Category: News

The Friends of Maria Jacobsen Committee has organized a special memorial service Sunday, May 14, at a Solvang church to commemorate the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide,   reports.

The ceremony following the 11 a.m. worship service will be held in the courtyard of Bethania Lutheran Church at 603 Atterdag Road, a committee spokesman said.

Representatives of the Southern California Armenian community will lay a wreath in honor and memory of 1.5 million Armenian martyrs as well as Danish humanitarian and missionary Maria Jacobsen (1882-1960).

“We are honoring Maria Jacobsen’s memory on Mother’s Day,” said Dr. Garbis Der-Yeghiayan, chairman of the committee. “She is known as the beloved ‘Mama’ by her grateful former orphan children.”

Der-Yeghiayan said at the conclusion of the memorial ceremony, the committee will announce a student essay contest in Jacobsen’s honor.

The contest will be open to all high school students living in Solvang and all students attending Armenian, public or private high schools in Southern California, he said.

The essay theme is: “In the more than 100 years that have passed since the first genocide of the 20th century — the Armenian Genocide of bigotry, prejudice, intolerance, persecution, deportations and heinous plans to annihilate a nation — what do you believe your generation can do to make ‘never again’ a reality?”

The government of China will donate another 200 ambulance vehicles to Armenia. The Armenian government Okayed the singing of the agreement at today’s sitting.

The vehicles will help the Armenian side fully satisfy the demand for ambulance vehicles in the republic.

The Chinese government earlier donated 88 vehicles to Armenia, of which 56 were sent to the republic’s provinces.

Photo: Getty Images

Boeing has temporarily halted test flights of its new 737 MAX aircraft due to possible issues with the engine, the BBC reports.

The stoppage came days before the US planemaker was due to make its first delivery of the aircraft to a customer.

But Boeing said it was sticking with plans to begin MAX deliveries this month, adding that production of the jets would continue.

American Airlines, Southwest, and China’s Shandong Airlines are among those who have placed orders.

The MAX fleet is designed to be a more fuel-efficient version and replaces Boeing’s previous 737 model which has been a best-seller for the aerospace giant.

The Human Rights Defender of Artsakh is on a visit to Budapest, Hungary, to attend an International Conference on “Victims of armed conflicts at the juncture of international humanitarian law and human rights law.”

The Conference has been organized by the foreign affairs agencies of Hungary and Switzerland.

On 10 May Ruben Melikyan had meetings with the leadership and members of Armenian self-government in Hungary, with the Spokesman of the Armenian minority in the Hungarian Parliament Dr. Tamás Turgyán, and had an interview with Armenian minority program broadcasted by the Hungarian Public Radio.

While referring to Ramil Safarov’s extradition, Mr. Melikyan highlighted its causal link with the atrocities carried out by Azerbaijani armed forces during the 2016 April War.

Ruben Melikyan noted that Safarov’s glorification was accompanied by the state encouragement to set his crime exemplary for the Azerbaijani youth, and the example was taken in April 2016.

The ombudsman added that Artsakh people remember the thousands of Hungarian citizens, who raised their voice of protest against the decision to extradite Safarov.

The Artsakh Foreign Ministry has commented on the shooting at the vehicle of TV crew, which left the cameraman wounded.

“This incident is another proof that Azerbaijan does not abandon its traditional policy of aggravation of the situation and escalation of tensions on the Line of Contact,” Ministry Spokesman Artak Nersisyan said in comments to Tert.am.

“The incident comes to reaffirm the importance of immediate implementation of the agreements reached at the Summits in Vienna, May 16, 2016, and St. Petersburg, June 20, 2016, aimed at the stabilization of the situation on the Line of Contact,” he said.

Armenia has always been interested in the extension of mandate of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tighran Balayan said in comments to .

The remarks come after accusations of failure to prevent the closure of the Office in Armenia.

“Those who declare that Armenia, namely the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have not taken steps to ensure the extension of the mandate, do not understand the processes taking place within the OSCE,” Balayan said.

Second, he said, “they are not aware of the statements made by the current Austrian and the previous German chairmanships of the OSCE and the European Union.”

The Spokesman said the accusations are “void and have nothing to do with reality.” “Armenia has been declaring until the last moment that it’s interested in the extension of the mandate of the OSCE Office in Yerevan and continuation of its activity in the country,” Tigran Balayan stated.

On May 11 Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received the delegation of the Yerkrapah Volunteers Union (YVU) headed by chairman of the organization’s board Manvel Grigoryan.

A range of issues related to the situation along the Karabakh-Azerbaijani borderline, army-society ties and upbringing of the younger generation were addressed during the talks.

For courage and bravery shown during the defense of the Homeland and in connection with the Victory Day, the 25^th anniversary of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic Defense Army and Liberation of Shushi President Sahakyan handed in high state awards to a group of YVU members.

Paul Pogba’s world-record transfer from Juventus to Manchester United last year is the subject of a Fifa inquiry, the BBC reports.

Football’s world governing body has written to the Premier League club “to seek clarification on the deal”.

It is believed to concern who was involved in the £89.3m transfer, and how much money was paid to them.

A United spokesman said: “We do not comment on individual contracts. Fifa have had the documents since the transfer was concluded in August.”

Pogba, 24, is in his second spell at Old Trafford, having left the club for Juventus for £1.5m in 2012.

The France midfielder first joined United from French side Le Havre in acrimonious circumstances in 2009.

He returned to the club last summer for a world-record fee of 105m euros.

United also agreed to pay Juventus 5m euros in performance-related bonuses plus other costs, including 5m euros if Pogba signs a new contract.

When they confirmed the transfer, Juventus said the “economic effect” to their club was “about 72.6m euros”.

A book published in Germany this week – The Football Leaks: The Dirty Business of Football – and reproduced in media reports, includes what it says is a breakdown of the Pogba fee and alleges his agent Mino Raiola earnt £41m from the deal.

Presidents of Armenia and Artsakh Serzh Sargsyan and Bako Sahakyan visited the Kashen mining complex of the “Base Metals” CJSC today.

The Presidents were briefed on the capacities of the mine, the problems connected with its exploitation, the achievements and development plans.

Photo: Reuters

US President Donald Trump is due to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday.

The meeting will be the highest-level meeting between the US administration and Moscow since Trump’s inauguration. It will take place in the Oval Office and will be closed to the press, according to the White House.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has confirmed that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is set to meet with Donald Trump in Washington during his two-day trip to the US. Lavrov is also scheduled to hold talks with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and attend the Arctic Council meeting.