Category: News

To mark International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has of 35 presidents, politicians, religious leaders, militias and criminal organizations that censor, imprison, torture or murder journalists.

Most of these press freedom predators have been preying on the media for years, some for decades.

Their predatory techniques vary. Some use enforcers to torture and murder. Some use mass arrests and arbitrary imprisonment. Others employ more sophisticated methods such as terrorism laws, lèse-majesté charges or financial asphyxiation. The list is not exhaustive, naming only those who have distinguished themselves the most in the past year.

As in the past, most of the predators are presidents or prime ministers of such countries as Singapore, Thailand, Cuba, Eritrea, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.

The list’s new entrants include Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who now controls most of his country’s media groups.

With regard to religious extremism, the Islamic State stops at nothing to impose terror, kidnapping and murdering journalists who do not swear allegiance, while Bangladesh’s Ansarullah Bangla Team posts lists of alleged blasphemers (secularist bloggers and freethinkers) on Facebook and calls for them to be murdered.

The list includes President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, Syria’s President Bashar Al-Assad, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has begun construction on a new kindergarten in Aghdzk, a village in Armenia’s Aragatsotn Region. The project is sponsored by the British-Armenian community.

The future kindergarten will be a two-story structure featuring a full complement of amenities and comforts. In addition to bright, spacious classrooms and naprooms, the facility will have a gym, a game hall, a computer room, and a sizeable playground, all of which will make for an enriching educational and leisure environment. The kindergarten will accommodate up to 90 students.

“As our old kindergarten had to be shut down three years ago because the building was no longer safe, the fact that our British-Armenian compatriots are now sponsoring the construction of a new kindergarten is a source of great joy to our community,” said Aghdzk mayor Arsen Avdalyan.

With an abiding commitment to the education and healthy development of children in the homeland, the British-Armenian community sponsors projects mainly in the education and health fields. In recent years, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has implemented several major projects through British-Armenian support, including the construction of a kindergarten in the village of Sasunik, Armenia; and the reconstruction of the boarding kindergarten of Yerevan’s Shengavit district.

Jose Mourinho is taking 21 players with him to Istanbul for Manchester United’s Europa League meeting with Fenerbahce on Thursday, accoridng to Manchester United’s official website. 

Phil Jones, who has yet to make an appearance this season, is included after injury but fellow defender Chris Smalling has not made the trip. Tim Fosu-Mensah, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial have also been named in the squad but Michael Carrick, Memphis Depay and Antonio Valencia will remain in Manchester.

Bastian Schweinsteiger, who trained with the players this week, has not travelled as he is ineligible for the group stages of the Europa League.

The Reds are currently level on points with first-placed Feyenoord on six points. Both sides have won two and lost one, but the Dutch side are top of Group A by virtue of the head-to-head record following Feyenoord’s 1-0 win over the Reds in September. Fenerbahce, who the Reds overcame 4-1 at Old Traffordtwo weeks ago, lie third on four points, with Zorya Luhansk bottom of the group on just one point.

United squad: De Gea, Romero, Johnstone; Blind, Jones, Darmian, Fosu-Mensah, Rojo, Shaw; Fellaini, Herrera, Mkhitaryan, Lingard, Mata, Pogba, Schneiderlin, Young; Ibrahimovic, Martial, Rashford, Rooney.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will visit Berlin November 3-4, where he is set to meet with German Foreign Minister Frank Walter-Steinmeier.

Minister Nalbandian is also expected to meet with Christoph Heusgen, Chancellor Angele Merkel’s Foreign and Security Policy Adviser.

Within the framework of the visit Edward Nalbandian will hold meetings with Members of Parliament, leading political scientists and experts.

Photo: EPA

 

A fire at a karaoke lounge in Vietnam has left 13 people dead, according to state media, the BBC reports.

The blaze broke out at an eight-storey karaoke bar in the Cau Giay district of Hanoi on Tuesday afternoon.

It took fire-fighters five hours to put it out. Two police officers were injured during the operation.

A guard told reporters that the fire was started by a sign board, and that staff tried to contain the flames but failed.

The fire spread to three neighbouring buildings, burning a car and motorbikes on the street, online news outlet VnE Express reported.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered police to investigate the cause of the fire and punish anyone who broke the law.

He also told local authorities to carry out fire safety inspections at karaoke lounges and restaurants.

Rio Ferdinand is struggling to understand why Henrikh Mkhitaryan is not featuring for Manchester United, joking: “I would actually like to see him play football!”

The Armenian has struggled for game time at Old Trafford since his summer move from Borussia Dortmund and the former England international has questioned why he isn’t in the team, reports.

Mkhitaryan was one of Jose Mourinho’s big summer signings, arriving from Borussia Dortmund, but hasn’t made a single start since the derby defeat to Manchester City on September 10.

Mourinho has claimed that the Armenian is fully fit and operating at “100 per cent” in training but he continues to be left out, much to the bemusement of former defender Ferdinand.

He told the London Evening Standard: “I don’t know what’s happened to Mkhitaryan. Does anyone know where he is?

“By all accounts he is fit and training well but you don’t see him in a Manchester United shirt.

“They paid Borussia Dortmund £26 million to get him in the summer and for that money, I would actually like to see him play football!”

 

N.Y. Times Bestselling Author Chris Bohjalian Presents ‘Artsakh: Our Line in the Sand;’ Fundraising Held for Arajamugh Village Expansion Project

Armenian Weekly — Fifty friends and supporters of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) gathered in New York on October 29, to hear New York Times bestselling author Chris Bohjalian discuss his recent trip to Artsakh.

Held at the Tufenkian Artisan Carpets Showroom in midtown Manhattan, Bohjalian’s presentation called “Artsakh: Our Line in the Sand,” vividly described Artsakh’s current conditions, especially in light of the recent Four Day War in April. Bohjalian spent much time with people living near the front lines, and in the liberated territories—especially those areas in and around the Lachin Corridor.

During his five-day visit, Bohjalian also met with Artsakh government officials, everyday heroes—both military and civilian—as well as students, teachers, and literary figures, who were eager to meet him and learn more about his work.

Since his return, Bohjalian has been busy putting pen to paper, recounting his impressions in articles in various publications, including USA Today, the Burlington Free Press, and other U.S. media outlets. His most recent story depicted the life of a Syrian-Armenian refugee who escaped from the clutches of Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) with his family, and resettled in the liberated territories of Artsakh, where he has received a warm welcome.

The event was co-organized by ACAA Artsakh Fund and the Tufenkian Foundation. Antranig Kasbarian opened the program by explaining the significance of recent events in Artsakh, particularly April’s Four Day War, and emphasized the crucial strategic importance of the liberated territories in maintaining Artsakh’s national security, as they promote an indivisible bond with Armenia.

Kasbarian noted that areas near the Lachin Corridor, routinely called “occupied territories,” are in fact the cradle of Armenian Christianity, with centuries-old villages, cemeteries, churches, and other cultural artifacts attesting to widespread, continuous Armenian presence there—before Azerbaijan’s wholesale ethnic cleansing of these territories in the 1920’s. Kasbarian then introduced Bohjalian, whose longstanding interest in Artsakh became a pressing concern following April’s Four Day War.

Following his presentation, Bohjalian patiently answered numerous questions from his enthusiastic audience.

In addition to promoting awareness, the October 29 event also raised funds for the Arajamugh Village Expansion Project, which is being implemented by the ACAA Artsakh Fund, with the support of the Tufenkian Foundation. Arajamugh village is located in the liberated territories of NKR. Those who wish to donate to this worthy project may do so by sending checks to ACAA Artsakh Fund, 80 Bigelow Ave., Watertown, Massachusetts 02472.

Iraqi forces fighting so-called Islamic State (IS) in Mosul have broken through the front line without suffering any losses, a spokesman says.

Sabah al-Numan told the that many IS fighters had been killed.

Government forces entered the city’s outskirts for the first time on Tuesday since the city was seized in June 2014.

Wednesday is the 17th day of the anti-IS operation, which involves 50,000 personnel including Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Sunni Arab tribesmen.

Elite troops seized control of the state TV building in Kukjali on Tuesday hours after launching an assault on the eastern district and later breached the outskirts of the Karama district.

President Serzh Sargsyan received today US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Carpenter.

The Armenian President hailed the consistent development of the Armenian-American relations ever since the establishment of diplomatic relations, and noted that the two countries are approaching the 25^th anniversary of relations with serious achievements registered over the past few years.

President Sargsyan expressed gratitude to the US Government for the continuous support to Armenia’s economic development, implementation of reforms in different spheres, development of democracy and civil society.  He praised the US role in the maintenance of peace in the region.

President Sargsyan attached importance to the Armenian-American cooperation in the field of defense, especially the US support to the defense reforms in Armenia, and development of capacities in military medicine, mine clearance and peacekeeping.

The interlocutors noted that the current high-level relations between Armenia and the US are based on mutual respect, and the two countries enjoy firm partnership relations both in bilateral and multilateral formats.

The US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense expressed gratitude for Armenia’s contribution to peacekeeping missions.

Serzh Sargsyan and Michael Carpenter discussed issues related to the cooperation in the military field, regional and international security.

Armenia and Iran have initialed a Memorandum of Understanding on the purchase and sale and transit of gas.

The document was signed during the visit of a delegation of the Armenian Ministry of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources to the Islamic Republic of Iran from October 31 to November 1.

The Armenian delegation led by Deputy Minister Hayk Harutyunyan had a number of meetings within the framework of the visit.

Issues related to the current cooperation between the two countries, the expansion of regional cooperation, namely the perspectives of transiting gas to third countries through Armenia’s territory were discussed at a meeting with Hamid Reza Araghi, Deputy Petroleum Minister for Gas Affairs & Managing Director of National Iranian Gas Company.

During the meeting with Iran’s Deputy Minister of Iranian Deputy Energy Minister Houshang Falahatian the parties discussed issues of increasing the volumes of electricity exchange and the perspectives of expansion of regional cooperation.