Category: News

Armenia international Gevorg Ghazaryan has had a successful surgery in Germany, Press Service of the Football Federation of Armenia reports.

Ghazaryan sustained an injury of the cruciate ligament minutes after the kickoff of Armenian national team’s clash against Kazakhstan Sunday.

According to preliminary estimates, the player will need six months for full recovery.

Gevorg Ghazaryan thanked the Football Federation for organizing his departure and surgery in Germany, as well as to all fans and teammates for encouraging words.

in a 2018 World Cup qualifier held at Hrazdan Stadium in Yerevan.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored the opener on the 73rd minute, Aras Ozbiliz made it 2-0 two minutes later.

A unique project called “Sounding paintings” will have its gala concert at the Kremlin, Sobesednik.ru informs.

The multimedia show, where Hovhannes Aivazovsky’s paintings “come alive” to the sounds of music, will be accompanied by the performance of most famous duduk player Jivan Gasparyan.

The famous seascapes ‘will meet with’ changeable images of sand animation and music performed by Jivan Gasparyan, his grandson Jivan Gasparyan Jr., Armen Ghazaryan and Vazgen Makaryan, as well as Trio Belcanto (organ, duduk and saxophone).

Armenian traditional melodies and masterpieces of world classical music (Vivaldi, Schubert and Rachmaninov) will be performed.

The concert at the Kremlin is one of the series of about 50 performances scheduled in Moscow this spring.

The concert will take place at the State Kremlin Palace on April 2.

Tamara Gachechiladze, who represents Georgia at Eurovision 2017, follows Germany’s Levina and Cuprus’ Hovig to accept a challenge to sing an Armenian song.

Tamara has shared a Video of her singing the Armenian song “Lorik” by Komitas.

Armenia’s entrant Artsvik earlier performed a Georgian song “Moxevis Qalo Tinao” and challenged Tamara Gachechiladze to perform an Armenian song.

and had earlier accepted the challenge and performed Armenian folk songs.

Artsvik says Eurovision 2017 theme “Celebrate Diversity” inspired her to launch the series of covers. She’s challenging artists from around Europe to perform their own covers of Armenian folk songs of their choice.

France is ready to host a meeting between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan if they reach an agreement, French Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Stéphane Visconti said after talks with Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan in Stepanakert, reports.

On his first visit to Nagorno Karabakh, Mr. Visconti said he’s delighted with the beauty of Stepanakert. “It was a pleasant surprise to me,” he said.

Speaking about negotiations, the Co-Chair said “the process continues and there is a rich dialogue between the parties.”

“It’s not visible to everyone. We cannot disclose details, as the negotiations are confidential. It does not mean, however, that nothing is being done. To continue the talks, it’s first necessary to exclude ceasefire violations at the line of contact. The parties have to make concessions to move forward,” Stéphane Visconti told reporters.

AFP – EU president Donald Tusk said the bloc already misses Britain but would act as one to defend its interests after London triggered the two-year exit process on Wednesday.

“What can I add to this? We already miss you. Thank you and goodbye,” Tusk said in Brussels after receiving a letter from British Prime Minister Theresa May requesting the EU divorce.

“There is no reason to pretend this is a happy day,” he said in a short statement to reporters, adding: “In essence this is about damage control.

In a historic moment at around 1:26 pm (1126 GMT), Tusk accepted the letter from Tim Barrow, the British ambassador to the EU, as they shook hands against a backdrop of EU and Union Jack flags.

But the former Polish premier added that the European Union would stay together during the talks on Britain’s exit.

“Paradoxically there is also something positive in Brexit. Brexit has made us, the communuity of 27 more determined and more united than before,” he added.

“Today I can say that we will remain determined and united, also in the future, during the difficult negotiations ahead,” he added.

The remaining EU 27 members issued a statement through Tusk saying they would priotise an “orderly” divorce — in contrast to May saying in her letter that she wanted to discuss new ties and the split in parallel.

“In these negotiations the Union will act as one and preserve its interests,” they said in the statement.

“Our first priority will be to minimise the uncertainty caused by the decision of the United Kingdom for our citizens, businesses and Member States,” they added.

“Therefore, we will start by focusing on all key arrangements for an orderly withdrawal,” they said.

The EU27 said they would “approach these talks constructively and strive to find an agreement” and added that “we hope to have the United Kingdom as a close partner” in future.

Tusk will issue more detailed political guidelines for the Brexit negotiations, which EU leaders will sign off on at a summit on April 29.

Artsakh Human Rights Ombudsman Ruben Melikyan outlined the work of his office and presented the findings of its latest report on Azerbaijani war crimes and atrocities committed during the four-day April 2016 war to public policy leaders at a forum sponsored by the Center for Transatlantic Relations (CTR) at the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), reported the Armenian Legal Center for Justice and Human Rights (ALC).

CTR’s Benedikt Harzl, an Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation Fellow in Central European Studies at Johns Hopkins University SAIS and assistant professor of international law at the University of Graz, hosted the March 15th discussion.  In his introductory remarks, Prof. Harzl noted the lack of a harmonized and unified approach to conflict resolution involving de facto states as one of the reasons these situations continue to fester and the importance of hearing the voices from these entities.

Prof. Harzl explained that a crucial question revolves around “what role should be afforded de facto states in the course of conflict resolution” and believed “international law is indeed in a position to provide accommodation with de facto states.”

Mr. Melikyan offered an overview of the responsibilities of the Human Rights Ombudsman, an independent position established in 2008, to address the human rights concerns of the citizens of Artsakh, including social, political, education, and religious rights.  The Ombudsman has the right to investigate human rights complaints, can demand information from state and local government officials, and has unrestricted access to prisons.  Mr. Melikyan, who was elected to a six year term by the Artsakh Parliament in May 2016, reported that he handles about 130 complaints a year.  He is not an “Armenian rights defender,” but a “human rights defender,” stressed Mr. Melikyan, who recounted his visit to an Azerbaijani soldier currently in custody in Artsakh during which he shared a copy of the European Convention on Human Rights and emphasized his right to an attorney of his choice.

The number one human rights concern in Artsakh was the right to security and life, explained Mr. Melikyan, citing Azerbaijan’s constant threats of war and repeated attacks.  His investigation into the four-day April 2016 War found widespread and systematic war crimes abuses by Azerbaijani soldiers, including three cases of beheadings.  The report, which has been , found that of the 28 combatants and 3 civilians, who fell under the control of Azerbaijan, 90% of them were either tortured, executed, or mutilated.

Mr. Melikyan decried the lack of widespread condemnation of these atrocities, warning that “impunity encourages new atrocities.”

The Belarusian Belavia Airline will resume Minsk-Yerevan-Minsk direct flights from May 2017.

The General Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia has provided the air company with a license to operate regular flights.

In the summer navigation period Belavia plans to operate flights twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays.

The last flight along the route was carried out on February 4, 2016.

President Serzh Sargsyan has left for the Republic of Malta to participate in the meetings and the Summit of the European People’s Party (EPP).

Heads of state and government of the EU and Eastern Partnership member states, whose parties are also members of the EPP, are invited to take part in the Summit.

Four Memorandums of Understanding were signed within the framework of the Armenia-UAE Investment Forum held in Abu Dhabi last week, the Development Foundation of Armenia reports.

The “Hydro Corporation” Group of Companies and Estekshaf Investment Company signed a MoU on investments in the field of renewable energy, which envisages implementation of large-scale and long-term programs. The programs aim to upgrade the small HPPs.

“Tamara Fruit” CJSC and Natural Organic Healthy Food Company signed an agreement, under which the Armenian company will supply organic food to luxury hotels in six Arab countries. The first delivery is expected in the first decade of April.

The Armenian-Emirati Business Union and the Natural Organic Healthy Food signed a Memorandum on opening of organic food processing center in Armenia.

Under a MoU signed with the Armenian Ministry of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources, the in solar photovoltaic power plants in Armenia and operate them using the best technology available to the sector.

A passenger plane has caught fire on landing at an airport near the town of Jauja in central Peru. Remarkably no injuries have been reported. All 141 people on board were evacuated safely, Euronews reports.

Witnesses said the the Boeing 737 which had taken off in Lima drove off the runway after swerving for no apparent reason.

The fire may have been started when the wing scraped the ground.

Peruvian Airlines which own the jet have launched an investigation into the incident.