Category: News

Photo: Reuters

 

Barack Obama has become the first serving US president to visit Hiroshima since the World War Two nuclear attack, the BBC reports.

Mr Obama said the memory of 6 August 1945 must never fade, but did not apologise for the US attack – the world’s first and only nuclear bombing.

Mr Obama spoke to a number of survivors and in an address called on nations to pursue a world without nuclear weapons.

At least 140,000 people died in Hiroshima and another 74,000 two days later in a second bombing in Nagasaki.

Mr Obama first visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum before walking to the Peace Memorial Park, accompanied by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Jose Mourinho has been officially confirmed as Manchester United manager and has signed a three-year contract, the BBC reports.

He replaces Dutchman Louis van Van Gaal, who was dismissed on Monday, two days after the club’s FA Cup win.

“Jose is quite simply the best manager in the game today,” said United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.

Mourinho, 53, said: “To become Manchester United manager is a special honour in the game. It is a club known and admired throughout the world.”

He said he had always “felt an affinity with Old Trafford” and claimed he has “always enjoyed a rapport with the United fans”.

He added: “I’m looking forward to being their manager and enjoying their magnificent support in the coming years.

“There is a mystique and a romance about it which no other club can match.”

Mourinho has been out of work since being sacked as boss of Premier League rivals Chelsea in December.

 

 

 

The elimination of consequences of the April war unleashed by Azerbaijan and the support to the affected families in Nagorno Karabakh will be the main strategy of this year’s fundraiser of the Hayastan All Armenian Fund, the Fund’s Executive Director Ara Vardanyan told reporters today.

He said the funds raised during this year’s telethon will be provided for that purpose if no other suggestions are made, he noted.

“The NKR government has started calculating the damages. I can’t mention the amount needed, but the assistance should be multilayered and benefit different spheres –from supply of medicines to reconstruction of houses and assistance to families of the fallen soldiers,” Ara Vardanyan said.

The Executive Director noted that the plans will be clarified within a month or two.

The 25^th sitting of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s Board of Trustees was held in Yerevan today.

The meeting was chaired by President Serzh Sargsyan, President of the Board of Trustees. Participating in the sitting were Armenia’s Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan, President of the National Assembly Galust Sahakyan, NKR President Bako Sahakyan, other high-ranking officials.

Addressing the meeting, NKR President Sahakyan Bako Sahakyan expressed gratitude to the entire Armenian nation, Mother Armenia and the Diaspora  for rendering support to the Artsakh Republic during the harsh days of the war unleashed by Azerbaijan.

Bako Sahakyan emphasized that the Armenian nation has a unique ability to consolidate at fatal hours and solve national issues of paramount significance.

The President proposed to include the reconstruction of the settlements affected by the April war into the program of the “Telethon-2016.”

Donald Trump on Thursday reached the number of delegates needed to clinch the Republican nomination for president, completing an unlikely rise that has upended the political landscape and sets the stage for a bitter fall campaign, the Associated Press reports.

Trump was put over the top in the Associated Press delegate count by a small number of the party’s unbound delegates who told the AP they would support him at the convention. Among them is Oklahoma GOP chairwoman Pam Pollard.

“I think he has touched a part of our electorate that doesn’t like where our country is,” Pollard said. “I have no problem supporting Mr. Trump.”

It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination for president. Trump has reached 1,238. With 303 delegates at stake in five state primaries on June 7, Trump will easily pad his total, avoiding a contested convention in Cleveland in July.

 

Thee Armenian American Museum may receive $5 million in state funds to help pay for its construction on a potential downtown Glendale, The Los Angeles Times reports.

State Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian appropriated state general fund money for the project in the upcoming budget, which still needs legislative approval and Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature by mid-June.

The museum’s foundation in 2014 first pitched its proposal for a 30,000-square-foot museum to house artworks by Armenians and artists from other cultures.

Nazarian said he’s followed the project since then and understands its potential.

“Something like this museum can play a common denominator for furthering intercultural relations,” he said in a phone interview.

The museum’s representatives and the city were initially looking to build on a 1.7-acre lot across from Glendale Community College, but an outpouring of concerns about traffic from nearby residents compelled City Council members to recommend changing the location.

In February, the council directed members of the museum foundation to examine building the project at Central Park in downtown Glendale, adjacent to the Glendale Central Library, the Adult Recreation Center and the newly opened Museum of Neon Art.

Council members felt a downtown location would be better suited for foot traffic. Nazarian said it was the decision to relocate that was the final push for him to get involved.

“I think the fact it’s in downtown, it’s a much better location for integrating the museum into the fabric of Glendale itself as well as for tourism or closer access to long-existing transportation lines,” he said.

Nazarian said he’s been in talks with museum officials, who requested the $5 million. That money will be earmarked for construction only; ongoing operational costs would have to be covered through fundraising and donations, he added.

To that end, Berdj Karapetian, chairman of the museum’s development committee, expressed his gratitude toward the assemblyman and other state legislators.

“We look forward to working with leaders from the California State Legislature to help make our vision for the Armenian American Museum a reality in the city of Glendale and build an educational center that will serve local residents and visitors from throughout our great state of California,” Karapetian said in an email.

Despite the state funding, construction costs will likely surpass $5 million, said Tigranna Zakaryan, spokeswoman for the museum.

And Nazarian’s appropriation likely won’t speed up the construction process either, she added.

Museum officials still need to secure a ground lease for Central Park — something Zakaryan hopes can be achieved by this fall. There also needs to be an environmental review and economic feasibility study conducted, she said.

Once open, the museum will house permanent and traveling exhibitions.

Recently, museum officials helped with an exhibit titled “Armenia: An Open Wound” at the Brand Library & Art Center that will be on display through June 11.

Within the framework of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund Board of Trustees’ annual meeting in Yerevan, a delegation led by the representatives of the fund’s Executive Board and comprising trustees, representatives of affiliates worldwide, and benefactors, began a string of project-site visits and opening ceremonies of newly completed projects in Armenia.

On May 25, the delegation visited the Nalbandyan village school (Armavir Region), which has been undergoing a comprehensive refurbishment with the financial support of Mr. and Mrs. Armen and Berjouhi Nalbandian of Toronto. The renovations of the 3,200-square-meter campus include a complete makeover of the two classroom buildings and the administrative wing, as well as the construction of a gym, currently underway. The project is slated to be finished in September 2016, when the school’s 600 students will be welcomed to an essentially brand-new campus featuring new furniture and equipment.

Also on May 25, the delegation visited the Mesrop Mashtots School of Oshakan, a village in Armenian’s Aragatsotn Region. The main building of the school has been transformed into a state-of-the-art learning environment, featuring all modern amenities, thanks to the co-sponsorship of the French-Armenian community and the City of Alfortville, France. Moreover, as sister communities, Alfortville and Oshakan have instituted student-exchange programs, which in turn are contributing to the school’s quality of education.

On May 26, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund delegation visited Yerevan’s Tchaikovsky Music School, which is being completely renovated through the financial support of USA Eastern Region affiliate. The delegation got a first-hand look at the large-scale modernization project, which includes seismic retrofitting; an extensive structural redesign; and a fully renovated auditorium, complete with a new stage and amenities for performers and audiences; as well as a newly built elevator and wheelchair ramps. As importantly, the school now features fully appointed rehearsal rooms for its symphony orchestra, string quartet, brass band, choir, and jazz ensemble. Thanks to the refurbishment, the Tchaikovsky Music School, whose graduates in the course of its almost 80-year history include many of the giants of Armenian music, is being transformed into a world-class conservatory.

PHOTO: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

 

The price of oil has gone above $50 a barrel for the first time in 2016 as supply disruptions and increased global demand continue to fuel a recovery, the BBC reports.

The benchmark Brent crude price hit $50.07 a barrel in Asian trade.

The rise followed US data on Thursday showing that oil inventories had fallen, largely due to supply disruptions following fires in Canada.

Brent crude has now risen 80% since it hit 13-year lows of below $28 a barrel at the start of the year.

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan had a phone conversation with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzey Kasprzyk.

The interlocutors discussed the situation at the Karabakh-Azerbaijan line of contact and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

The Defense Minister assured that the Armenian side is committed to the agreements reached between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Vienna on May 16.

Minister Ohanyan noted that “The Armed Forces of Armenia and the NKR Defense Army unequivocally support the implementation of the 1994 agreement on ceasefire and 1995 agreement on reinforcement of ceasefire, expansion of the monitoring mission, implementation of the mechanism of investigation of border incidents.”

PHOTO: EUNAVFOR MED

 

Up to 30 migrants are feared dead after a boat capsized in the Mediterranean off the Libyan coast while some 50 were rescued by EU vessels from the sea, the BBC reports.

Ships from an EU task force and Italy’s coast guard raced to the scene 65km off the coast as survivors clung to the hull or swam.

The alert had been raised by a Luxembourg reconnaissance plane which saw the capsized boat.

The Italian navy rescued 562 migrants from a capsized boat on Wednesday.

Asbarez – On Tuesday, May 24th, the student government at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz), the Student Union Assembly (SUA), unanimously voted to pass the “Armenian Genocide Commemoration Resolution.” The effort was led by the Armenian Students’ Association (ASA) at UC Santa Cruz.Approximately thirty students attended the SUA meeting at the school’s campus.

The resolution sheds light on the massacres of the 1915 Armenian Genocide and the Ottoman Empire’s attempt to systematically annihilate the Armenian people. Furthermore, it brings awareness to the Republic of Turkey’s continuous genocide denial campaign and efforts to hide its crimes against humanity.

Four Armenian students at UC Santa Cruz, Maral Tatoian, Nara Avakian, Daniel Sarkissian, and Haik Adamian, worked on finalizing the language of the resolution. At last Tuesday’s SUA meeting, Tatoian presented about the resolution, speaking on the history of the Armenian Genocide, the cycle of genocide that continues today, as well as what the passing of the resolution would mean for genocide education and the recognition of the Armenian Genocide on a national level.

“Being one of the co-founders that re-established ASA [at UC Santa Cruz], I have seen this organization grow over the past four years and partake in movements like this. It is very touching for me and truly shows the impact we are making on campus in order to make our voices heard. After all, they tried to bury us, but they didn’t know we were seeds and we will continue to grow!” said Tatoian, a fourth-year linguistics major and education minor undergraduate at UC Santa Cruz.

The resolution calls on SUA to not only commemorate the Armenian Genocide, but also “condemn those attempts made by governments as well as other entities, both public and private, to distort the historical reality and legal relevance of the Armenian Genocide to the descendants of its survivors and humanity as a whole.”

Through this resolution, the students hope to raise awareness about the Armenian Genocide and the ongoing denial by the Republic of Turkey and the United States. Moreover, they hope to work with SUA to educate students on campus about the cycle of genocide that continues with denial.

“For me, the passing of this resolution means a lot. Having a prominent student association recognize our cause as Armenians is a big step. But this is only the first step of many toward the recognition of the Armenian Genocide” said Nara Avakian, a first-year sociology major and global information and social enterprise studies minor undergraduate student.

Furthermore, through the passing of this resolution, SUA “supports the efforts of the Armenian-American community at UC Santa Cruz to establish April 24th as the official Day of Remembrance for the Armenian Genocide.”

“For me, this means the progress of the marginalized Armenian Diaspora. As I am a descendent of genocide survivors, it is an honor to have represented my nation in a monumental step on our campus. With Turkey launching a major anti-genocide [recognition] campaign, every step we take as Armenians towards recognition is valuable to our community” said Daniel Sarkissian, a second-year neuroscience undergraduate student.

The ASA at UC Santa Cruz will be meeting with the school’s Executive Vice Chancellor to discuss the next steps that need to be taken to ensure that April 24th will become Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day at UC Santa Cruz

“Passing the resolution marks the beginning of the battle for getting UC Regents, and other authorities to give up their strategic ties to bodies and companies who are active participants in Turkey’s genocide denial and normalization campaigns. At the very least, we can help to expose the role of the education industry in the widespread denial of the Armenian genocide” said Haik Adamian, a second-year anthropology major at UC Santa Cruz.

Armenian students at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) ensured the adoption of similar genocide recognition resolutions last year on their respective campuses.

, the UC Santa Cruz ASA introduced and ensured the unanimous adoption of “A Resolution to Divest from the Republic of Turkey to End the Perpetuation of the Armenian Genocide”, which calls for UC Santa Cruz, the UC Santa Cruz Foundation, and the University of California to divest $72.6 million dollars worth of University of California bonds and investments in the Republic of Turkey for its crimes in, and continued denial of the Armenian Genocide. The resolution was a part of the greater #DivestTurkey campaign led by the Armenian Youth Federation – Western United States (AYF-WUS) and campus-based ASAs.