Category: News

Buckingham Palace has shared a photo of the Queen as a baby to mark her 91st birthday, amid online tributes and military salutes to mark the occasion, the BBC reports.

The monarch is spending the day in private at Windsor Castle, in contrast with last year’s national festivities.

Guns fired at London’s Hyde Park at 12:00 BST to mark the day.

The Queen, who reached her 65-year Sapphire Jubilee in February, is Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.

Last year, more than 900 beacons were lit up across the UK and overseas as part of her 90th birthday celebrations. Crowds lined the streets in Windsor, church services were held in her honour, and the Queen took part in a walkabout at Windsor.

The Queen also celebrates an “official birthday” which falls on the second Saturday in June.

It will be marked with a parade in London known as the Trooping the Colour ceremony – this year’s takes place the week later, on 17 June.

Today the launching of a “United Nations (UN) Corner” took place in the Masis Youth (MY) Center in the city of Masis, Ararat province of Armenia organized jointly by the UN Information Office in Yerevan and the Masis Development Foundation.

The launch of this UN Corner, which is the 17^th of its kind, is aimed at providing the Youth Center visitors and interested parties with access to the UN publications and other promotional and visual materials. Thus, this could help them to get acquainted with the United Nations values and objectives, its worldwide mandate and policies and its all-inclusive areas of action with diverse themes. The overall result of this can be the empowerment of youth and their involvement and action towards the achievement of the UN global agenda.

Armineh Haladjian, head of the UN Information Office in Yerevan, stressed the importance of UN corner opening in Masis: “Within our cooperation with new partners especially outside Yerevan, and having the main goal of reaching out to our main target group — the YOUTH, UN Information Office in Yerevan on behalf of UN Armenia is launching this UN Corner in Masis Youth Center. I am pleased to inform the audience here today that this Corner can be a good start to bring the members and visitors of this facility closer to the United Nations even being not physically in the UN House. We look forward to further cooperation and bilateral visits in the near future.”

In his welcoming speech, Executive Director of the Masis Development Foundation Stepan Hovhannisyan, congratulated the residents of the city on this landmark event and stated: “We highly appreciate the cooperation with the United Nations. The UN Corner, opened today, will help the youth of Masis learn more about the work of the United Nations both in Armenia and around the world. Joint educational and enlightenment projects will help the children from the Youth Center learn more about the principles of the UN work. In the activities of Masis Development Foundation and the Youth Center, we also adhere to similar values, and strive to develop in the youth an active, not indifferent attitude to the development of civil society, human rights, preservation of the environment. We hope that together we will contribute to the development and prosperity of Masis and Armenia.”

Presentation of MY Center members, screening of the “See You” animation film about the UN activities in Armenia, interactive discussion with participation of UN Development Programme and UN Population Fund staff members, followed the official part of the “UN Corner” opening. A cultural program organized by Masis youth closed the event. The participants had the opportunity to take with them promotional materials and posters about the United Nations.

By Robert O’Connor

High up in the mountains of Nagorno-Karabakh, the tiny de facto republic at the crossroads of the Eurasian continent, hope is a priceless currency. Few people appreciate its value more than Samuel Karapetyan.

Inside the offices of the Artsakh Union of Freedom Fighters, the Head of the Artsakh Football Association (AFA) uses carefully chosen words to explain how his organisation has begun the long process of winning UEFA recognition for a region which has spent 30 years living in the shadow of war.

“All this war and conflict is temporary”, he says lighting a cigarette. “One day soon, the Artsakh national team will participate in the World Cup or European Championship”.

“We are hopeful”, reiterates Karapetyan. “In fact we are convinced that recognition will come soon, because all the world is interested in establishing peace in this region. Sooner or later Azerbaijan will recognize Artsakh, then we will participate not just in football but in every aspect of international life”.

The preliminary discussions with Uefa over the AFA’s membership began in November 2016. The dialogue remains embryonic, but Karapetyan says it represents a crucial first step in eventually bringing the territory out of isolation.

“The process is underway. We are confident that the Artsakh team will participate in international tournaments, and that it is coming soon. If we were not confident in our success then we wouldn’t live here”.

“Before 2006 there was no organised football in Artsakh” says Slava Gabrielyan, the Uefa Pro-license coach with responsibility for selecting the nascent NKR national team. March 1st of that year saw the establishment of FC Artsakh, the region’s only formal football club, but there has never been a national championship here for the team to compete in. “We have some friendly games against teams from Armenia and sometimes from Georgia”, he says. “But we never have competitive games. It’s not possible for us”.

“In Crimea, Uefa have recognised that the territory is neither part of Russia nor Ukraine” says Gabrielyan. “They have put measures in place to allow football there to prosper. We hope and expect that Uefa will do the same here in Artsakh”.

“The problem is that we don’t have the means to show the world that we can play”, says FC Artsakh coach Levon Mkrtchyan. “We only play here for ourselves, but our aim is to show outsiders what we can do. We want the world to know about Karabakh and Karabakh footballers”.

One of the realities of living in a region stalked by conflict is that security measures trump most other considerations. When Artsakh men reach 18 years-old they are whisked away for two years of military national service. Gabrielyan and Mkrtchyan believe footballers should be exempt from the rule but the status quo holds, meaning FC Artsakh’s players have their development interrupted a delicate stage.

The AFA does what it can to limit the disruption. Much of the funding it receives from the Ministry for Sport is reinvested in training up local coaches to international standard; Mkrtchyan currently holds a UEFA B-license, and plans to match his colleague’s Pro-license soon. With the NKR a non-entity in world football, both coaches are registered with Uefa via the FFA in Yerevan

“We take coaching seriously here”, says Karapetyan. “This year we will have some international coaches from other countries coming to Stepanakert to work with our players. However, we mostly have to use retired coaches so as not to cause problems for other national football associations”.

Internationally, the AFA’s work continues largely under the radar. In 2010 FC Artsakh competed in a tournament in France organized by the Armenian diaspora, and later this year they will travel to Catalonia as part of a similar arrangement.

For Gabrielyan’s national team, their most conspicuous foray into the international scene remains the 2014 ConIFA World Cup in Ostersund, Sweden, where defeats to the County of Nice and the Isle of Man’s Ellan Vannin saw them eliminated in the first round. A formal protest made to ConIFA by the AFFA in Baku over Karabakh’s involvement went unheeded by the organizers.

Armenian Patriarch’s Locum Tenens, Archbishop Karekin Bekciyan has released a written statement after his meeting with VADİP (Cooperation and Consultation Platform for Foundations), Agos reports.

On April 19, Karekin Bekciyan and Bishop Sahak Masalyan came together with the Coordination Committee of VADİP. After the meeting, the Locum Tenens released a written statement. Saying that “the process of election should start now,” Bekciyan criticized the attitude of the foundation executives. Bekçiyan stated that he will launch meetings for forming the Electoral Committee and he criticized the current administration of the patriarchate.

Here are the highlights from the statement:

“In the last 5 weeks, I preferred to wait and hold some meetings to listen to opinions and recommendations of various authorities. There was a referendum ahead and the state advised us to be patient for a while. Though the patriarchal election is an internal matter of our church and society, we had to consider the recommendations and needs of the government. However, in my opinion, we should start the process for electing our 85^th patriarch now.

After the Locum Tenens election, I expected civil society and foundation executives to respect and support this election. I also expected the current administration of the patriarchate to act in accordance with the result of election. Unfortunately, I have to say that my expectations haven’t been met.

We held a meeting with Coordination Committee of VADİP and Bishop Masalyan accompanied me. I saw that the members of the committee respect the result of Locum Tenens election, but they hesitate over starting the process of patriarchal election and think that we have to wait for a while.

Nevertheless, members of the committee stated that relations with the patriarchate and the process of election would normalize within 10-15 days. Relying on this statement, I will work for forming the Electoral Committee.

On the other hand, it is clear that clerics who held the Locum Tenens election are under serious pressure. As the elected Locum Tenens, I have to urge the current administration of the patriarchate to stop this unfair and improper behavior and act in accordance with the ecclesiastical ethics.”

Manchester United have booked their spot in the semi-finals of the Europa League after recording a 2-1 victory over Anderlecht in the second leg of their quarter-final at Old Trafford on Thursday night.

Extra-time was needed to separate the two teams after Sofiane Hanni had cancelled out a Henrikh Mkhitaryan effort to leave the pair level at the end of 180 minutes of the last-eight tie.

Man United were the stronger team in the additional 30 minutes, however, and Marcus Rashford scored the vital goal in the second half of extra-time as the 20-time English champions booked their spot in the final four of the competition.

Today, President Serzh Sargsyan received the former President of Austria Heinz Fischer.

Presidents Sargsyan and Fisher recalled warmly the visit of President Fischer to Armenia and the visit of President Sargsyan to Austria. The two Presidents stressed that the agreements reached at the highest level are being implemented successfully.

The Presidents viewed as symbolic the fact that their meeting is taking place in the year which marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and noted with satisfaction that through the years the Armenian-Austrian bilateral relations in different areas have been developing dynamically.

At the meeting, the parties also discusse
d the priorities of the Austrian Chairmanship at the OSCE.

Members of the  Armenian community of Fresno will turn out this weekend to show their support for “The Promise,” the first major motion picture that looks at the Armenian Genocide as the production starring Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac opens Friday, April 21, the reports.

They are showing support because the movie depicts the events in the early part of the 20th century that resulted in the death of 2.5 million Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks. Past efforts to make a movie based on the tragic events have been stalled because of political pressure from the Turkish government that continues to deny the genocide happened.

Nayiri Saghdejian and her father Abraham Saghdejian have been a driving force behind the Armenian National Committee of America Hovig Apo Saghdejian Capital Gateway Program. The organization, which assists young professionals and recent college graduates in public policy opportunities in Washington, DC., is sponsoring a private screening on Friday and one on Saturday of the film at the Manchester Stadium 16 that will be attended by local youth groups, members of the Armenian community and local officials.

Saghdejian has been looking forward to the release of the film because the Armenian Genocide “is the biggest wound for any Armenian in the world.” She added that the movie also has a special connection to Fresno because it is one of the last projects completed by Fresno’s Kirk Kerkorian, a businessman and philanthropist who died in 2015. The film was made through his Survival Pictures. All proceeds will be donated to charities.

“He is one of the greatest Armenians to ever live and gave back so much to the Armenian community. This film is a real tribute to him,” Saghdejian said.

One policeman has been shot dead and a second wounded in central Paris, French police say, with reports that a gunman was later killed, the BBC reports.

The Champs Elysees, where the shooting occurred, was sealed off. No motive for the attack has yet been reported.

It happened as candidates made their last pitches in a TV appearance before Sunday’s presidential election.

Police sources quoted by Reuters news agency say it may have been an attempted armed robbery.

The whole of the Champs Elysees has been evacuated and police vehicles are lined up near a point half way up the avenue around the George V metro station, our correspondent says.

Shots were heard around 21:00 (19:00 GMT) in or near the Marks & Spencer store, provoking a panicked rush away from the scene by tourists and passers-by.

Manchester United have been drawn against Celta Vigo in their Europa League semi-final.

Jose Mourinho’s men play the first leg at Balaidos on May 4 with the return leg at Old Trafford on May 11. In the other semi-final Ajax take on Lyon with the first leg in Amsterdam.

United have never played the Spanish outfit before in any competition but will consider themselves in the driving seat against a Celta side mid-table in La Liga.

Manchester United have booked their spot in the semi-finals of the Europa League after recording a 2-1 victory over Anderlecht in the second leg of their quarter-final at Old Trafford on Thursday night.

United’s opponents progressed from the quarter-finals after following up a 3-2 home win against Genk by drawing Thursday’s second leg 1-1 in Belgium.

Celta have never reached the semi-final of any European competition before, with their best runs in the Europa League and UEFA Cup ending at the quarter-final stage.

The other semi-final sides Lyon and Ajax have faced off four times in the Champions League group stage, with the Dutch side winning twice and the clubs drawing twice.

The final in Stockholm at the Friends Arena takes place on May 24.