Category: 2018

ArmenPress, Armenia

Metro, UK

Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mesut Ozil have silenced critics, insists Arsene Wenger

by  Sean Kearns, Sunday 11 Mar 2018 12:42 pm

Arsene Wenger believes Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mesut Ozil are ‘combining well together’ and have quashed talk that the pair can’t play together.

Mkhitaryan, 29, joined Arsenal in January in a swap deal for Alexis Sanchez and scored his first goal for the club against AC Milan on Thursday after a slow start to life at the Emirates.

The Armenian’s arrival has prompted a tactical shift in some matches with Ozil and Mkhitaryan playing off a central striker as opposed to the German having free rein at number 10.

Many questioned whether the pair could play with one another given they both prefer an attacking midfield position but Wenger believes the duo can play together in the long-term.

‘Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored his first goal for us and Mesut Ozill added two more assists [against AC MIlan],’

Wenger wrote in his programme notes for the Watford game.

‘They are combining well and I always think when you have a good understanding of the game you can always play together. ‘That’s a little bit the art of combining. The anticipation and technical quality.

‘I could never understand the idea that good players could not play together, which is basically what people were saying’.

Daily Nation, Kenya

Sunday

Arsenal’s Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan (left) celebrates with Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after scoring their third goal during their English Premier League match against Watford at the Emirates Stadium in London on . PHOTO | BEN STANSALL |  AFP

LONDON

Arsene Wenger received a welcome boost as Arsenal eased a little of the pressure on their beleaguered boss with a 3-0 win over Watford on Sunday.

After a wretched run left Wenger fighting to save his job, a 2-0 win at AC Milan in the Europa League on Thursday offered the Frenchman temporary respite from the torrent of abuse he has endured this season.

Maintaining the momentum from that last-16 victory in the San Siro, Wenger’s side ended a run of three successive Premier League defeats with a solid display at the Emirates Stadium.

Shkodran Mustafi’s early opener and a cool finish from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put them in control.

In a moment of sweet vindication, Watford captain Troy Deeney, who had questioned Arsenal’s spirit earlier this season, had a second-half penalty saved by Petr Cech.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s strike wrapped up the points, but there was concern for Wenger as Mustafi limped off in the closing stages.

Arsenal, who had lost eight of their previous 14 matches in all competitions, remain in sixth place and trail fourth-placed Tottenham by 10 points ahead of their rivals’ trip to Bournemouth later on Sunday.

Winning the Europa League guarantees qualification for next season’s Champions League and, with Arsenal’s hopes of achieving that goal via a top-four finish looking bleak, it was no surprise Wenger prioritised the continental competition.

With the second leg against Milan looming on Thursday, Wenger rested Aaron Ramsey and Laurent Koscielny and left Jack Wilshere on the bench.

Aubameyang was one of the established stars who started for Arsenal and the Gabon striker should have opened the scoring when he raced onto Mesut Ozil’s pass and shot straight at Watford goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis.

For the second successive home game, a significant amount of seats were empty as fans stayed away in protest at Wenger’s woes.

The subdued atmosphere lent an ‘end of an era’ feel to the match, but it didn’t bother Arsenal, who had a point to prove to Watford captain Deeney.

Deeney had infuriated Arsenal by accusing them of a lack of “cojones” after Watford beat Wenger’s men in October.

Fuelled by that jibe, Arsenal took the lead in the eighth minute.

When Ozil swung a deep free-kick towards the far post, Mustafi punished slack marking by Jose Holebas and Adrian Mariappa as the German defender powered a close-range header past Karnezis.

RARE SMILE

Watford weren’t fazed and Abdoulaye Doucoure’s low strike deflected off Mustafi to force a good save from Cech.

Cech alertly kept out Richarlison’s dipping free-kick, but Roberto Pereyra should have done better than blaze the rebound over.

Ozil was equally profligate when he weaved through on goal, only to clip his shot too close to Karnezis.

There was less assurance about Arsenal towards the end of the half and Cech had to plunge to his left to save Richarlison’s header.

But Watford couldn’t take advantage and Granit Xhaka’s 20-yard blast after the interval almost deceived Karnezis before he grabbed the ball just before it crossed the line.

With the momentum back in their favour, Aubameyang doubled Arsenal’s lead in the 59th minute.

Mkhitaryan was the catalyst, slipping a pass to Aubameyang, who beat the Watford offside trap and rounded Karnezis before slotting in his third goal since his club-record move from Borussia Dortmund in January.

There was more cause for Wenger to wear a rare smile a few minutes later.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles conceded a penalty with a foul on Pereyra, but when Deeney stepped up to take the spot-kick, Cech made a fine save that preserved his 200th clean sheet in the Premier League.

Mkhitaryan bagged his second goal in successive matches with a low strike that crept under Karnezis in the 77th minute.

Team Talk

Date published: Sunday 11th March 2018 3:21

<img src=””http://d3vlf99qeg6bpx.cloudfront.net/content/uploads/2018/03/11150841/Arsenal-v-Watford-Premier-League.jpg” alt=”” srcset=”http://d3vlf99qeg6bpx.cloudfront.net/content/uploads/2018/03/11150841/Arsenal-v-Watford-Premier-League.jpg 700w, 300w, 200w, 170w, 128w, 469w, 236w” sizes=”(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px” title=”Arsenal v Watford – Premier League” />

News.am, Armenia

Armenia international Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored the second goal for the Gunners during the English Premier League match against Watford.

Mkhitaryan scored in the second half of the match, making the score 3-0. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan each contributed a goal and an assist.

A few days ago, Mkhitaryan scored the first goal for the Gunners in the first half of the Europa League last-16 first leg between AC Milan and Arsenal at San Siro.

Agence France Presse

March 9, 2018 Friday 2:15 AM GMT

Baghdad, March 9 2018

 

As jihadists swept across Iraq three years ago, he rescued a treasure trove of ancient religious manuscripts from near-certain destruction. Father Najeeb Michaeel is now training fellow Iraqis to preserve their heritage.

 

“My duty is to save our heritage, a significant treasure,” the Dominican friar told AFP in a telephone interview from his office in the city of Arbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

 

“We can’t save a tree if we don’t save its roots, and a man without culture is a dead man.”

 

In August 2014, as the Islamic State (IS) group charged towards Qaraqosh, once Iraq’s largest Christian city, Father Najeeb filled his car with rare manuscripts, 16th century books and irreplaceable records.

 

He fled towards the relative safety of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

 

With two other friars from his Dominican order, he also moved the Oriental Manuscript Digitisation Centre (OMDC).

 

Founded in 1990, the centre works in partnership with Benedictine monks to preserve and restore documents. It also scans damaged manuscripts recovered from churches and villages across northern Iraq.

 

In all, some 8,000 Chaldean, Syrian, Armenian and Nestorian manuscripts have been digitally copied.

 

Today, the OMDC has about 10 employees, “displaced people who have turned into professionals” who host researchers from France, Italy or Canada, the friar said.

 

– ‘Whole heart into it’ –

 

The new recruits are all academics who lost their jobs after fleeing their homes during the jihadist takeover.

 

“They are working for the future and they know it. They put their whole heart into it,” said Father Najeeb, whose team includes Christians and Muslims.

 

Thousands of religious relics and sites, both Christian and Muslim, were destroyed by IS before Iraqi security forces finally declared victory against the extremists in December.

 

“I’ve trained four or five different teams,” said Father Najeeb, explaining that as Iraqi troops advanced against IS, many trainees returned home, forcing him to take on fresh recruits.

 

The centre now makes several copies of each document to guarantee its preservation. Originals are returned to the owners, one copy is kept on file and another posted on its online digital database.

 

Until 2007, these documents were kept in the convent of Al-Saa church, also known as Our Lady of the Hour, in the city of Mosul, which became the major battleground of Iraq’s war against IS.

 

The archives contain nearly 850 ancient manuscripts in Aramaic, Arabic and other languages, letters dating back three centuries and some 50,000 books.

 

Al-Saa church takes its name from its clock, which was a gift from France in 1880, given to the Dominicans in recognition of their social and cultural work.

 

The Dominican order had opened 25 schools across Mosul and its surrounding province, and — on the backs of camels trekking across the desert — brought Iraq its first printing house in 1857.

 

– ‘Peace, not the sword’-

 

But attacks against churches in Mosul were on the rise even before IS seized control of the city in 2014. At least five priests and a bishop had been murdered since 2004.

 

“I was on the list of religious figures to kill,” said Father Najeeb.

 

In 2007, he moved the archives to Qaraqosh, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) away.

 

Thanks to “a premonition” in late July 2014, the Dominicans relocated the archives once again, this time to Iraqi Kurdistan.

 

When IS pushed into the Christian city less than two weeks later, the friars filled their cars with the remaining documents and followed suit.

 

Jihadists tried to stop them at the Kalak crossroads into Iraqi Kurdistan but Kurdish peshmerga fighters intervened. The friars were left without a car and forced to continue on foot.

 

“As soon as I saw anyone with their hands empty, I handed them some of the cultural treasures and asked them to return them once they entered Kurdistan,” said the friar. “I got everything back.”

 

When he returned to Mosul last year to attend the first post-IS Christmas mass, Friar Najeeb found his church in ruins.

 

The tower that housed the clock had vanished, the convent had been converted into a jail, rooms transformed into workshops for bombs and explosive belts, and gallows had replaced the church altar.

 

But Father Najeeb, who plays organ and electric guitar, remains hopeful. “I’m optimistic. The last word will be one of peace, not the sword,” he said.

 

 

 

 

 

ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia

March 9, 2018 Friday

ANCA calls US Congress to support the bill of $ 70 mln aid to Armenia and Artsakh

 

Yerevan March 09

 

Naira Badalyan. In a letter circulated for signatures today to their U.S. House colleagues, the Congressional Armenian Caucus is calling upon Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) and Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-NY) of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations to back a $70 million Fiscal Year 2019 aid package for Artsakh and Armenia, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

 

“We want to thank Congressman Pallone and his colleagues in the leadership of the Armenian Caucus for seeking the support of their U.S. House colleagues for a ‘peace and prosperity,’ aid package for Artsakh and Armenia,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “The common sense policy prescriptions and targeted appropriations they are calling for will return long-term dividends for U.S. security and economic interests while helping to advance American values across the region for decades to come.” The dollar amounts and policy priorities requested by the Armenian Caucus, which annually spearheads bipartisan efforts to secure support for Armenian-related aid appropriation, align with ANCA testimony submitted last month to the Senate panel writing the foreign aid bill: — Artsakh: $6 million to complete de-mining and rehabilitate the disabled, $4 million to promote peace via the Royce-Engel proposals;– Armenia: $30 million in economic aid, $10 million in military aid, and $20 million to help Armenia serve as a safe haven for Middle East refugees;– Azerbaijan: Suspend all U.S. military assistance and strengthen Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act The ANCA has also called upon Congressional appropriators to encourage the Trump Administration to make full use of the U.S.-Armenia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) and Economic Task Force, and, most urgently, to move forward with the long-overdue negotiation of a modern U.S. Armenia Double Tax Treaty.

 

 

Armenpress News Agency , Armenia

March 9, 2018 Friday

 

 

YEREVAN, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS. Political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan believes that the latest Azerbaijani military exercises shouldn’t cause any concern.

 

In an interview to ARMENPRESS Mr. Melik-Shahnazaryan said Azerbaijan holds such exercises every year, and even several times during a single year.

 

“One of their goals is for it [exercises] to be viewed as a threat in Armenia or a reason for concern, but naturally I think there is no reason to be worried – generally these kind of processes shouldn’t deserve the attention of our society,” he said, adding that the intelligence level of the Armenian military is on a very high level.

 

According to the political analyst Azerbaijan is carrying out domestic propaganda by holding these exercises, but at the same time the Azeri military seek to test the combat readiness of their armed forces. “I believe this time they’ll try to learn something new again”, he said.

 

Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan didn’t also rule out that such military drills can be pre-election measure.

 

The Armenian foreign ministry also commented on Azerbaijan’s decision to hold the large scale military exercises.

 

“25 thousand people, 250 units of armored battle vehicles, 1000 missile-artillery systems, 50 aviation units will take part in the largest election campaign. Analysts are racking their brains over the speech topic of the candidate with the biggest star on his epaulette”, foreign ministry spokesperson Tigran Balayan mockingly said.

 

The Azeri president ordered the large scale military exercises to be held March 12-17.

 

English –translator/editor: Stepan Kocharyan

Cyprus News Agency

March 9, 2018 Friday

 

 

The Cyprus solution and the recent Turkish provocations in the island`s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) were discussed during a meeting the new Ambassador of Cyprus to Armenia, based in Moscow, Leonidas S. Markides had with President Serzh Sargsyan upon presenting his credentials.

 

According to a press release by the Foreign Ministry, the President of Armenia referred to the traditionally high level of relations between Cyprus and Armenia and stressed the importance of the continuous efforts in maintaining and enhancing the centuries-long warm and friendly ties between the Armenian and Cypriot people.

 

Ambassador Markides conveyed to the Armenian President greetings and best wishes on behalf of the President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades and briefed him on the latest developments on the Cyprus issue as well as the recent provocative actions of Turkey in the EEZ of Cyprus.

 

Markides also had a thorough discussion with the Armenian President on issues relating to the political dialogue that exists between the two countries and the cooperation in the framework of international organizations. They also discussed the effective use of the existing legal framework for the further development of cooperation in various areas between Cyprus and Armenia, including the development of commercial ties and steps aimed at expanding cooperation in the fields of tourism and culture.

 

The Ambassador thanked President Sargsyan for his warm welcome and assured that he would do his utmost to promote even further the exemplary friendship and cooperation that exists in all areas of relations between Armenia and Cyprus.

 

Last month, Turkish warships blocked twice a vessel bound for drilling activities in Cyprus’ EEZ block 3 on behalf of Italian energy company ENI.

 

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Numerous UN-backed negotiatons , aiming at reuniting the island under a federal roof, failed to yield results.

Hindustan Times, India

March 9, 2018 Friday

 

New Delhi

 

New Delhi, March 9 — Many might think that the interest of Hindi language is waning among the youth, but Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) ambassador Anita Verma begs to disagree. On the contrary, she is making sure that people learn and love the language worldwide. Beginning her career as a teacher in Municipal Corporation of Delhi schools, it was her love for Hindi that made her promote the language in different spheres.

 

She wrote books for children, worked in media, and taught students the value of mother tongue. Verma’s passion was noticed by ICCR and she was sent to the First Republic of Armenia as a Hindi teacher. “When I went to Armenia, I realised that students were learning 40 different world languages, but not Hindi. It was hard to instil interest in people who couldn’t differentiate between Hindi and Hindu,” says Verma. Verma’s first batch comprised 10 students.”My tenure in the Yerevan State Linguistic University was supposed to be of two years, but with the rise of interest, it was extended by a year. My students embraced the language and took keen interest in Indian culture. They translated my poems in Armenian and Russian. They even learnt to drape saris. Such was the effect of Hindi,” she says, adding that it was no less than an achievement that “At the end of my term, I had over 50 students. I also created a dictionary which had translation among three languages – Hindi, English and Armenian. I taught them stories from the Ramayana. It’s a great feeling to see them sing our national anthem!” For her contribution in Yerevan, Verma was presented the International Foreign Language Teaching award by the ministry of Armenia. The embassy of India published her poetry book for children and translated it to Armenian. Thereafter, she went on to teach Hindi in University of Bucharest for two years. “My articles on Romania got published in local newspapers, too,” she says. While she has done her bit for her mother tongue, Verma doesn’t want to stop here. She says, “I want kids to take more interest in their mother tongue. Hindi is a beautiful language and I’m always up for teaching it.”