Category: News

Reality star Kim Kardashian is featured as cover girl for the June issue of Vogue Brasil that was taken during Kim’s 21-day blonde hair phase, the reports.

‘Bombshell effect: better representative of the curvaceous silhouette rising in the red carpets,’ the caption read in Portuguese.

‘This is the second cover of the June edition, which celebrates the body, Vogue Brasil starring Kim Kardashian – symbol of the new silhouette for high in the red carpets,’ the publication captioned another photo.

The objective of the cover shoot was to show Kim like a Marilyn Monroe in the 2015 updated version and, by coincidence, the reality star was already blond at the time.

Kim famously underwent a hair transformation from March 5 through the 26th, dying her hair bleach blonde with peroxide chemicals for over three times within the short three weeks, but returned to her black hair before the visit to Armenia.

Vogue Brasil is the second publication in which she immortalized her blonde hairstyle.

For the April issue of Elle France magazine, Mrs Kanye West made sure her platinum locks would forever remembered.

Kim’s first solo Vogue cover was for the Australian version back in January. And perhaps one of Kim and husband Kanye’s most memorable moments was landing the April 2014 issue of Vogue US together ahead of their May nuptials.

Egypt has sent a request to Russia to create a free trade zone with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), Russian Industrial and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said Wednesday, Sputnik News reports.

“An official request from the Egyptian side has been received, today we received a copy of it in order to study it and help them in accordance [with the request] as we are interested,” Manturov said on Rossiya-24 television.

In recent years, Moscow and Cairo have boosted military, trade, security and economic cooperation.

Earlier this week, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev approved a free trade zone agreement between the EEU and Vietnam.

The EEU, which officially came into force January 1, comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia. The bloc aims to achieve the free flow of goods, services, capital and labor across its member states, with provisions for a greater integration in the future.

The Turkish Supreme Court has ruled that the construction of an 1,100-room palace by President Erdogan was illegal. The palace was constructed on protected land, reports.

Tuesday’s decision by Turkey’s Supreme Court revoked the building permit that had been issued to build President President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s palace after the fact because it had been illegally built on protected land.

The palace was inaugurated in October to coincide with Erdogan’s transition from head of government as Prime Minister to head of state as President. The building has had plenty of critics, many of whom focus on the construction costs of just over 500 million euros (well over $600 million) for the 1,100-room palace.

The presidential palace, popularly dubbed Ak Saray (“White Palace”) was built under controversial circumstances, in a wooded area within the Ataturk Forest Farm in Ankara. The construction went ahead despite environmental concerns and court orders, prompting its critics to instead call it Kacak Saray (“Illegal Palace”).

It appears now that they may be right with the moniker, however it remains unclear if the court decision will have any consequences for Erdogan or the completed palace.

Parliamentary elections in Turkey are approaching on June 7. As president, Erdogan is not allowed to partipate in any campaigning, but his recent speeches have carried a distinct undertone of support for the AKP, the party he previously led as prime minister. There is also increased support in Turkey for Erdogan’s plan of assigning more powers to his new role as president, currently seen as a largely ceremonial role.

Six football officials have been arrested over corruption charges at governing body Fifa, as Swiss prosecutors launch a criminal case into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids, the BBC reports.

The suspects, who are said to include a FIFA vice-president, have been detained pending extradition to the US.

It involves alleged bribes worth about $100m over two decades.

FIFA members are due on Friday to vote for a new president, with incumbent Sepp Blatter seeking a fifth term.

However, Mr Blatter is not understood to be one of those arrested.

Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein of Jordan – Mr Blatter’s rival for the FIFA presidency – described the development as “a sad day for football”, but withheld from commenting further.

FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich has also been raided by police, with documents seized, Swiss prosecutors say.

One of the highest ranking official charged is Jeffrey Webb, a FIFA vice president and head of CONCACAF, the FIFA-affiliated governing body for North America and the Caribbean.

Other officials include: Jack Warner, former FIFA vice president and executive committee member; Eugenio Figueredo, FIFA vice president and executive committee member; and Nicolás Leoz, former FIFA executive committee member.

Several sports-marketing executives are also charged.

President Serzh Sargsyan received Satoshi Tsunakawa, President and Chief Executive Officer of Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation.

The president welcomed the guest and noted that he is happy about the activities carried out by Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation – a leading international healthcare services company – in Armenia and its intention to promote cooperation with Armenian companies.

Serzh Sargsyan expressed the hope that Mr. Tsunakawa’s visit will give impetus to the promotion of collaboration and inclusion of new dimensions and programs therein. The Armenian president underscored that he remembers with pleasure his visit to Japan in 2012 during which he had the chance to visit the Toshiba Science Museum which was very impressive.

The Armenian president attached importance to the active work of the Japanese and Armenian embassies to boost Armenian-Japanese relations in various spheres.

At the meeting, the president introduced the guest to the favorable business and investment climate in Armenia and the conditions therein to attract foreign investments which Toshiba might also be interested in.

Satoshi Tsunakawa expressed satisfaction with the fact that Toshiba Medical Systems continues to expand its activities in Armenia and stressed that his company will keep on supporting the development of healthcare in Armenia. He mentioned that the company is also interested in some other dimensions making up a part of the company’s activities; e.g. nuclear energy, seismology, as well as cooperation development and exchange of experience with Armenia.
The RA president and the president of Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation attached great value to the work and development of cooperation aimed at the provision of quality services through the use of modern technologies and, hence, at the protection of human health and the increase in living standards.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will visit Damascus on May 27 upon the invitation of Syria’s Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Walid Al-Muallem.

Within the framework of the visit Edward Nalbandian will have meetings with high-ranking officials in Syria.

Minister Nalbandian will meet with representatives of the Syrian Armenian community.

By Harut Sassounian

The Centennial commemorations of the Armenian Genocide were marked with unprecedented, and sometimes, unexpected developments.

One such occasion was the full page ad placed in the New York Times on April 18 by well-known and controversial Rabbi Shmuley Boteach (Founder, The World Values Network) and the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee, Eastern U.S. (AGCC), harshly criticizing Pres. Obama for not keeping his campaign promise on the Armenian Genocide.

A knowledgeable source told The California Courier that the ad had upset some White House officials. The placing of the ad coincided with the efforts of the U.S. National Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide Centennial to convince reluctant administration officials to participate in the commemorative events in Washington, D.C., May 7-9.

Nonetheless, Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power attended the Ecumenical Prayer Service at the National Cathedral on May 7, in Washington, but neither delivered remarks nor was their presence acknowledged. Surprisingly, both officials wore the “forget me not” pin, the official logo of the Armenian Genocide Centennial. Also in attendance were Pres. Serzh Sargsyan, Catholicos Karekin II, and Catholicos Aram I.

The paid ad featured a young boy holding a placard stating, “Pres. Obama why did you lie to us?” This was followed by the title of the ad in large bold letters: “1.5 million Armenian victims cry out from their grave: How long will you deny our genocide just to appease the Turkish tyrant?”

The paid announcement strongly criticized both Pres. Obama, for not keeping his campaign promises, and Ambassador Power, for remaining silent after condemning U.S. indifference to Genocide in a book she wrote before assuming her government post (“A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide”). The ad also targeted Turkish President Erdogan, calling him a “bully” and “quasi-dictator who has dismantled Turkish democracy.”

Furthermore, the ad quoted from a news report by CNN’s Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper: “For the sixth year in a row President Barack Obama has broken his promise to the Armenian community, made when seeking their votes as a senator and a presidential candidate, to use the word ‘genocide’ to describe the massacre of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire a century ago. He did this in deference to the government of Turkey.”

The ad reminded readers that Tapper was referring to Sen. Obama’s 2008 statement: “The Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence. The facts are undeniable. …As President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.”

The authors of the ad went on to state: “Seldom has an American President misrepresented himself so brazenly on an issue of such profound moral importance. Pres. Obama’s willful moral blindness stands in stark contrast to the courageous statement by Pope Francis last week calling for the world’s recognition of ‘the first genocide of the twentieth century.’”

In the ad, the Rabbi and AGCC posed this question to Ambassador Power: “As a leading voice against genocide, will you stand by your principles or will you become yet another who, after entering office, silences her voice and becomes part of the ‘problem from hell?’”

A second newspaper announcement reminding Pres. Obama of his promise on the Armenian Genocide appeared in the Los Angeles Times on April 24. The three-quarter page ad, placed by Ed Muradliyan, a California businessman from Orange County, asserted: “It’s time for you to be the leader you promised to be. On this 100 year anniversary Mr. President, it’s time to fulfill the promise you made.” Muradliyan’s ad featured a picture of Pres. Obama, copy of Amb. Morgenthau’s cable to the State Dept., dated July 16, 1915, and the headline of a news report from The New York Times, dated December 15, 1915. The announcement ended with: “It’s Time to Recognize the Armenian Genocide.”

If one or both of these ads caused some discomfort to White House officials, it was well worth the money!

The ads should have included Pres. Obama’s own words from his book, “The Audacity of Hope”: “Say one thing during the campaign and do another thing once in office, and you’re a typical, two-faced politician.”

Although the commemorative events in Washington were organized with utmost professionalism, there was one major shortfall. When special honors were being awarded at the May 9 Centennial Banquet to prominent individuals, organizations and representatives of countries that had recognized the Armenian Genocide, it would have been only fitting to pay tribute to John Evans, the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia (2004-2006), whose diplomatic career came to an abrupt end when the Bush Administration recalled him for publicly acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. The organizers of the Banquet assured The California Courier that “no slight was intended,” and that it was simply “an oversight.”

Fortunately, this gross error was somewhat mitigated when the “oversight” was brought to the attention of the master of ceremonies, attorney Mark Geragos, who acknowledged from the podium the presence of Amb. Evans. The 2,000 guests at the Centennial Banquet gave the righteous Ambassador an enthusiastic standing ovation and thunderous applause! Needless to say, Amb. Evans deserves far more than mere applause for having sacrificed his career in defense of the Armenian Cause!

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has cancelled honorary citizenship of former New York Times journalist Stephen Kinzer over a critical article he penned about the president few months ago, reports. 

Kinzer, who has been Istanbul bureau chief for the New York Times between 1996 and 2000, arrived in southern Turkish province of Gaziantep on Tuesday to be awarded in recognition of his NY Times reporting that resulted in saving Roman mosaics. He said his reporting has since brought millions of tourists to the city that sits on the border with Syria.

Up until the morning of May 26, there was no sign that the ceremony would not be held. Kinzer noted that “a lavish ceremony has been planned, the mosaic museum has been set for a banquet, tickets have been printed, a professional interpreter from Ankara has been engaged” as part of the preparation for this significant event.

His hosts, however, sat him down and told him that the ceremony and his honorary citizenship have been cancelled by “personal order of President Erdogan.”

He told Today’s Zaman from Gaziantep that one of Erdogan’s aide passed his article he wrote on January 4 for Boston Globe that also included a critical paragraph about Erdoğan to Gaziantep mayor Fatma Şahin, who he believes is in Paris at the moment.

In his January 4 article for Boston Globe, Kinzer wrote that Erdogan sacrificed much of his country’s strategic power in the past year. He said “with amazing suddenness [Turkey] has become the ally from hell.”

“By wrecking Turkey’s carefully constructed relations with Egypt, Israel, and Syria, Erdogan has weakened his country and helped destabilize the Middle East,” Kinzer wrote, adding that once seen as a skilled modernizer, he now sits in a 1,000-room palace denouncing the European Union, decreeing the arrest of journalists, and ranting against short skirts and birth control.

Kinzer said he has no idea why they waited so long and allowed preparations for the ceremony to proceed with every detail and cancelled at the last minute. Kinzer, who is the author of eight books, added that his Boston Globe article was presented as an explanation why his honorary citizenship was cancelled and why the ceremony should not be held. He said there might be other complaints about him, but the article is the only complaint he knows of.

According to Kinzer, Gaziantep mayor later received a fax saying that he has been identified as “an enemy of our government and our country.”

At least 13 people have been killed by a tornado that hit the northern Mexico border city of Ciudad Acuna, the BBC reports.

Hundreds of homes have been damaged or destroyed in the city, in Coahuila state, just across the border from Del Rio, Texas.

The US state has had big floods, with at least three dead and 12 missing.

Coahuila Governor Ruben Moreira, on a visit to the stricken area, said 10 adults and three children had died and a baby was missing. Another 150 people had been taken to hospital, he said.

The authorities say that more than 1,000 homes have been damaged by the storm.

The delegation headed by the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, Colonel-General Yuri Khachaturov will participate in the regular sitting of the Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces of the CIS member states to be held in Sochi on May 26, Press Service of the Ministry of Defense reports.