free,” said Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia. “As we move forward, it is important that children have equitable access to services that can help them thrive and develop in a supportive family environment, with their mothers alive and nurturing their well-being.”

Armenia, Belarus and the Republic of Moldova have worked to ensure early universal access to free services for antenatal care, HIV and syphilis testing for pregnant women and their partners, treatment for women who test positive, early diagnosis in infants, free infant formula and community engagement. These services are provided as part of an equitable, accessible, universal health system in which maternal and child health programmes are integrated with programmes for HIV and sexually transmitted infections.

“The remarkable achievements of these countries in eliminating HIV and syphilis transmission to infants underscore the importance of robust maternal health services,” according to Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director, UNFPA. “Only by offering pregnant women integrated HIV and syphilis care as part of a rights-based, comprehensive package of sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning, can we truly keep the mother–baby pair alive and thriving.”

The validation process for the three countries was conducted by WHO in collaboration with UNAIDS, UNICEF and UNFPA.

Asbarez – On May 26, a racist blurb against the Armenian people was written in student-funded satirical paper, The Koala, at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Disappointed in the distasteful writings of the paper which touched upon stereotypes, comparisons to animals, and the Armenian peoples’ genocidal history, the UCSD’s Armenian Students’ Association, Alpha Gamma Alpha, Alpha Epsilon Omega, and the All-Armenian Students’ Association released a statement regarding their concern with the lack of inclusivity The Koala exudes and calling upon the university, that rejects any act of discrimination, to “honor their promise to take action due to the clear violation.”

“To whom it may concern,

At the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), we are proud to promote a climate of inclusivity and diversity, and this includes all students of different race, ethnicity, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. As Armenian students who attend this institution, our respective organizations (the Armenian Students’ Association, Alpha Gamma Alpha, Alpha Epsilon Omega, and the All-Armenian Students’ Association) aim to uphold the Principles of Community created by the University and every student’s right to feel safe on campus.

On May 26th, 2016, it was brought to our attention that The Koala, an independently student funded paper at the University of California, San Diego, recently published a problematic and hateful blurb aimed at the Armenian population, violating the Principles of Community. In the satirical segment, titled “Top 5 Downsides of Having an Armenian Baby,” Armenians were ridiculed not only for their physical appearance, but also stereotypically compared to Kim Kardashian and to animals, also suggesting an Armenian baby be sacrificed to Turks. Although we understand that The Koala is a satirical paper, we do not appreciate this poor taste in journalism, which was very clearly aimed at our minority group. Satire is aimed to support victims, not further isolate and demean them.

Most specifically, the segment made light of the Armenian people’s genocidal past. The Armenians are an ethnic minority who experienced genocide from 1915 to 1923 by the hand of the Ottoman Empire, annihilating 1.5 million individuals and leaving thousands without homes or families in the process. We are appalled that a group of supposedly educated collegiates in the 21st century would feel the need to publish such ignorant, hateful, and insensitive content. Mocking the atrocities that were inflicted on our ancestors and the trans-generational trauma we as modern day Armenians experience is crossing the line. More than an entire century after the genocide started, it is painful to see that certain individuals still refuse to acknowledge the severity of the situation. We as Armenians have prospered and contributed immensely to the United States as a whole, yet we are perpetually made to feel unwelcome by acts such as this. Furthermore, though we comprise a small percentage of the student population at UCSD, we work to add to the collective consciousness of the UCSD student body by educating about the Armenian Genocide, and also stand with other minority groups who experience outright racism and hate-speech on a daily basis.

The Koala has published various other problematic articles throughout its existence aimed at various ethnic groups and social issues. According to the Principles of Community, UCSD rejects “acts of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, and political beliefs, and, will confront and appropriately respond to such acts.” We as Armenians at the university, will not stand for this form of harassment and call upon the administration to honor their promise to take action due to the clear violation. As a group who has endured victimization throughout our history, this form of hate will not be tolerated in the 21st century. We refuse to feel unsafe on our own campus and we will fervently pursue our efforts in bringing forth justice not only for this isolated incident, but for the hundreds of other articles published in the past aimed at other minority groups.

We acknowledge that the writers at The Koala, and any other individual at the University are entitled to the freedom of speech. We also acknowledge that any statement made by The Koala does not reflect the views of UCSD proper. That being said, we are concerned that a school that prides itself on hosting an inclusive campus climate would allow such hate and discrimination to continue for so long. It is time to put an end to this lude behavior that has clearly made thousands of student in the past feel unsafe and thousands more to come.”

Photo: AP

 

Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff is to face trial after the Senate voted to impeach and suspend her, the BBC reports.

Ms Rousseff is accused of illegally manipulating finances to hide a growing public deficit ahead of her re-election in 2014, which she denies.

Senators voted to suspend her by 55 votes to 22 after an all-night session that lasted more than 20 hours.

Vice-President Michel Temer will now assume the presidency while Ms Rousseff’s trial takes place.

The trial may last up to 180 days, which would mean Ms Rousseff would be suspended during the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, which start on 5 August.

Ms Rousseff made a last-ditch appeal to the Supreme Court to stop proceedings, but the move was rejected. Her suspension brings an end to 13 years of the rule of her Workers’ Party.

Photo: Reuters

 

The UN says the situation in Syria’s city of Aleppo is catastrophic, after dozens of people were killed in attacks on targets including a hospital, the BBC reports.

Air strikes on and around the Medecins Sans Frontieres-backed al-Quds hospital killed at least 27 people, while more than 30 died in other attacks.

UN envoy Jan Egeland said the next days would be vital for the humanitarian aid lifeline for much of Syria.

The violence has left a partial truce hanging by a thread.

UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura warned the cessation of hostilities agreed between non-jihadist rebels and government forces on 27 February was now “barely alive”.

Moscow calls on Baku and Yerevan to demonstrate restraint and to resume negotiations, Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

“What is happening now confirms our thesis that it is especially important to demonstrate restraint and move toward restoring stability now,” Zakharova said. “It is necessary to resume the negotiations process for long-term settlement,” she added.

“The priority task now is to calm the situation, to prevent new bloodshed and resume the negotiation process,” she noted.

“Azerbaijan unleashed a large-scale military aggression against the people of Nagorno Karabakh, violating the international humanitarian law and committing war crimes,” member of the Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Samvel Farmanyan said at PACE plenary session in Strasbourg. The full speech is provided below:

“Almost two months have passed since the last part-session of the Assembly. And we discuss here what has been done in this period of time. Evidently our values have been brutally and cynically attacked, first in the very heart of Europe – bloody terror attacks in Brussels, and then on the southeastern shore of our continent – in Nagorno-Karabakh where Azerbaijan unleashed a large-scale military aggression against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh violating international humanitarian law and committing war crimes. Let me join the words of sympathy addressed to the families of all victims. I also join the voices of those hundreds of thousands of people who marched yesterday in Brussels and in different capitals of Europe and the globe since the bloody escalation of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh calling for peace.

The progress report refers to one of the notorious discussions we had here in January. Let me recall, Chairman, that the voices against the controversial reports by Robert Walter and Milica Markovic in this very hemi-cycle were based on the tangible assumption that any attempt to approve groundless and one-sided resolutions or any selective application to the principles of international law will only damage the peace process and serve as smokescreen for the Azerbaijani autocratic leadership to resume large scale military actions undermining the peace process and threatening fragile stability in the entire region of South Caucasus. While raising concerns we had in mind such development of the events that happened afterwards and unfortunately, our concerns became to be a kind of bad prediction that cost hundreds of innocent lives from all sides of the conflict.

While considering this progress report, colleagues, we can’t jump over the efforts the permanent bodies of the Assembly have taken or rather mistaken regarding this tragedy. A repeatedly clear message was delivered to Azerbaijani leadership since the very birth of escalation that there is no alternative to the peaceful settlement of the conflict and that war is not an option. Presidents of France, United States, Russia, heads of dozens of other countries and hundreds of foreign ministries, Secretary Generals of the UN, OSCE, CoE, high-level officials of EU, dozens of other international organizations joint their voice and reputation to deliver that unequivocal and uncompromising message to President Aliev to stop military aggression.

While increasingly strong and univocal message of the international community to Aliev was a window of hope for peace to avoid further escalation of the situation, irresponsible rhetoric of Mr. Agramunt, came to contradict our Assembly to the international community this time not by ignorance of excessive human rights violations in Azerbaijan but by his exceptionally dangerous wording clearly siding himself with Azerbaijan in that particularly fragile situation. Unfortunately, Mr. Agramunt’s statement came to once again confirm his impartiality as President of the Assembly and empowers media reports about his alleged engagement in Azerbaijani lobbying structures seriously damaging Assembly’s image in the eyes of millions of Europeans and all members of our House of Democracy.

The Government of the Republic of Cyprus monitors closely the worrying developments in Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh, following the violations of the armistice line from Azerbaijani military forces, the Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs siad in a statement.

“We denounce the use of force and the loss of life, particularly civilian casualties, and we urge Azerbaijan to respect the status quo ante. There is no alternative to the peaceful settlement of the conflict and the Cypriot Government highlights the important role of the OSCE Minsk Group and the three co-Chairs towards this end,” the statement reads.

At the same time, Cyprus urges Turkey to refrain from any activities and statements that further destabilize the unfolding situation.

The Armenian national team will hold two friendlies as part of a training campaign in the United States.

On May 28 Armenia will face Guatemala at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and will play against El Salvador on June 1. The match will take place at the StubHub Center stadium in Los Angeles.