Category: News

Two Russian Il-76 planes have delivered some 50 metric tons of Russian humanitarian aid for residents of conflict-torn Syria, reports.

The cargo includes food, medicine, clothing, school supplies, as well as toys and treats for children. It will be distributed among residents of cities blocked by militants from terrorist organizations, such as Islamic State.

Earlier, a new batch of humanitarian aid prepared jointly by Russia and Syria was delivered to the Syrian city of Deir el-Zour (ez-Zor), besieged by IS militants.

Photo/Getty Images

 

Actor George Clooney and his lawyer wife Amal have had a private meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss the crisis in Syria and Europe’s efforts to help refugees, the Associated Press reports.

The actor, who is currently attending the Berlin Film Festival to showcase his new movie “Hail, Caesar,” was accompanied to the 40-minute meeting Friday by David Miliband, the former British foreign secretary who now heads the International Rescue Committee.

Miliband said afterward that they had discussed what countries around the world can do to solve “what is a global problem, not just a Syrian problem or a German issue.”

He praised Merkel for “showing very strong leadership and example not just to Europe but globally” during the refugee crisis.

Massis Post – Eight Armenian films will be screened as part of the third edition of the SR Socially Relevant Film Festival, a ground-breaking non-profit film festival that showcases socially relevant films with human interest stories. The festival opens on the 14th of March with a panel on Adapting the Novel to the Screen with such prolific panelists as Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Robert Schenkkan, and widely published French novelist Marc Levy. The films screen from March 15-19 at The Bow Tie Cinemas Chelsea and the closing night Awards Ceremony takes place at the Tenri Japanese Center on the 20th of March.

The full line-up and program of this year’s SR Socially Relevant Film Festival was announced at its Press Day, hosted at Bocca East in Manhattan, on February 2. Selected films will focus on the current topics of immigration, female empowerment, human exploitation, gender politics disability and more, and will feature distinguished personalities including Erin Brockovich, Olympia Dukakis, Sally Field, Marc Duret and others.

Two narrative features and six shorts revolving around Armenian themes will have a special presence in this year’s film festival, including the International Premiere of 100 Years Later (directed by John Lubbock) which follows historian Ara Sarafian’s journey through Anatolia as facts of the 1915 Armenian Genocide are uncovered and dialogue is established with local Kurds and Turks.

The second feature, Who Killed the Armenians? (directed by Mohamed Hanafy Nasr), will have its World Premiere at the festival and is the first Arabic documentary on the Armenian Genocide, filmed in Egypt, Armenia and Lebanon. The film reveals rare documents, footage and interviews related to the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

The short film, Eclipse, (directed by Ara Yernjakyan) which will have its U.S. premiere, revolves around the children who suffered and the families that were destroyed during the Armenian Genocide.

Girl on the Moon, (directed by Aren Malakyan), filmed in Armenia, focuses on the first steps of disabled people and how they try to change the course of their lives through dance.

How to Cross from Jiliz to Jiliz, directed by Marineh Kocharyan and Sona Kocharyan, is about a young girl who dreams of being with her grandmother and relatives who live on the other side of the border, only a few meters away. The film will have its New York premiere.

Now I Know, directed by Anna Bayatyan from Armenia, will have its International Premiere, focusing on the theme of hope.

Shattered, directed by David Hovan, focuses on memories of war and chaos and post-traumatic stress disorder. It will have its New York Premiere.

Where is the Euphrates, Son? Directed by Rouben Pashinyan, filmed in Armenia, the film tells the story of an Armenian grandfather who arrives in Armenia as a tourist and tries to find the Euphrates River. It will have its New York premiere at the festival.

Founded by award-winning actor, filmmaker and curator Nora Armani, SR aims to satisfy a market need concentrating on everyday human stories as an alternative to the proliferation of gratuitous violence in film making.

“The Minsk Group is the only mediation format that has been accepted by the sides and has the full confidence of all OSCE participating States,”  Ambassador Véronique Roger-Lacan, France’s Permanent Representative to the OSCE, said in an . She made the statement on behalf of the three countries co-chairing the Minsk Group, the Russian Federation, United States and France.

“The Minsk Group Co-chairs contribute to stabilizing the security situation by keeping regular contacts with the sides and through close cooperation with the personal representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office who monitors on a daily basis the situation on the ground, – in the context of regular and often deadly ceasefire violations – along the line of contact as well as along the international border between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” she said.

“According to its mandate, which is inter alia “to conduct negotiations with the Parties to obtain conclusion of an agreement on the cessation of the armed conflict”, the Minsk Group Co-chairs aim at promoting, through the Madrid principles, a balanced approach to the settlement of the conflict, based in particular on the conciliation of the principles of self-determination, territorial integrity and non-use of force. It is not the inefficiency of the mediation process conducted by the Co-chairs that is to blame for the serious lack of progress in the negotiations, but the lack of political will of the parties to reach a peaceful settlement,” Véronique Roger-Lacan said.

“The Co-chairs are also working on the endorsement by the parties of confidence building measures, such as the creation of a prevention and investigation mechanism of the ceasefire violations along the line of contact, and dialogue between the communities of Nagorno-Karabakh. Their action also focuses on the humanitarian measure of exchanging data on the missing persons from the conflict, agreed at the Paris summit of 27 October 2014 and implemented by the ICRC,” the French Representative said.

“The Co-Chairs will continue to brief international and regional organizations interested in supporting the Minsk Group process. They will continue their engagement to work closely with the sides in order to reach a peaceful and sustainable settlement of the conflict,” she concluded.

“As a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, the United States will continue to work closely with the sides to achieve a lasting, negotiated settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict based on the principles of international law, the UN Charter, and the Helsinki Final Act,” Ambassador Daniel B. Baer, U.S Representative to the OSCE, said is a

“Regretfully, violence along the line of contact and the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border has escalated over the past several months. The United States reiterates the concerns of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs and condemns the use of mortars and other heavy weaponry that has caused civilian casualties. We echo the Co-Chairs’ appeals to the sides to take immediate steps to reduce tensions and protect lives,” he said.

“The status quo is neither acceptable nor sustainable, and we remind the sides that there can be no military solution to the conflict. The United States strongly supports the Co-Chairs’ efforts to facilitate an intensified dialogue between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan and to establish structured negotiations in order to make progress towards a peaceful settlement,” Amb. Baer said.

The Ambassador also urged the Azerbaijani government to respect and uphold the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all its citizens, consistent with its international commitments and obligations. This is not separate from, but indeed a central component of, achieving a comprehensive and sustainable security for Azerbaijan and the region.

He noted that the United States regrets the closure of the OSCE Office in Baku and hope that it is temporary because such a presence could contribute to this work, along with the work in other dimensions including the rule of law, human rights and countering transnational threats.

Arthur Abraham: As an Armenian, I have two values to fight for – pride and honor

WBO super middleweight champion “King” Arthur Abraham, who will defend his world title against undefeated WBO #1 super middleweight contender and mandatory challenger Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez on April 9 in Las Vegas, wasn’t able to make today’s Los Angeles Pacquiao-Bradley undercard presser. However he did send a statement from his training camp in Germany. The statement reads:

“This fight is a dream come true for me. I fought in Hollywood, Florida vs. Edison Miranda, against Andre Dirrell in Detroit and vs. Andre Ward in Carson, California. But the flair of a big-time event was missing. I was at Manny’s fight vs. Shane Mosley at the MGM Grand in 2011 and the atmosphere captured my imagination. Afterwards, it was my wish to one day step into this very ring and on April 9 I will finally get the chance to share the spotlight with the “Pac-Man.”

I do not take a win that night for granted, as Gilberto Ramirez is a young upcoming boxer from Mexico, one of the greatest fighting countries. He wants to write history by becoming the first Mexican to win a world championship at super middleweight.

But myself being an Armenian, living and fighting out of Germany, I have two values to fight for: pride and honor. I will go into this fight with the following words on my mind: “Mejor morir de pie que vivir arrodillado!” This is going to be my greatest victory. Thank you!”

PHOTO: REUTERS/HAMID KHATIB

 

Kurdish-led fighters aided by Russian bombing captured a rebel-held former Syrian military airport near the border with Turkey, a monitor and rebels said on Thursday, reports.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said heavy fighting took place between Kurds and Syrian insurgents around Menagh airport and Russian warplanes staged at least 30 raids against the rebels holding out there.

Rebels say the Kurdish YPG militias have been taking advantage of their preoccupation with fending off a Syrian army ground offensive launched last week in the northern Aleppo countryside to gain ground in the area near a main border crossing with Turkey.

Kurdish fighters based in their stronghold in the city of Afrin, south of rebel-held Azaz, have grabbed a string of villages that rebels have been forced to evacuate to confront advancing Syrian troops coming from the south.

Russian bombing had allowed Syrian troops supported by Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias to reach almost 25 km  from the Turkish border, the closest they have come in more than two-and-a-half years.

This allowed them to rupture a main rebel supply line between the border and portions of the city of Aleppo which insurgents control. The army with the help of its allies is now seeking to regain full control of what was once the country’s most populous city.

A 94-year former Nazi SS guard at the Auschwitz death camp has gone on trial in Germany over the murder of at least 170,000 people, the BBC reports.

Prosecutors say Reinhold Hanning met Jewish prisoners as they arrived at the camp in occupied Poland and may have escorted some to the gas chambers.

Mr Hanning has admitted being a guard but denies involvement in mass murder.

He is being tried in the city of Detmold, in what is likely to be one of the last cases of its kind.

Mr Hanning is one of four elderly former Nazi guards – three men and a woman – who are due to go on trial in the coming months.

The Nazis killed about 1.1m people at Auschwitz, most of them Jews.

Liverpool’s owners have scrapped their controversial £77 ticket and apologised for the “distress caused” by last week’s pricing announcement, the BBC reports.

Thousands of fans left 77 minutes into Saturday’s draw with Sunderland at Anfield in protest at the planned top-price £77 ticket in the new main stand.

In reversing their decision, club owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) told disgruntled fans “Message received.”

Liverpool’s dearest matchday ticket will now stay at £59.

The highest season-ticket price is also frozen.

Liverpool’s principal owner John W Henry, chairman Tom Werner and FSG president Mike Gordon issued an open letter detailing the changes, following what they described as a “tumultuous week”.

“The three of us have been particularly troubled by the perception that we don’t care about our supporters, that we are greedy, and that we are attempting to extract personal profits at the club’s expense,” it said.

“Quite the opposite is true.”

The club has also ended game categorisation – meaning fans will pay the same price for matchday tickets regardless of the opposition.

Photo: Sputnik/ Ilya Pitalev

 

The Syrian Army and the National Defense Forces have reportedly managed to liberate another strategic town in the western province of Latakia, Sputnik News reports.

Another key town has been taken back by the Syrian Army and the country’s National Defense Forces (NDF) after heavy fighting with militants in Latakia province in western Syria, media reports said.

Dozens of terrorists were killed and many more wounded after the Syrian troops finally took full control of the town of Bashoura, located in northern Latakia, sources said. Two days ago, it had been announced by Islamic Front-connected sources that Ahrar al-Sham, a coalition of multiple Islamist and Salafist units, had been targeting Syrian Army positions around the village.

The new offensive came after the Syrian Army and the NDF cleared the militants out of the strategic heights of Ziyaret al-Beidha, Zahra al-Beidar al-Mahrouq and Khandaq al-Shahour in Latakia.

Earlier this week, the Syrian forces managed to win back more villages and heights in northern Latakia near the border with Turkey, sources said, mentioning the villages of Dahret al-Baiday al-Mahrouq and Ard al-Kataf, as well as the hill of Ziyaret al-Beidha.

In another development, the Syrian Army continued their offensive in the northern province of Aleppo, regaining full control of the strategic town of Taana in the eastern part of the region.

The Syrian Air Force attacked terrorists’ positions in the towns of Hayan and Hraytan as the army continued to advance toward Tal Rafat in Aleppo.
Scores of terrorists were killed and injured in the army’s mop-up operations in the newly regained towns.