Author: Anna Tamamian

A car bomb at a crowded market in northern Baghdad has killed at least 64 people and wounded 87 others, Iraqi police and medical sources say.

It happened at the Shia district of Sadr City during the morning rush hour.

So-called Islamic State (IS) claimed it was behind the attack, which it said had targeted Shia militiamen.

The Sunni group, which controls swathes of northern and western Iraq, has frequently targeted Shia, whom it considers heretics.

Many of the victims included women and children, officials said. Several of the injured were said to be in critical condition.

The blast damaged nearby buildings and other vehicles.

In case of the official recognition of the NKR, everyone will first hear about this from the President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan,” President’s Spokesman Vladimir Hakobyan has declared.

“Azerbaijan has lived in tyranny for such a  long time that even the highest governmental circles have forgotten about the existence of people outside prisons in other countries, who constitute opposition and who have the right to come forth with legislative initiatives.  And what a surprise – in other countries the governments are obliged to put the opposition’s initiatives on their session agenda and discuss them,” Vladimir Hakobyan said in comments to News.am.

The comments come after statements of the Azerbaijani Presidential administration, the Foreign Ministry and other officials regarding the draft law on recognizing the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) on the agenda of the Armenian Government session.

“Currently Armenia is watching the “parade” of delirious statements of Azerbaijan’s different high-ranking officials, which besides surprising can only amuse. One gets an impression that even books on democracy, which can be read in order to get informed, have disappeared from Azerbaijan,” he said.

Hakobyan also added: “Let no one doubt that in case of the official recognition of the NKR, everyone will first hear about this from the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan. ”

During its forthcoming sitting on Thursday the Armenian Government will consider the draft law on recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic co-authored by opposition MPs Zaruhi Postanjyan and Hrant Bagratyan.

President Serzh Sargsyan sent a congratulatory message to the President of the RA National Academy of Sciences Radik Martirossian on the occasion of his 80th birth anniversary.

“Your contribution to the development of radiophysics in Armenia is significant. Your longtime scientific and tutorial activities are commendable.

You headed the State University for years and later the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, bringing your substantial input to the important task of administering education and science in our country.

I wish you good health, boundless energy, and success in your patriotic activities,” reads the congratulatory letter of the President of Armenia.

The Armenian Community of China, commonly known as ChinaHay, organized numerous gatherings across China on April 24 including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong to commemorate the 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the reports.

“Hundreds of Armenian survivors from across the Ottoman Empire escaped eastward across the Caucasus and Russia, seeking refuge in China. They not only rebuilt their lives, but reconstituted community life and built a church (Harbin) and community centers in different cities. They established a relief association, youth groups, Armenian language and history classes, and a choir,” said Dr. Khatchig Mouradian, a genocide scholar whose research has also focused on the Armenian communities in China in the 19th and 20th centuries.

“It is particularly moving that 101 years after the genocide, Armenians in some of these very same cities held commemoration events on April 24,” he added.

Small yet vibrant Armenian communities existed primarily in Harbin, Shanghai, Manzhouli, Tientsin, and Hong Kong from the late 19th till the mid-20th century. Most Armenians left for the Americas or for Soviet Armenia by the 1950s. Today’s Armenian community in China is only a few decades old, and is primarily comprised of professionals and business people from the Middle East and North America, as well as university students from Armenia and other CIS countries, noted Mouradian.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met with Ambassadors of OSCE participating states today.

Minister Nalbandian briefed the Ambassadors on the consequences of the recent Azeri aggression along the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh.

“With its aggressive actions Azerbaijan actually tried to refuse from its international commitments of solving the issue in a peaceful way, thus grossly violating the basic principles of international law, the decisions and declarations of a number of OSCE summits and Ministerial Councils, obviously ignoring the statements on the heads of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries on the settlement of the Karabakh issue,” the Armenian Foreign Minister said.

Minister Nalbandian attached importance to the active role of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries and stressed the need to support their efforts.

“Armenia and Russia continue negotiations on gas price cut,” Armenian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Levon Yolyan told reporters after the government sitting today.

“It’s an issue of clash of interests, and we’re discussing it,” the Minister said. He added that the talks aim to have the price cut for consumers, as well.

Speaking about the re-launching of the “Nairit” plant, the Minister noted that the talks are under way and offers are expected by April 2016.

Will Georgia finally import Iranian gas through the territory of Armenia? Levon Yolyan said Energy Ministers of Armenia, Iran, Georgia and Russia are going to meet in Tbilisi on April 11-13, and the issue will be finally solved.

“We’re actively working to get more actively involved in regional energy programs,” the Minister stated.

Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has renovated the secondary school of Melik, a village in Armenia’s Aragatsotn region. The refurbishment project, which was implemented with the support of the Surenian family of Argentina, has transformed the structure of 1994 into a modern facility featuring high-standard amenities- a new roof, doors and windows, renovated floors, lavatories, new electricity and heating systems and a newly constructed boiler house, beautifully redesigned entrance, and a renovated schoolyard.

Currently 168 students attend the school, which provides elementary-to-high-school education. According to the school principal Artur Ghevondyan students demonstrate outstanding abilities for natural sciences. Every year, between eight and ten graduates continue their studies at colleges or universities.

Founded in the 17th century, Melik has a population of close to 1,300. The village is located 20 km north-east from Aparan, 2100 meters above sea level, and has a severe climate.

Photo: Mark Blinch/Reuters

Secure online tool reduces language barriers for refugees receiving healthcare, collecting a full patient history and PHQ-9 mental health screening in Arabic or Armenian, with responses automatically translated to English.

– With over 25,000 Syrian refugees recently arrived in Canada, a significant need for primary care healthcare services is expected in the coming weeks and months. Physicians and front-line healthcare workers across the country are beginning to assess and treat a range of physical, emotional and mental health needs for this wave of refugees. However, providing appropriate care to non-English-speaking refugees can involve significant challenges, particularly with limited translation support available.

To help address this, a free, secure online tool has been developed to allow patients to complete a full history and mental health screening in Arabic or Armenian, with the results automatically translated to English for the clinician to review and add to the patient record. Collecting this information in the patient’s first language can help ensure a more complete and accurate history is collected, while also increasing the likelihood of sharing sensitive issues.

The Syrian Refugee Medical Intake tool was developed as part of Cognisant Causes, a charitable program run by CognisantMD that provides resources – in the form of project-based technology and marketing support – to non-profit healthcare organizations at no cost. The PHQ-9 for mental health screening has also been made available in Arabic with automatic translation to English, and additional clinical screening tools are planned for the future.

“As a family physician, I’ve experienced first hand how a language barrier can create stress and time pressure for both the patient and the clinician,” said Dr. Doug Kavanagh, a family physician at the North York Family Health Team and the Co-Founder of CognisantMD. “Together with the assistance of my Arabic and Armenian-speaking colleagues, we’ve created a tool that can help family doctors like myself to communicate with refugee families and connect them with the care they need.”

The forms are accessed through a web browser that allows patients to respond to questions online. All responses are encrypted before being sent to the Ocean Portal where a translated clinical note is generated which can be copied and pasted into the patient record. To ensure patient health information is kept secure, data is kept encrypted both in transmission and in storage.

There is no fee for patients to complete the forms, or for clinicians to review, copy and paste the results. Clinics using the Ocean Platform can also access the forms from the Ocean Library and present them on a patient tablets or send them as secure emailed links to allow patients to complete before their appointment.

Dr. Faisal Al-Sani, Dr. Nour Khatib, Mrs. Salpi Der Ghazarian, Dr. Ani Hasserjian and Mrs. Seza Nazarian of Armenian Family Support Services, Holy Trinity Armenian Church have assisted with translations.

– An elderly Armenian couple in Istanbul were victims of a home invasion robbery, but the manner in which they were found indicates that they were targeted because they were Armenian.

Seta Demirci, 79, and her husband Hagop, 85, were discovered in their apartment gagged and tied by pig skin rope, an act usually “reserved for infidels,” as Armenians are often referred to in Turkey. Hagop Demirci was pronounced dead due to strangulation, while Seta Demirci was rushed to the hospital, according to a report by the news site, which covered the incident in Turkish.

The site reported that the couple’s housekeeper, knocking on the door and not receiving a response, alerted their nephew, who lives nearby, and who opened the apartment door to find the two bound and gagged and their valuables stolen. The couple’s apartment is located near Gezi Park in Istanbul.

Elderly Armenians have been a target of violence in Istanbul and the surrounding suburbs recently.