Category: News

Photo: AP

About 6,500 migrants have been rescued off Libya, the Italian coastguard says, in one of the biggest operations of its kind to date, the BBC reports.

Some 40 co-ordinated rescue missions took place about 20km (12 miles) off the Libyan town of Sabratha, it added.

Video footage shows migrants, said to be from Eritrea and Somalia, cheering and some swimming to rescue vessels, while others carried babies aboard.

On Sunday more than 1,100 migrants were rescued in the same area.

The instability in Libya has made the country a hub for people-trafficking.

A car has exploded after ramming the gates of the Chinese embassy in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, with at least one person killed, reports say.

Kyrgyz security officials quoted by the local AKIpress news agency described the blast as a terrorist attack.

The news agency also quoted the chief of security at the Chinese embassy as saying that no staff there had been injured.

The Russian TASS news agency says one person was killed, two were wounded.

Local reports say that the person killed was the driver of the car.

Kyrgyz security officials are at the scene conducting an investigation.

Today, the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Republic of Armenia Giorgi Saganelidze presented his credentials to President Serzh Sargsyan, President’s Press Office reports.

The President of Armenia congratulated the Ambassador on assuming the position and wished him success in his diplomatic mission in our country. Serzh Sargsyan expressed confidence that the newly appointed diplomat will make a significant contribution to the development of the bilateral ties in different areas and to the strengthening of the Armenian-Georgian friendly relations. Noting with satisfaction that in recent years high-level interstate contacts have intensified, the President said that in Armenia we are looking forward to the upcoming official visit of the Prime Minister of Georgia.

Ambassador Saganelidze assured that during his tenure he would do his best to deepen the existing close and good-neighborly relations between Armenia and Georgia and added that he was honored to work in a country whose centuries-long history and culture are well familiar to him.

The interlocutors underscored that the active interstate dialogue anchored in the historically traditional friendship and understanding of the two nations has become a strong base for the opening of new areas of cooperation.

President Serzh Sargsyan and Ambassador Giorgi Saganelidze concurred that along with the high-level political relations there also exist wide opportunities and still unused huge potential for the development of the trade and economic ties, expansion of cooperation in a number of promising areas such as tourism, agriculture, energy, culture, etc.

The President of Armenia and Ambassador of Georgia stressed the importance of the active work aimed at the strengthening of the interparliamentary ties.

Mssis Post – Naré Mkrtchyan describes her film, The Other Side of Home, as “a universal story of identity, denial, and how the experience of genocide creates a ripple effect for future generations on both sides.”

In 2015, a Turkish woman named Maya discovers that her great grandmother was a survivor of the Armenian Genocide. As Maya wrestles with this new reality, she comes to embody the conflict that remains unresolved between the two peoples. She has two conflicting identities: one that suffers and the other that denies the suffering and its causes. The Other Side of Home is a documentary that follows Maya as she goes to Armenia to take part in the 100th commemoration of the Genocide and to explore her new-found roots.

The USC Institute of Armenian Studies is co-hosting the screening with the USC School of Cinematic Arts and the USC Shoah Foundation. The 40-minute film will be followed by a conversation with the film’s director and USC Institute of Armenian Studies Fellow, Filmmaker Eric Nazarian.

Naré Mkrtchyan is a filmmaker living in Los Angeles, CA. She graduated from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. Her passion is telling unique human stories that connect people and move beyond the boundaries of nationality, gender, and religion.

Born in Armenia and raised in Los Angeles, Eric Nazarian is also a graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts. He has lectured on the origins of cinema and the Armenian Genocide on campuses across the U.S. and Europe. Nazarian is currently working on the film adaptation of The Sandcastle Girls, Chris Bohjalian’s critically acclaimed bestselling novel. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America.

Salpi Ghazarian, the director of the USC Institute of Armenian Studies, says, “After the Genocide, most of the Armenian survivors who stayed in Turkey took on new identities – sometimes voluntarily, often not. These were the hidden Armenians who knew who they were. But as the genocide generation disappears, the third and fourth generations who are slowly discovering their roots are shocked and unprepared for their new identity. This film adds to the conversation about this difficult transition.”

Armenian striker Yura Movsisyan made it to the MLS Week 25 Team of the Week after he scored both Real Salt Lake goals in the 2-1 win over the Colorado Rapids on Friday night.

With a terribly played first part of the first half, the moment and player that made a difference in the match was Yura Movsisyan’s goal in the 39th minute, when he snuck the ball past Rapids’ goalkeeper, Tim Howard. He put in his fair share of work in the game and made the biggest impact on the game.

On August 29 Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received the delegation of the German-Armenian Forum headed by Member of Bundestag Albert Weiner.

Minister Nalbandian hailed the activity of the Forum targeted at the further reinforcement and expansion of bilateral ties.

The interlocutors praised the high-level cooperation established between Armenia and Germany and discussed steps towards the deepening of relations.

Albert Weiner briefed Minister Nalbandian on the current activities and plans of the Forum.

Edward Nalbandian hailed the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the German Bundestag and valued the efforts of the German-Armenian Forum in the process.

During the meeting reference was made to Armenia-EU relations and the ongoing negotiations on a new legal framework with the EU.

The Armenian Foreign Minister briefed the German lawmakers on the efforts of Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group targeted at the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh issue.

Massis Post – In a directive issued to all Eastern Diocesan churches Primate Archbishop Khajag Barsamian has asked all parishes to assist in fundraising drives aimed at assisting Armenian community members affected by the devastating flooding in Louisiana earlier this month.

Vasken Kaltakjian, the parish council chair of St. Garabed Armenian Church in Baton Rouge, has reported that three Armenian families were forced to flee their homes, and one community memeber lost his business in the wake of the severe flooding that caused widespread damage and loss in the State capital.

According to Mr Kaltakjian, one family experienced minor damage to their property and has already returned to their home. They are expecting to begin renovations soon.

One family’s house was completely submerged in water. Everything in the house remains unsalvageable, including such basic items as clothing and other personal belongings.

A third family was forced to evacuate their home and will not be able to return for at least six weeks. The first floor of their house was completely flooded, and they lost all furniture, appliances, and other items on the first floor to water damage.

The fourth family experienced damage at their place of business, where two parking lots were flooded and 82 cars were destroyed. In addition, the family owned two rental houses and a fishing camp, all of which were submerged in water.

Two of these families did not have flood insurance as their properties were not located in a flood zone, Mr. Kaltakjian said. Those forced to evacuate their homes are now staying with friends and relatives in the area.

The parish council of St. Garabed Church has been in touch with these Armenian familys to provide emergency assistance. Their goal is to provide short-term relief while the families await aid from insurance companies and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

 – Turkish permission for German lawmakers to visit the Incirlik air base will depend on the German government distancing itself from a resolution branding a 1915 massacre of Armenians as “genocide”, Turkey’s foreign minister said on Monday.

Turkey, angered by a resolution passed by the German parliament in June that described the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces as a “genocide”, has denied German lawmakers access to the base near the Syrian frontier.

Six German surveillance jets and a refuelling tanker are using it to support the U.S.-led coalition’s strikes on Islamic State. Some German lawmakers have threatened to end the mission unless Ankara allows them to visit.

“It depends on the steps taken by Germany. If they take the necessary steps we will enable this visit,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a news conference in Ankara, when asked about allowing the German lawmakers access to the base.

“But unfortunately I have to say that those that mingle and manipulate our history in an unfair manner cannot be allowed on this visit,” he said, in reference to the Armenian resolution.

Foreign ministry officials said “necessary steps” meant the German government distancing itself from the parliamentary resolution and making clear it did not support it.

Germany’s European Affairs Minister Michael Roth, who just returned to Germany from a visit to Ankara, earlier told broadcaster Suedwestrundfunk that the two countries had made progress in resolving the dispute over Incirlik.

“I have the impression that there is great movement here,” Roth said. “I hope and wish that parliamentarians from our Bundestag will soon be able to visit our soldiers.”

Roth said he was received warmly and openly in Turkey during a visit aimed at rebuilding German-Turkish ties.

Tense relations between the NATO allies soured further after Turkey’s failed July 15 coup, with Turkey unhappy about what it saw as a slow German response in condemning the action.

Roth said Germany had immediately condemned the coup attempt, but could have responded more compassionately.

Photo: Mikhail Metzel/TASS

 

Uzbek President Islam Karimov has suffered brain hemorrhage and is in an intensive care in a stable condition, his daughter Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva wrote on her Instagram page on Monday, TASS reports.

“My father was hospitalised after suffering a cerebral haemorrhage on Saturday morning, and is now receiving treatment in an intensive care unit,” Karimova-Tillyaeva said. “His condition is considered stable. At the moment it is too early to make any predictions about his future health.”

“I will be very thankful to everyone who wishes to and supports my father by their prayers,” she added.

Uzbekistan’s mass media reports said earlier that Karimov, 78, had been hospitalized, giving no details about the diagnosis. Karimov has been the president of Uzbekistan since 1991.

A Russian computer programmer was detained in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, on Friday for alleged money laundering and illegal transfer of military technology. Sergey Mironov’s arrest was made after a US government request, his lawyer told RT.

Mironov was arrested by Armenian security forces after arriving in Yerevan with his wife, Mironov’s lawyer in Russia, Karen Nersesyan, told RT. After the arrest, he was moved to solitary confinement in Yerevan.

Mironov works as a programmer in Moscow and doesn’t have access to any secret materials or technologies, the lawyer said.

menwhile, the Armenian police say Sergey Mironov, 30, has been wanted by US law-enforcement bodies since May 11, 2016.