Author: Toneyan Mark

Sweden’s director of public prosecutions has decided to drop the rape investigation into Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, the BBC reports.

Marianne Ny filed a request to the Stockholm District Court to revoke his arrest warrant, apparently ending a seven-year stand-off.

Mr Assange, 45, has lived in the Ecuadoran embassy in London since 2012, trying to avoid extradition.

He feared being extradited to the US if sent to Sweden.

He could face trial in the US over the leaking hundreds of thousands of secret US military and diplomatic documents.

A brief statement ahead of a press conference by the prosecutor later on Friday said: “Director of Public Prosecution, Ms Marianne Ny, has today decided to discontinue the investigation regarding suspected rape (lesser degree) by Julian Assange.”

Private of the Armenian Armed Forces, Lance Sergeant Gagik Mesropyan (born in 1997), was wounded in one of the military units at about 08:40 this morning and succumbed to wounds on the way to hospital, the Investigative Committee reports.

The death is believed to be caused by the breach of rules for handling weapons.

A criminal case has been instigated, investigation into the details of the incident is under way.

The Defense Ministry has issued a statement, offering condolences to the soldiers family and friends.

The Armenian genocide drama The Promise was screened in Aleppo at the initiative of the Armenian National Committee of Syria, Kansasar reports.

Present at the event were Syrian lawmakers, leaders of the Aleppo State University, Armenia’s Consul General to Aleppo Tigran Gevorgyan, state officials, representatives of the Christian, and Arab communities, journalists.

The Promise will be screened in Aleppo for another 15 days.

The Promise centers on a love story involving a medical student (Oscar Isaac), a journalist (Christian Bale), and the Armenian woman (Charlotte Le Bon) who steals their hearts. All three find themselves grappling with the Ottomans’ decision to begin rounding up and persecuting Armenians.

On May 8 a Regional Conference on contemporary issues of Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) in Armenia, Georgia and beyond will kick off in Yerevan. Guests include state officials, religious leaders, and representatives of civil society and academia from Armenia and Georgia, as well as renowned experts from Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Russia and Norway.

The conference will take place in Armenia Marriott hotel, Tigran Metz hall. The working languages will be Armenian, Georgian and English, with simultaneous translation. The event is open to media, and will be live-streamed online.

Opening remarks will be delivered by Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Mr. Vigen Kocharyan and Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Armenia and Georgia Mr. Jos Douma. The OSCE/ODIHR Senior Adviser on FoRB Kishan Manocha and UN OHCHR Senior Human Rights Adviser for the South Caucasus Vladimir Shkolnikov will attend the event. Representatives of Foreign diplomatic missions and international organizations are invited.

The goal of the conference is to provide a platform for key stakeholders to discuss the situation and developments of FoRB in Armenia, Georgia and globally and define recommendations for governments, religious communities and policy makers. The main topics that the Conference will cover are:

• International standards of FoRB and the situation in Armenia and Georgia;
• FoRB and education;
• FoRB and secularity
• FoRB and equality between men and women

Artsvik, Armenia’s representative at Eurovision Song Contest 2017, had her second rehearsal on Eurovision stage in Kyiv.

She will perform her song ‘Fly With Me’ in the first Semi-Final on Tuesday, 9th of May.

The Spanish city of Cullera has officially recognized and condemned the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian Embassy in Spain reports on its Facebook page.

About 30 Spanish cities have now recognized the Armenian Genocide.

Manchester United forward Henrikh Mkhitaryan is prioritising UEFA Europa League glory this term.

“It is one of my goals for this season – to win the Europa League,” he said. “I know it is not going to be easy, particularly at this stage of the competition as there are no easy opponents.”

The reward for United could be more than just lifting that trophy in Stockholm in May. José Mourinho’s men are still jostling for position in the Premier League but, regardless of where they finish domestically, would be assured of at least a play-off place in next season’s UEFA Champions League should they win the UEFA Europa League for the first time.

United face Anderlecht in the quarter-finals, with the first leg in Brussels next Thursday. Mkhitaryan and his team-mates could also make history should they go all the way, since they are aiming to become only the fifth team – after Ajax, Bayern, Chelsea and Juventus – to win all three major UEFA trophies.

“Obviously we understand the importance of the tie with Anderlecht in the quarter-finals,” the Armenian international told “We know that we are going to have two very tough games and, of course, Anderlecht are not easy opponents. I know this because I have watched some of their games in Europe; they are playing very well and have very good players of high quality.”

Charles Aznavour has expressed support for the choice of the citizens of Armenia in Sunday’s elections.

“Whoever is elected by my people, I accept the choice,” the French Armenian singer told a press conference at TASS.

According to him, it would be incorrect to criticize the country from abroad. “I dislike people, who leave the country, but criticize its policy. For me everything is brilliant,” he said.

Aznavour confessed that he does not like to discuss politics. “Although I have friends, who are politicians, I never talk about politics. I talk to them about art – music, cinema, painting. We have plenty of topics,” he noted.

Armenia held parliamentary elections on April 2. According to preliminary results announced by the Central Electoral Commission, four political forces will make it to the National Assembly –Republican Party, Tsarukyan alliance, Yelk bloc and Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Austria’s Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, today joined the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ call for the sides to renew engagement in the political settlement process as expressed in their statement on 29 March.

“The fighting and the violence we witnessed one year ago – the worst in the past two decades – caused destruction, suffering and human losses. It was a vivid reminder of how quickly the machinery of war can undermine efforts for peace. On this occasion, we call on all sides to refrain from any actions that jeopardize the ceasefire. All sides must live up to their commitment to strictly observe their international humanitarian obligations – war crimes can never be justified,” said Kurz.

Recalling the outbreak of violence in April 2016 along the Line of Contact, he underlined his hope for fresh impetus in the negotiations: “Clashes and serious violations of the ceasefire on the Line of Contact, resulting in casualties, were of particular concern to us throughout the past year. It is now high time for a focus on pragmatic and practical steps for confidence-building as well as a resumption of substantive negotiations,” emphasized Kurz.

In this context, Kurz voiced his regret at the further loss of lives since the tragic events in April 2016 and expressed his condolences to the affected families. “The aftershock of the fighting one year ago has made it more difficult for Armenians and Azerbaijanis to believe in peace, but as I have stated on numerous occasions, there is no military solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We should plan for peace now, and not allow war to return with all of its terrible consequences,” Kurz added.

Kurz also commended the work of Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk and his team, illustrated by the active facilitation of a humanitarian operation by the International Committee of the Red Cross in February 2017 to retrieve the remains of the deceased servicemen.

“The OSCE Chairmanship stands ready to contribute to the efforts of the sides to further advance and implement the agreements reached during the summits in Vienna and St. Petersburg in 2016,” concluded Kurz.

Armenia and the European Union initialed the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement today.

From the Armenian side the document was signed by Armenia’s chief negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Garen Nazaryan and First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments Garegin Melkonyan.

Luc Devigne, Director of the EU Department for Russia, Eastern Partnership, the regional cooperation with Central Asia and the OSCE, and Petros Sourmelis, Head of Unit in the European Commission,  signed the document on behalf of the European Union.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian welcomed the visit of the EU officials and noted that the document would open a new page in the relations between Armenia and the EU member states.

The Agreement to be signed later this year will reflect the depth, level and volume of relations between Armenia and the European Union, Minister Nalbandian said.

He added that “the document is a testament to the importance Armenia attaches to cooperation with the EU.”