Category: News

Photo: PETER MCCABE/MONTREAL GAZETTE

 

Too many Quebec students finish high school with no knowledge of genocides, past or present, including the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, Rwandan genocide and the cultural genocide of First Nations, a Montreal-based foundation argued on Wednesday, reports.

The Foundation for the Compulsory Study of Genocide in Schools had Liberal MNA David Birnbaum table a petition in the National Assembly demanding that the topic be made mandatory in Quebec high schools. It is currently up to individual teachers to decide how much they want to teach about genocide, the foundation said.

“I’ve seen teachers who have done amazing jobs with their high school students; they put on exhibits, they take their students to the Holocaust museum, they learn about the Armenian genocide, and other schools that I’ve gone to where teachers have come up to me saying ‘We’re very, very worried, our children are graduating from Grade 11 not knowing even what the word genocide means,’ ” foundation chairperson Heidi Berger said.

The petition, which collected about 3,000 signatures, states that “racial and cultural intolerance and discrimination are the preconditions associated with the beginnings of genocide,” which is defined as “the systematic destruction of a racial, ethnic or cultural group.” Education, the petition continues, is the key to recognizing and preventing discrimination and acts of hate among youth, and knowledge of genocides is essential to preventing such acts in the future.

“Considering the times that we’re in, 25,000 Syrian refugees coming in, 16- and 17-year-olds with the radicalization and ISIS and so forth, with the cultural genocide and the Aboriginals, there’s no time like now to make sure that every student graduating from Grade 11 understands what genocide is and the stages that lead to genocide,” Berger added.

Catherine Poulin, press attaché for the education minister, said there is already a compulsory class that deals with genocide called “Contemporary World.”

“At this point, it is not our intention to change the curriculum,” Poulin said.

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather said there should be more compulsory content related to genocide in schools all across Canada.

“I spoke about this in the House of Commons last week and made a member’s statement calling upon all the different provinces to include this in the curriculum,” he said, adding Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia have made the most headway so far, along with some American states: New Jersey, New York, California, Florida and Illinois.

AFP Photo/Francisco Cobo

 

At least 30 people died in a pre-dawn prison riot in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey on Thursday, as smoke billowed from the building, Agence France-Presse reports, quoting local media.

Riot police and ambulances were deployed at the Topo Chico prison as broadcaster Televisa reported that 30 died while Milenio television spoke of 50 victims, with inmates and prison guards among them.

The newspapers Milenio and Reforma reported that the riot broke out in an apparent escape attempt.

Families of the inmates flocked to the prison following reports of fatalities.

The incident erupted on the eve of Pope Francis’ trip to Mexico, during which he is due to visit another notorious prison in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez.

“There can be no lasting military solution of Nagorno Karabakh,” U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills said in a Facebook chat with reporters on the first anniversary of his mission in Armenia.

“The escalation of tragic violence and rhetoric along the line of contact is a source of deep concern to the U.S. government. The possibility of that escalation triggering even through misjudgment or error along the line of conflict is real in my view. That is why the Minsk Group Co-Chairs have urged both sides to take steps to reduce the level of violence along the line of contact, and to implement mechanisms for monitoring the situation,” Amb. Mills said.

“This was a topic of discussion when the two Presidents met in Bern, Switzerland, in December. The U.S. Co-Chair, Ambassador Warlick, is engaged with the other Co-Chairs in continuing to move the dialogue forward,” he added.

“The Minsk Group co-chairs have raised with both sides the importance of investigative mechanisms along the line of contact and other steps to reduce the level of violence. This was discussed between the two Presidents during their meeting in Bern, in December. It is up to the two leaders to reach agreement on such steps. The Minsk Co-Chairs are facilitating discussions that I hope will lead to agreement,” Richard Mills said.

“Although there are some stark policy differences between the U.S. and Russia, we are still able to find common ground and cooperate on other issues of importance to the international community – most notably on the Iran nuclear issue and within the Minsk Group, where I have seen first-hand the Russian, French, and U.S. co-chairs engage effectively,” the Ambassador said.

A Turkish tribunal has confirmed a medical diagnosis that Armenian Orthodox Patriarch Mesrob II of Constantinople is no longer capable of making his own decisions because of advancing dementia, and a guardian should be appointed to handle his duties, according to .

Patriarch Mesrob has been suffering for years from Alzheimer’s disease, and since 2008 a patriarchal vicar has been handling the daily affairs of the Armenian Church in Constantinople. But other Armenian prelates have been reluctant to elect a successor while the Patriarch is alive.

In November 2014, during his trip to Turkey, Pope Francis made an unscheduled private visit to meet with Patriarch Mesrob. The Armenian prelate’s physical health, as well as his mental condition, has reportedly been deteriorating since that time.

Shares of Twitter fell in after-hours trading as the company’s quarterly results showed user growth faltering, the BBC reports.

Twitter reported a net loss of $90m for the last three months of 2015 versus a loss of $125m a year ago.

The social media site saw its user growth stall, with 320 million average monthly active users – the same number as the previous quarter.

This is the first quarter in Twitter’s history that the number of monthly active users has not grown.

Revenue for the quarter rose by 48% to $710m compared to the fourth quarter of 2014, matching analysts’ expectations.

Immediately after the results were announced, Twitter shares fell 10% in after-hours trading, before recovering to a 3% loss.

“With no increase in new users, but otherwise good financial performance, Twitter hasn’t yet shown how it can rise from the troubling spot of not being able to grow the business,” said Brian Blau, research director at Gartner.

Azerbaijan will have to recognize Artsakh, if it wants to get rid of the Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship format, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said in a Twitter post.

“To get rid of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs format, Baku should recognize the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and determine the borders between the two countries through direct negotiations with Karabakh,” Shavarsh Kocharyan said.

To get rid of Co-Chairmanship format, shd recognize & through direct negotiations w/ determine borders btw 2 countries

— Shavarsh Kocharyan (@Sh_Kocharyan)

On 11 February Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received defense minister of the Republic of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan, Central Information Department of the Office of the NKR President reported.

A number of issues related to army building and cooperation between the two Armenian states in this sphere were discussed during the meeting.

NKR Defense Minister Levon Mnatsakanyan was present at the meeting.

Today, President Serzh Sargsyan sent a congratulatory message to the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader of Iran Sayyed Ali Khamenei on the occasion of the 37th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

A surge in fighting in Syria’s Aleppo province has displaced about 50,000 people, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned, the BBC reports.

The humanitarian situation is deteriorating rapidly, the ICRC added, with water supplies to Aleppo city cut.

The Syrian government is attempting to recapture rebel-held parts of the major city backed by Russian air power.

Turkey is under pressure to allow in 30,000 Syrian refugees stranded on its border.

In a statement, the ICRC said supply routes for aid had been cut, putting civilians under “enormous pressure”.

“The temperatures are extremely low and, without an adequate supply of food, water and shelter, displaced people are trying to survive in very precarious conditions,” said the head of the ICRC in Syria, Marianne Gasser.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has warned that fighting in Azaz, near the Turkish border, has left health systems “close to collapse”.

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!”