Category: News

An international conference on “Damascus: Prism of hope” organized by the Pontifical Oriental Institute was held in Rome.

The Armenian Embassy at the Holy See participated in the organization works. The conference was aimed at considering the problems existing in Syria and the Middle East from different perspectives.

Speeches were delivered by the Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches Leonardo Sandri, Armenia’s Ambassador to Vatican Mikayel Minasyan, representatives of different Christian churches and universities of the Middle East.

Addressing the conference, Armenian Ambassador Mikayel Minasyan said that “terrorists are trying to distort the cultural diversity in Syria.” He urged to struggle against such expressions of vandalism, indifference, the systematic destruction of Christian values in Syria, as it is impossible to imagine the Middle East without Christians.

Agencia Prensa Armenia –  The Uruguayan ruling party Broad Front (“Frente Amplio” in Spanish) expressed its “solidarity” with the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and with the “victims of the indiscriminate persecution in Turkey” in a declaration of the Political Office of the party.

The statement “calls on the democratic forces and parties, particularly from Europe, to ask the Turkish Government to put an end to this persecution.”

“After the raid at the houses and headquarters of the Party and the arrest of 11 parliamentarians of the Democratic Party of the Peoples of Turkey the past 4th of November” and considering “the Diyarbakir prosecutor’s office reports that there is an arrest warrant for 59 MPs of that party,” the Broad Front argued that “once again the Turkish Government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launches an antidemocratic offensive against the People’s Democratic Party, violating the civil and political rights of the people’s representatives.”

“These events are part of an authoritarian offensive, with opposition media closures (142 journalists arrested since last July), and against a party that had more than 6,000,000 votes and represents all the ethnic groups of Turkey (Assyrians , Kurds, Armenians, Arabs), different religious groups, women and social minorities. A Party that fights to build a democratic, ecological and antipatriarchal society.”

The Council of the European Union discussed current multilateral and bilateral relations with the six Eastern Partnership countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

Ministers had an exchange of views on the implementation of the Partnership and possible deliverables to be achieved in 2017, notably with a view to the next Eastern Partnership Summit in November 2017 in Brussels.

The Council reaffirmed the high importance it attaches to the Eastern Partnership, as a specific dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), offering close political association and economic integration with the EU and tangible results to citizens

The Council welcomed progress in negotiations of a new framework agreement with Armenia.

The Council said it looks forward to consideration in due course of the possible opening of a visa dialogue with Armenia.

Gary Neville says he would leave out both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney from Manchester United’s starting XI, reports.

In a talk at the Oxford Union, the former United defender said he would play Marcus Rashford up front, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial both starting in wide positions.

Neville went for David De Gea in goal, a back four of Antonio Valencia, Eric Bailly, Chris Smalling and Daley Blind, and a midfield trio of Paul Pogba, Ander Herrera and Michael Carrick.

Neville made his United debut in 1992 and went on to play 602 games for the club under Ferguson before retiring in 2011.

The Armenian language will be taught as a separate profession at the Beijing Language and Culture University. China’s Education Minister Chen Baosheng confirmed the plans at a meeting with Armenian Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtchyan.

He welcomed the agreement reached between the Beijing Pedagogical University and the Yerevan State Pedagogical University to implement joint programs and issue double diplomas.

The perspectives of functioning of the Chinese school being constructed in Yerevan were also discussed at the meeting.

The parties emphasized the importance of giving a regional status to the school and creating a training system.

The Freedom House has ranked Armenia as a “free”country in its annual   report.

“Internet freedom remained largely uninhibited in the past year, though Armenia’s overall score declined somewhat after police physically attacked journalists livestreaming protests in Yerevan,” the report says.

“The past year in Armenia has been marked by periods of civil unrest and regional conflict. However, historically the internet has remained relatively free in Armenia, with gradual improvements in infrastructure and accessibility connecting more of the population. Activists regularly use social media as a tool to promote their causes, and opposition and independent media flourish online,” the Freedom House says.

Armenia’s neighbor Georgia is also a “fee”cuntry, while Azerbaijan is “partly free. Turkey  and Iran are both ranked as “not free.”

Armenia’s partners in the Eurasian Economic Union Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are all rated as “not free,” Kyrgyzstan is “partly free.”

Estonia and Iceland top the ranking. Other countries rated as “free” include Canada, the United States, Germany, Australia, Japan, United Kingdom, France, Georgia, Italy, South Africa, Philippines, Argentina, Hungary, Kenya and Armenia. Chine, Syria and Iran are at the bottom of the list.

Freedom on the Net provides analytical reports and numerical scores for 65 countries worldwide.

The Freedom on the Net index measures each country’s level of internet and digital media freedom based on a set of methodology questions developed in consultation with international experts to capture the vast array of relevant issues that enable internet freedom.

Given increasing technological convergence, the index also measures access and openness of other digital means of transmitting information, particularly mobile phones and text messaging services.

 

 

 

The Military Attachés of the diplomatic representations registered in Armenia visited the Peacekeeping Brigade today within the framework of the NATO Week events, familiarized with the history of creation of the unit, the ongoing works and everyday life.

Deputy Chief of the Operative Department of the Peacekeeping Brigade, Major Yervand Voskanyan briefed the Military Attachés of the US, German, French and British Embassies on the history of the brigade.

According to the Brigade’s Commander, Major General Arthur Simonyan, two detachments with 56 and 65 peacekeepers currently carry out mission in Afghanistan. Another 35-member group is in Kosovo, while a 32-member detachment is on mission in Lebanon. The Commander says the mission in Lebanon may be expanded in the future.

German Embassy’s Military Attaché Michael Westerman hailed the cooperation with the Armenian authorities, especially the ministry of Defense and the Peacekeeping Brigade. He expressed gratitude for Armenia’s contribution to NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.

Ireland-based bookmaking giants Paddy Power have been forced to pay out at what is believed to be the highest price for a winning betting slip after Armenia’s win victory over Montenegro in a 2018 World Cup qualifier.

One lucky Coventry punter defied all odds to land an incredible 820,728/1 11-fold accumulator after placing a 25p bet at a city betting shop, the reports.

It was Gevorg Ghazaryan’s goal just seconds before the final whistle was due to be blown in Armenia’s Group E World Cup Qualifying game against Montenegro which landed the shock accumulator.

As a result, Ireland-based bookmaking giants Paddy Power have been forced to pay out at what is believed to be the highest price for a winning betting slip – and losing them £250,000.

Placed on Friday, the bet looked to be off as four of the eleven teams he selected were behind at one stage during their game – these being France, Plymouth, Cambridge United and Port Vale.

Incredibly, Port Vale netted a winner against Fleetwood Town in the 86th minute and the Czech Republic then scored a third goal for Czech Republic with just three minutes of time left.

However those results came nothing close to the shock that Armenia caused against Montenegro.

With a population of less than three million, the underdogs found themselves 2-0 down at half time – meaning Armenia had to score at least three times in 45 minutes for the bet to be landed.

Five minutes after half-time Varazdat Haroyan pulled one back, but Armenia only struck the equaliser after 74 minutes.

The clock ticked past 90 minutes, however with just seconds left in the game hero of the hour Ghazaryan scored – netting the city punter a massive £250,000.

A Paddy Power spokesman said the £250k win is one of the biggest on record from such a small stake.

They added: “We already took a beating after Donald Trump was elected as US president, and this Coventry lad has rubbed salt into our wounds by landing this miracle punt.

“I’ve no idea where Armenia is but hopefully this lucky fella will spend some of his winnings on a flight to thank them in person.”

Photo: Mikhail Metzel/TASS    

Russia’s Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev has been accused of taking a bribe to endorse a state takeover, the BBC reports.

Russia’s main anti-corruption body, the Investigative Committee (SK), said he received a payment of $2m.

Mr Ulyukayev is the highest-ranking Russian official held since the 1991 coup attempt in what was then the USSR.

The SK said he had “threatened” to create obstacles for Rosneft’s operations when it took a 50% stake in another state oil company, Bashneft.

According to SK spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko, “Ulyukayev was caught red-handed”, receiving a $2m bribe on 14 November for giving a favourable assessment of the Rosneft deal.

The apparent sting operation came after months of electronic surveillance, including phone-tapping, officials said.

The arrest was big news on Russia’s state-run TV channels, under the headline “Battle against corruption”.

The 4th Business Innovation forum 2016 will be held on November 18-19, in Dilijan resort under the slogan “Armenia 20.18 – Armenia among 20 most innovative countries in the world by 2018.”

Today Mr. Hayk Chobanyan, Deputy director of the Union of Information Technologies Enterprises (UITE)- the organiser of Business Innovation Forum, Mr. Emil Tarasian, Deputy Minister of   Economic Development and Investments of RA, Mr. Raffi Kasarjian, moderator of Business Innovation Forum, Mr. Ludovic Ciechanowski,  International Aid/Cooperation Officer of EU Delegation to Armenia and Mr. Peer Priewich, Technical adviser of “Support to SME development in Armenia” (SMEDA) project, funded by the EU and BMZ and implemented through GIZ Private Sector Development in South Caucasus Programme, spoke about the forum during the meeting with journalists.

The two-day Business Innovation Forum is supported within the framework of EU4Business and EU4innovation initiatives. It is a unique platform for knowledge sharing and practical solutions, where the best experience of innovative development will be presented through thematic discussions, presentations and communication of participants and business discussions will be held with participation of stakeholders. The key topic of the discourse is the positioning of Armenia among the 20 most innovative countries in the world.

The representatives of the leading local and international companies will   participate in the Business Innovation Forum.

The forum will focus on 4 main topics:

• Innovative Products and Services
• Business process development through innovation
• Knowledge and innovation for development
• A strategy to innovative economy

The conditions of Business Innovation Forum participation and registration are presented in BIF.am.

Traditionally the Forum is organized by UITE under the high patronage of the Prime Minister of RA. The Forum is sponsored by the “Support to SME development in Armenia” (SMEDA) project, funded by the EU and BMZ and implemented through GIZ Private Sector Development in South Caucasus Programme.