Category: News

TBS’s late-night show host Conan O’Brien is taking his show to Armenia, according to the

The Conan star will be the first American late-night host to ever do a show from the country. O’Brien’s longtime Armenian assistant, Sona Movsesian, will join him when they shoot the installment of his TBS show, which will air at 11 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10.

The trip will mark the first time in Aremia for both O’Brien and Movsesian. “I think it’s every boss’s responsibility to take their assistant back to their ancestral land,” said O’Brien. “That’s why I’m going to make sure my next assistant was born in a five-star resort in Tuscany.”

In addition to doing shows in New York, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta, the host most recently filmed Conan from Comic Con in San Diego. In the spring, he made headlines as the first American late-night host to shoot in Cuba in more than 50 years.

O’Brien is planning to continue to do shows from various locations around the globe, with specific details being released over the next few months.

Conan airs Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m.

British-born economist Angus Deaton has won the 2015 economics Nobel Prize for his work on consumption, poverty and welfare that has helped governments to improve policy through tools such as household surveys and tax changes, Reuters reports.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the microeconomist’s work had been a major influence on policy making, helping for example to determine how different social groups are affected by specific changes in taxation.

“To design economic policy that promotes welfare and reduces poverty, we must first understand individual consumption choices,” the award-giving body said in announcing the 8 million Swedish crown ($978,000) prize.

“More than anyone else, Angus Deaton has enhanced this understanding,” it said.

Deaton, 69, has spearheaded the use of household survey data in developing countries, especially data on consumption, to measure living standards and poverty, the academy said.

A multi-national inspection group of the Republic of Turkey is carrying out inspection in Armenia deom October 11 to 14 under the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, Press Service of the Armenian Ministry of Defense Reports.

The inspection aims to check the authenticity of information provided by the Republic of Armenia on the quantity of armaments, equipment and military staff restricted by the CFE Treaty, the scheme of the military units and plan of the buildings.

Five resolutions were adopted during the 31st Ministerial Conference of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) in Yerevan, one of them related to the “prevention on genocide” initiated by Armenia. The resolution refers to the OIF Secretary General Michaëlle Jean’s statement on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, in which she paid tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims and expressed her support to the Armenian people.

The resolution notes that the Organization strongly condemns all genocides and crimes against humanity that have claimed a huge number of human lives, pays tribute to the memory of the victims of those crimes and pledges to take measures to reinforce the mechanisms of prevention of genocides and crimes against humanity.

Under the resolution, the Organization undertakes to reinforce the cooperation between states and governments to put an end to the impunity of those responsible for the crimes.

Also, the Ministerial Conference adopted resolutions on “Francophonie as an area of peace, tolerance, plurality, dialogue and mutual understanding,” “Challenges to the 21^st Conference of the member states of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Changes (UNFCCC),” “Refugees and Migrants,” “Youth Participation in Francophone Structures.” The first two were initiated by Armenia.

Azerbaijan bears full responsibility for the escalation of tensions in the Karabakh conflict zone, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said at the 31st Ministerial Conference of the International Organization of La Francophonie. He informed the participants about the ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan, which claimed a number of human lives.

Minister Nalbandian said Azerbaijan bears full responsibility for the escalation of the situation, and stressed it’s proven by Baku’s refusal to accept the Minsk Group proposals on the settlement of the conflict, the frequency of deliberate military provocations.

The Minister added that by turning down the Minsk Group offer to create mechanisms for investigating border incidents, Azerbaijan creates obstacles for the efforts of the international community towards the peaceful resolution of the conflict.

The Armenian Minister reminded that at the 15^th Summit of la Francophonie the heads of state and government of the member states expressed their unequivocal support for the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group targeted at the resolution of the Karabakh conflict.

The European Court of Human Rights will be delivering a Grand Chamber judgment in the case of Perinçek v. Switzerland (application no. 27510/08) at a public hearing on Thursday 15 October 2015 at 11.45 a.m. in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, according to the Court’s website.

The case concerns the criminal conviction of a Turkish politician for publicly expressing the view, in Switzerland, that the mass deportations and massacres suffered by the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 and the following years had not amounted to genocide.

The applicant, Doğu Perinçek, is a Turkish national who was born in 1942 and lives in Ankara (Turkey). He is a doctor of laws and chairman of the Turkish Workers’ Party. In 2005 Mr Perinçek participated in three public events in Switzerland, in the course of which he expressed the view that the mass deportations and massacres suffered by the Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire from 1915 onwards had not amounted to genocide. The Switzerland-Armenia Association lodged a criminal complaint against Mr Perinçek on account of the statement made at the first event.

The investigation was later expanded to cover the two other statements as well. On 9 March 2007 the Lausanne District Police Court found him guilty of the offence under Article 261 bis § 4 of the Swiss Criminal Code, holding in particular that his motives appeared to be racist and nationalistic and that his statements did not contribute to the historical debate. The court ordered him to pay 90 day-fines of 100 Swiss francs each, suspended for two years, a fine of 3,000 Swiss francs, which could be replaced by 30 days imprisonment, and 1,000 Swiss francs in compensation to the Switzerland-Armenia Association for non-pecuniary damage.

Mr Perinçek appealed against the judgment, seeking to have it set aside and additional investigative measures taken to establish the state of research and the positions of historians on the events of 1915 and the following years. The Criminal Cassation Division of the Vaud Cantonal Court dismissed the appeal on 13 June 2007. The Federal Court dismissed a further appeal by Mr Perinçek in a judgment of 12 December 2007. Mr Perinçek complains that his criminal conviction and punishment for having publicly stated that there had not been an Armenian genocide was in breach of his right to freedom of expression under Article 10. He also complains, relying on Article 7 (no punishment without law), that the wording of Article 261 bis § 4 of the Swiss Criminal Code is too vague.

The application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 10 June 2008. In a judgment of 17 December 2013 a Chamber of the Court held, by five votes to two, that there had been a violation of Article 10 of the Convention. The Swiss Government requested that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber under Article 43 (referral to the Grand Chamber), and on 2 June 2014 the panel of the Grand Chamber accepted that request. A Grand Chamber hearing was held on 28 January 2015. In the Grand Chamber proceedings, third-party comments were received from the Turkish Government, who had exercised their right to intervene in the case (Article 36 § 1 of the Convention). Third-party comments were also received from the Armenian and French Governments, who had been given leave to intervene in the written procedure. The Armenian Government were in addition given leave to take part in the hearing. Armenia was represented by human rights lawyers Amal Clooney and Geoffrey Robertson and Armenia’s Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan.

President Serzh Sargsyan received today Michaëlle Jean, secretary-general of the International Organization of La Francophonie.

The president welcomed the guest and noted that he is glad the meeting is taking place in Armenia within the frames of the 31st Ministerial Conference of the International Organization of La Francophonie. According to Armenia’s president, the regular session of the Francophonie’s governing body is of special importance to Armenia, and it was a great honor and responsibility to host that crucial event. Stressing that Armenia is one of the most active member states of the International Organization of La Francophonie, Serzh Sargsyan assured the secretary-general that our country is faithful to its commitment to encouraging the values shared by the Francophone family and attaches great importance to its cooperation with the International Organization of La Francophonie, its partner institutions and with the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie.

The Francophonie’s secretary-general thanked the president for the excellent organization of the conference in Armenia, as well as for the warm reception, and stressed that the conference’s quite busy agenda included vital items, and the subject proposed by Armenia as a conference heading was very symbolic, important and contemporary. Noting that the Francophonie is an alliance of countries sharing common values where Armenia occupies a unique and important place, Michaëlle Jean assured the president that the organization opens up new opportunities and horizons for broadened cooperation. According to the Francophonie’s secretary-general, the organization has managed to present itself as a key player and a reliable partner in the international arena, so that is why it is necessary to make efforts to use the organization’s full potential.

At the meeting with Armenia’s president, Mrs. Michaëlle Jean presented her views on the prospects of the International Organization of La Francophonie, its great development opportunities and on Armenia’s place and role in that process.

The Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit in Prague was handed over to the parish of St. Gregory the Illuminator of the Armenian Apostolic Church, reports.

This historic event held on October 11 was attended by the Primate of the Czech Catholic Church, Cardinal Dominique Duka, whose efforts made the transfer possible.

Armenia’s Ambassador Tigran Seyranyan expressed gratitude to the Czech people and Cardinal Duka and conveyed the congratulations of the Armenian government. He said “the collective efforts of the Czech Armenian community, the church and the state finally yielded positive results,” he said.

Speaking at the event, Cardinal Duka referred to the Christian legacy of the Armenian Church and people, to the tragedy that befell the Armenian nation in 1915. The cardinal handed the symbolic key of the Church to the head of the Armenian church in the Czech Republic Barsegh Pilavchian
Note that Armenians have never had their church in Prague, but have held all religious services in a Catholic church.

The Islamic State (IS) group is the prime suspect in the Ankara bombings that killed nearly 100 on Saturday, Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu has said, the BBC reports.

No group has said it carried out the attack, but the government believes that two male suicide bombers caused the explosions, hitting a peace rally.

The official death toll is 97, but one of the main groups at the march put the number of dead at 128.

The funerals of more of the victims are taking place on Monday.

Saturday’s twin explosions ripped through a crowd of activists gathering outside the main railway station in the Turkish capital.

They were due to take part in a rally calling for an end to the violence between Turkish government forces and the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs may hold talks this fall, RIA Novosti quoted the OSCE Secretary General as saying.

Addressing the CSTO Council meeting in Moscow, Secretary General Lamberto Zannier did not exclude the possibility of a meeting between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Zannier said he discussed the Nagorno Karabakh issue with CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha.

“We are concerned over increased violence at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border,” the OSCE Secretary General said, adding that work with the political leadership is necessary.

“We had meetings with the Foreign Ministers and the Minsk Group Co-Chairs on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York. There may be another meeting this fall. We hope for a meeting between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Lamberto Zannier said.