Category: News

On September 16, in Bishkek, Edward Nalbandian, Acting Foreign Minister of Armenia, participated and delivered remarks at the session of the Council of the CIS Foreign Minister which was held within the framework of the Organization’s 25th anniversary.

The agenda of the session included issues related to the increase of efficiency of the Organization’s activity and adaptation of the institution to the new realities.

The Foreign Minister of the CIS member-countries touched upon the issues of enhancement of cooperation in the fields of culture, education, law enforcement, emergency situations, cybersecurity.

The participants of the session discussed and approved the drafts of more than a dozen of documents, including the texts of statements to be issued by the Heads of the CIS member-countries on the 25th anniversary of the Organization and on a number of other issues.

A decision was made to held the next session of the CIS Ministerial Council in April of 2017 in Tashkent.

Vice-President of the National Assembly, Head of the Armenian delegation to the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly Edward Sharmazanov will pay a working visit to Saint Petersburg September 16-20.

Sharmazanov will monitor the Russian parliamentary elections within the monitoring mission of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly.

The Vice-Speaker is expected to meet with CSTO Executive Secretary Pyotr Ryabukhin and leadership of the Lennigrad Region.

Photo: EPA

 

Experts in Amsterdam have concluded that troubled Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh suffered a form of repeated psychosis in his final 18 months, the repots.

However, they could not reach a definitive diagnosis on his underlying mental state.

They said the well-documented breakdown that resulted in him cutting of his own ear in 1888 could have been the result of alcohol or stress.

Van Gogh died from a gunshot wound in July 1890, in an apparent suicide.

The gathering of medical professionals and art historians weighed up evidence, including many of the Dutch post-impressionist’s letters.

Popular theories about his mental health have included bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or syphilis.

“One single thing cannot explain the entire picture of what happened to Van Gogh,” medical ethics professor Arko Oderwald told the Telegraph newspaper.

Louis van Tilborgh, a professor of art history at the University of Amsterdam, told the New York Times some of the debate over Van Gogh was “fierce”.

In July, new research suggested that Van Gogh had cut off his entire ear rather than just part of it.

Later that month, The Art Newspaper named the young woman he had given the ear to with the words “keep this object carefully” as farmer’s daughter Gabrielle Berlatier.

The Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire 20 times at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces last night, NKR Defense Ministry reports.

The rival used weapons of different calibers as it fired over 225 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army remained committed to the ceasefire regime and confidently continued with their military duty.

Newly-appointed Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan has instructed the State Revenue Commission to ensure the unconditional implementation of tax regulations by major manufacturers and importers.

Speaking at the first Government sitting he chaired, Karen Karapetyan stressed the importance of carrying out tax inspections exceptionally at entities considered risky, and to refer to small and medium-sized enterprises in extreme cases. He urged to exclude the possible biased behavior of tax inspectors and ensure transparency.

The Prime Minister also instructed the Public Services Regulatory Commission, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to hold joint discussions and submit proposals on the review of gas and electricity tariffs. He called to maximally reduce the prices for socially vulnerable layers of society.

Photo: Reuters

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged Russia and the US to push all warring sides in Syria to allow safe passage for desperately needed aid, the BBC reports.

Lorries with a month’s food supply for 40,000 people are stuck at the Turkish border, 48 hours into a ceasefire.

Getting aid to civilians in besieged areas like the rebel-held eastern half of the city of Aleppo is a priority.

But disagreements between warring sides and concerns about safety are delaying emergency deliveries, the UN says.

“It’s crucially important [that] the necessary security arrangements” are made so the convoy can travel, Mr Ban said.

“I have been urging the Russian government to make sure that they exercise influence on the Syrian government, and also the American side to make sure that Syrian armed groups, they also fully co-operate.”

Asbarez – Aline Ohanesian’s book, “Orhan’s Inheritance,” is among 12 finalists announced for the 2016 Dayton Literary Peace Prize — half for fiction, half for non-fiction. A winner and runner-up in each category will be announced Oct. 11. Winners receive a $10,000 honorarium and runners-up receive $2,500.

Set against the backdrop of the Armenian Genocide, the book tells the story of Ohan, whose brilliant and eccentric grandfather, who built a dynasty out of making kilim rugs, is found dead in a vat of dye, Orhan inherits the decades-old business. But his grandfather’s will raises more questions than it answers. Kemal has left the family estate to a stranger thousands of miles away, an aging woman in a retirement home (Ararat Home of LA) in Los Angeles. Her existence and secrecy about her past only deepen the mystery of why Orhan’s grandfather would have left their home to this woman rather than to his own family.

Joining Ohanesian as finalists are “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara; “Delicious Foods” by James Hannaham; “Green on Blue” by Elliot Ackerman; “The Sympathizer” by Viet Thanh Nguyen, and “Youngblood” by Matt Gallagher.

“Many of this year’s finalists explore the contradictory strength and fragility of the family bond, and the threat that external forces such as poverty, war, and prejudice can place on that bond,” said Sharon Rab, co-chair of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation. “Through these narratives we explore the sources of conflict within the family but also what our immediate relationships can teach us about healing and reconciliation in the larger world.”

The awards will be presented at a gala ceremony hosted by award-winning journalist Nick Clooney in Dayton on Nov. 20.

Last month, organizers of the event announced that novelist and essayist Marilynne Robinson will receive the 2016 Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award. Holbrooke was the U.S. diplomat who helped negotiate the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base that put an end to the three-and-half-year-long Bosnian War.

The finalists for nonfiction: “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates; “Find Me Unafraid” by Kennedy Odede and Jessica Posner; “Nagasaki” by Susan Southard; “Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination That Changed America” by Wil Haygood; “The Reason You Walk” by Wab Kinew, and “The Train to Crystal City” by Jan Jarboe Russell.

Inspired by the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize was launched in 2006. It is the only literary peace prize awarded in the United States.

Finalists will be reviewed by a panel of prominent writers including Alexander Chee, Christine Schutt, Ruben Martinez and Evelyn McDonnell.

Arthur Davtyan was elected Prosecutor General with an overwhelming majority of the votes today.

Three of the 103 MPs participating in the secret ballot, voted against Davtayn’s candidacy, another three ballots were considered invalid.

The newly-elected Prosecutor General pledged to spare no effort to come up to the expectations.

Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink would be 62 today.

Dink, the highly esteemed former editor-in-chief of weekly Agos, was murdered in broad daylight in front of his newspaper’s building on Jan. 19, 2007 by a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist.

The triggerman, Ogün Samast, was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to 22 years and 10 months of prison after a two year-trial.

Made in Armenia Expo 2016 organized by the Armenian Ministry of Economy and the Development Foundation of Armenia will be held at “Meridian” expo center from September 19 to 22.

The exhibition will bring together more than 300 Armenian companies that offer a wide range of products and services.

Made in Armenia is the foremost international event in Armenia where local industry professionals can meet, network, and conduct business deals.

Given its unique atmosphere of national and international entities, both private and governmental, it is the ideal event to start an effective business dialogue with Armenian manufacturers and professionals.

The goal of Made in Armenia is to provide participants with not only quality products but also a high quality network for each industrial sector.