Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan will leave for Brussels on March 9 to participate in the sitting of the North-Atlantic Council in Armenia+28 format.
Ministers Nalbandian and Ohanyan are expected to meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
A bomb detonated by remote control killed seven Turkish security force members travelling in a military vehicle in southeast Turkey on Thursday, security sources said, a day after a car bomb attack in the capital Ankara killed 28 people, Today’s Zaman reports.
The blast hit the armored vehicle on the highway linking Diyarbakır, the largest city in the mainly Kurdish southeast, to the district of Lice. Sources had previously said the explosion hit a convoy of vehicles.
Kamishli-born Syrian Armenian Viken Vosgerichian (b. 1983), was among those killed in Aleppo during a missile attack on Feb. 13, the reports, quoting Aleppo-based Kantsasar.
According to the report, the attack came from militant opposition groups. Perio News, another Aleppo-based news outlet, reported that the attack targeted the mostly-Christian populated districts of Suleymanieh, Nor Kyugh, and others.
Several other individuals sustained injuries and were transported to nearby hospitals, while many buildings—including homes and stores—as well as several vehicles suffered extensive damages or were destroyed in the missile attack, according to Perio News.
The attack comes less than two weeks after Aleppo’s Armenian-populated Nor Kyugh district was attacked by missiles on Feb. 3, according to a report by Perio News. One of the missiles in the Feb. 3 attack hit an area between the St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church and the Sahagian Armenian School of Aleppo, while another landed near an Armenian nursing home. According to the Perio News report, while some people sustained injuries, there were no casualties in that attack.
Just over two weeks before that attack, on the morning of Jan. 17, the Armenian Evangelical Emmanuel Church in Aleppo’s Munshieh district was severely damaged after militant groups launched a missile attack on several Aleppo neighborhoods, including Munshieh, Azizieh, and Saad Jabri. According to Kantsasar, the church was hit a few hours after Sunday Mass.
With authorization by the central government, the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) inked an agreement with Armenia on mutual visa exemption Wednesday, Xinhua agency reports.
Secretary for Administration and Justice Hoi Fan Chan and Armenian Ambassador Armen Sargsyan signed the deal at the headquarters of the Macao SAR government.
The agreement assures that residents holding a valid Macao SAR passport or a valid Macao SAR travel permit will be exempted from visa requirements when entering Armenia for a stay of maximum 90 days.
The effective date will be announced later.
A total of 120 countries or territories have agreed to grant visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to the holders of Macao SAR passport, while 12 countries have given Macao SAR travel permit holders visa-free access to their region.
Photo:Â EPA
A French museum has returned the head of a 7th Century Hindu statue to Cambodia 130 years after it was taken, the BBC reports.
The statue, a representation of the Hindu gods Vishnu and Shiva, had its head taken in French colonial times.
It was returned by the Guimet Museum in Paris at Cambodia’s request and reattached to the body on Thursday.
A Cambodian culture ministry spokesman said joining the head to the statue felt “like we are reconnecting the soul of our national heritage”.
Muslim women can be banned from wearing veils in schools, courts and other British institutions, David Cameron has said, reports.
The Prime Minister said that he will give his backing to public authorities that put in place “proper and sensible” rules to ban women from wearing face veils in comments which will reignite debates.
It comes as the Government prepare to announce a series of measures designed to stop British Muslims becoming radicalised and traveling to the Middle East to join terrorist groups like the Islamic State.
As part of the plans, ministers will pledge to outlaw gender segregation during meetings in public buildings amid concerns that some Muslim organisations are forcing women to sit separately.
Mr Cameron has also announced that tens of thousands of Muslim women will face deportation unless they pass a series of English language tests after coming to Britain on spouse visas.
The Prime Minister’s comments about veils will reignite the row over whether British institutions should be able to stop women covering their faces for religious reasons in public places.
He refused to endorse a French-style blanket ban but made clear that individual organisations can choose to stop Muslim women wearing the veil.
The investigative journalism drama “Spotlight” won the top prize at the Critics’ Choice Awards on Sunday, while awards favourites Brie Larson and Leonardo DiCaprio won the top acting prizes for “Room” and “The Revenant,” the Associated Press reports.
Both actors won Golden Globe Awards and are considered front-runners for the Academy Awards, too.
“Mad Max: Fury Road” was the most nominated film of the evening with 13 nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics’ Association. While it lost out for the top prize, it did win a number of awards, including Best Director for George Miller, best action movie, and best action movie actor and actress for Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron.
The financial crisis dramedy “The Big Short,” meanwhile, won for best comedy and best comedic actor for star Christian Bale, who kissed both his wife and director Adam McKay on his way up to the stage to accept his award.
Both were up for best picture Oscar heavyweights like “Spotlight,” ”The Revenant” and “The Martian,” as well as “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which was added after initial nominees were announced and went home empty handed on Sunday.
Photo: AFP
A clinical trial of a new drug in France has left one person brain-dead and another five people in hospital, the health minister says, the BBC reports.
The oral trial was being conducted by a private laboratory in the north-western city of Rennes, Marisol Touraine said.
The trial has been suspended and the firm is recalling the volunteers. It is unclear how many people are involved.
Media reports that the drug is a cannabis-based painkiller have been denied by the health ministry.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said an investigation had been opened.
Guillermo del Toro, Ang Lee, John Krasinski and Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs presented the 88th Annual Academy Award nominees on Thursday morning, kicking off the final sprint to the finish line for the year’s biggest contenders.
The Revenant is leading the race for the 2016 Oscars with 12 nominations, with Mad Max: Fury Road scoring 10.
Both films are nominated for best picture, along with The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, The Martian, Room and Spotlight.
The Award ceremony will take place on Feb. 28.
The full list of nominees:
Best Picture
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight
Best Director
The Big Short
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight
Best Actor
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale
Tom Hardy
Mark Ruffalo
Mark Rylance
Sylvester Stallone
Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McADams, Spotlight
Alician Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Best Original Screenplay
Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
Best Adapted Screenplay
The Big Short
Brooklyn
Carol
The Martian
Room
Best Animated Feature
Anomalisa
Boy and the World
Inside Out
Shaun the Sheep Movie
When Marnie Was There
Best Foreign Language Film
Embrace of the Serpent
Mustang
Son of Saul
Theeb
A War
Best Documentary Feature
Amy
Cartel Land
The Look of Silence
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom
Best Cinematography
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Sicario
Best Film Editing
The Big Short
Mad Max Furty Road
The Revenant
Spotlight
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Production Design
Bridge of Spies
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Best Costume Design
Carol
Cinderella
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Best Original Score
Bridge of Spies
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Original Song
50 Shades Of Gray
Racing Extinction
Youth
The Hunting Ground
Spectre
Best Visual Effects
Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Makeup & Hairstyling
Mad Max
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared
The Revenant
Best Sound Mixing
Bridge of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Sound Editing
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Documentary Short Subject
Body Team 12
Chau Behind the Lines
Claude Lanzman
A Girl in the River
Last Day of Freedom
Best Live Action Short Film
Ave Maria
Day One
Everything Will Be Okay
Shok
Stutterer
Best Animated Short
Bear Story
Prologue
Sanjay’s Super Team
We Can’t Live Without Cosmos
World of Tomorrow
On the occasion of New Year and Holly Christmas, President Serzh Sargsyan held today a reception at the Presidential Palace for the representatives of mass media. Serzh Sargsyan congratulated journalists present at the reception on the approaching holidays and in their person all journalists and employees of mass media of Armenia, their families and wished them good health, happiness and success in all their undertakings.
Congratulatory remarks by President Serzh Sargsyan at the New Year reception for journalists
Dear Journalists, representatives of mass media,
I congratulate you on the occasion of the New Year and Holly Christmas.
The passing year has been dramatic and full of events, as well as unique and momentous for the history of our country and our nation. Through your daily life you are recording that history, report on the events in the country, reveal problems and very often show the way to move forward. In my opinion, this year you have performed your mission very efficiently, and I thank you for that.
I thank you first of all for your efforts and huge amount of work carried out during the events dedicated to the centennial of the Armenian Genocide. Thanks to yours and your colleagues’ professional activities we have been able to make Armenia’s and Armenian people’s commitment to the prevention of genocides, restoration of the rights of the people who suffered genocide, and establishment of historical justice more recognizable for the international community. You have revealed the all-human nature of our struggle. At the same time you succeeded in presenting to our society and international community solidarity of the progressive mankind and of the healthy stratum of the Turkish society the pain and dreams of our people.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Constitutional changes – a milestone on our country’s path towards building a more democratic and more developed state. I take this opportunity to express gratitude to you for your professional, conscientious and active work throughout the process, which manifested itself first in representing broadly a score of pros and cons, and later in registering and finger pointing violations which took place in the precincts during the referendum. I have no doubt that but for your professional dedication and sense of responsibility the entire process of changes wouldn’t have been so inclusive.
Dear journalists,
Throughout this year many of you occasionally countered difficulties in fulfilling your mission and overcame them with honor. There has been one particular instance, of course, that didn’t correspond to the ideas of journalistic freedom which our society and authorities have established consensus on long ago. It is gratifying that the response was identical from every side. Over all, today we can state that journalistic freedom in our country is very close to the modern requirements, and this is a result of the mutual and persistent work, and is our achievement. Certainly, we may differ on the content of our contemporary journalism, its depth, or impartiality; we may come or not come to the agreement on the limits of admissible and inadmissible; we may reject the existence of limits. There are individuals who think that way, aren’t there? But this is another story. However there is one thing which we all have to agree on: free media is an asset, and on this we are on the right track.
Dear journalists,
We are entering year 2016 with great expectations and programs. At the same time, we all realize that our problems are far from being solved and there are still many things to do to make our country the country of our dreams. Our experience shows that it can be achieved only through the joint work, and the journalistic community and mass media should take part in it.
I once again congratulate you on New Year and Holly Christmas. I wish that next year you fulfill your activities with the great sense of professional duty; I wish you remain principled and persistent. I wish you and your families happiness, and I wish success to all your undertakings.
Happy New Year and Holly Christmas!