Author: Jirair Kafian

 

 

 

The Public Radio of Armenia has undertaken to improve its Overseas Service with a view of paying greater attention to the problems of ethnic minorities, their religious and cultural peculiarities.

Kurds are  one of the largest compactly living ethnic minorities in Armenia. Representatives of the Kurdish community were hosted at the Public Radio of Armenia today to present their views and proposals on the format and content of the Kurdish-language programs.

Kurds have always had the best opportunities in Armenia for launching activity in the scientific-education and cultural spheres, and the Public Radio of Armenia has always been an important platform.

Knyaz Hasanov, President of the Kurdish National Council of Armenia, hailed the role of Public Radio of Armenia in the preservation of the Kurdish language and culture.

“More than 40 million Kurds in Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran listen to the Kurdish-language programs of the Public Radio of Armenia, which have played an extremely important role in the preservation of our language and culture. The Public Radio of Armenia was the first place Diyarbakir’s Mayor Osman Baydemir visited during his stay in Armenia last year,” the leader he said.

“The Kurdish community of Armenia has always valued the work we are doing, but it’s high time to improve the Kurdish Service and give it a new breath,” says Gayane Gasparyan, Head of the Overseas Service of the Public Radio.

Representatives of the Kurdish community want the programs to last 90 minutes instead of the current 30 and want greater access to the recordings of Kurdish songs kept in Public Radio’s ‘Golden Fund.’

In response to the request, Public Radio’s Executive Director Arman Saghatelyan noted that “international broadcasting envisages a serious financial burden, and extension of the program is a serious issue,” but pledged to find other mechanisms to meet the demands of the Kurdish-speaking listeners.

As for the access to the recordings, the Directors said “they could be released on CDs.”

Attending the event was Aram Ananyan, head of the Armenpress News Agency. Speaking to “Radiolur” news program, he stressed the importance of such meetings and discussions with representatives of the national minorities.

French authorities have seized documents from the French Football Federation (FFF) in connection with Switzerland’s criminal investigation into ex-FIFA president Sepp Blatter, the BBC reports.

According to Switzerland’s office of the attorney general, the documents are connected to “the suspected payment of 2m Swiss francs.”

It said the search in Paris was carried out at Switzerland’s request.

The criminal investigation into Blatter, 79, began in September.

The office of the Swiss attorney general said the FFF consented to the search of its Paris base, which was carried out on Tuesday.

Swiss prosecutors have accused Blatter of criminal mismanagement or misappropriation over a TV rights deal and of a “disloyal payment” to suspended Uefa president Michel Platini.

Blatter, who served as head of world football’s governing body from 1998 until 2015, and Frenchman Platini have denied any wrongdoing.

The pair have been suspended from all football-related activities for six years after a FIFA ethics committee investigation found them guilty of breaches surrounding the payment to Platini in 2011.

French authorities have accused the social media giant of unfairly tracking people’s information. The accusation comes the same week Facebook faced a major setback in India, Deutsche Welle reports. 

Privacy agency CNIL and competition agency DGCCRF said separately this week that Facebook must change the way it collects users’ data.

According to the two government-affiliated agencies, the California-based tech company has been tracking and using data in breach of French law. Facebook has even been collecting the data of non-users who visit a public page on the website.

CNIL also accused the company of illegally collecting people’s personal information – such as religious beliefs and sexual orientation – without their consent.

The privacy agency warned it would impose fines on the company within three months if it didn’t change its method of data collection. Those fines could amount to as much as 150,000 euros ($170,000).

“The protection of privancy is a priority for Facebook,” the company responded in a statement, according to German news agency DPA. “We are confident that our service is in conformity with European data protection laws.”

The documentary titled “Century-old Genocide. Black January of Baku” screened in Providence, the capital city of the State of Rhode Island, on January 16, Press Service of the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs.

The event was organized jointly by the Cultural Committee of the St. Sahak and Mesrop Armenian Church, Rhode Island’s Memorial Committee, and the Armenian Refugees’ Social and Economic Development Association (ARSEDA).

Permanent Representative of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic to the USA Robert Avetisyan, Rhode Island MP Catherine Kazarian, representatives of St. Sahak and Mesrop Armenian Church, journalists, Armenian refugees from Baku, and representatives of the local Armenian community participated in the event dedicated to the anniversary of theArmenian pogroms in Azerbaijan.

After the screening, Artsakh’s representative in the USA Robert Avetisyan, Rhode Island MP Catherine Kazarian, ARSEDA Chairman Karen Baghdasaryan, and religious leaders delivered speeches. Member of the film’s creative team Haykaram Nahapetian presented the details of the documentary.

After his speech, NKR Permanent Representative Robert Avetisyan answered the questions related to the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, the negotiation process, and the problems of refugees.

Pep Guardiola will next week announce he is to leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season, according to reports in the German media, reports.

The former Barcelona coach said earlier this week he would make an announcement on his future before Christmas, but German newspaper Bildclaims he has ‘already sorted out his future’.

Last month Barcelona daily Sport reported he had already given his word to former Barca colleagues Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain, Manchester City’s chief executive and director of football respectively, that he would join them at the Etihad next season.

“Everything points to his leaving,” said Bild, adding that the 44-year-old was aware of the dangers of ‘out-staying his welcome if he remained at Bayern’.

“He is someone who enjoys a challenge and that is why he joined Bayern Munich in 2013.”

Guardiola has won two titles and a German Cup since taking over at the Allianz Arena in the summer of 2013 following a year out of football. Prior to that he won the Champions League twice, three La Liga titles and two Copa del Reys in a four-year spell at the Nou Camp.

 

Photo: Mikhail Japaridze/TASS

The actions of the Turkish authorities with regard to the Russian Sukhoi Su-24M bomber were hostile, not just unfriendly, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the annual press conference on Thursday.

The presidet said he was indignant at the fact that Turkish authorities complained to NATO instead of providing explanation about the incident.

According to Putin, Turkish people remain Russia’s partners, but it is impossible to come to agreement with the current Turkish leadership.

As Syrians begin arriving in Canada as part of the government’s plan to resettle 25,000 refugees, the Armenian community in Toronto is rallying to help by sponsoring hundreds of families fleeing the war-torn Middle Eastern country,  reports.

Arsho Zakarian is an Armenian-Canadian woman who lives in Toronto. She has volunteered to sponsor a Syrian refugee family, and is eagerly awaiting their arrival on Canadian soil.

The Manougian family, who she is sponsoring, consists of a grandmother, her son, daughter-in-law and their infant son.

Inspired by her own family’s history of resettlement, Zakarian told CTV’s Canada AM on Thursday that she decided around this time last year that she wanted to sponsor a family. Her father and grandfather came to Canada to flee the Armenian Genocide. She says she can relate to the Syrian refugees’ experience of fear, hunger and being destitute.

“It is a very Canadian tradition,” Zakarian said of providing aid to refugees. “The first international humanitarian act by Canada was towards the Armenian orphans.”

Zakarian didn’t know her sponsored family ahead of time, but was matched with them through her local Armenian community centre. She signed up to sponsor them last February and has been waiting for their application to be approved ever since.

The Manougian family is currently in Beirut. The hold-up in their application approval involves the interview at the Canadian embassy. There hasn’t been a date set for that yet. There is confusion as to why it is taking so long, Zakarian said.

Other families have been approved to come to Canada after waiting only a few months, bnt the Manougian family has been waiting 10 months. Their baby was only two months old when Zakarian signed up to sponsor them. The family recently marked his first birthday.

Though she’s anxious to welcome the family to Toronto, Zakarian said it is an “exciting” time.

“I want that little boy to grow up in a safe environment with all the opportunities of life and education,” she said.

While she waits, the Armenian-Canadian community is coming together to help, Zakarian said.

She knows of about 300 Syrian refugee families being sponsored through her Armenian-Canadian community centre and other church organizations.

“The help is overwhelming, it’s so positive,” Zakarian said.

Zakarian has been collecting donations to help these families resettle and adapt to life in Canada. The items she’s collecting include kitchen supplies, clothing, and winter coats.

She has been storing these items in her home, which is getting crowded with boxes.

“Now my house looks like the Tower of Babylon,” Zakarian said with a laugh.

On Canada AM on Thursday morning, host Beverly Thomson informed Zakarian that a local business, All Cianadan Self Storage, has offered her the use of donated storage space for one year.

Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

 

An explosion in the Nigerian city of Yola has caused multiple deaths and injuries, with some reports saying more than 30 people may have died, the BBC reports.

The blast appears to have struck a busy market area where traders were closing up for the day.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari visited Yola on Saturday, declaring that the Islamist militant movement Boko Haram was close to defeat.

Yola has twice been hit by deadly bomb attacks this year.

The city lies in the north-eastern state of Adamawa, one of the worst hit by the Boko Haram insurgency

Steven Gerrard in action for LA Galaxy, GETTY IMAGES    

Steven Gerrard is in line for a sensational return to Liverpool following discussions with the club’s manager, Jürgen Klopp,  reveals.

Klopp has spoken to the former captain several times on the telephone since arriving at Anfield last month. The manager is now convinced that Gerrard’s presence will help define the standards of professionalism he expects around Melwood, Liverpool’s training ground.

Although Klopp has so far only debated the possibility of Gerrard training with Liverpool until 15 January when he is due back in the United States to rejoin Los Angeles Galaxy for pre-season, there is a chance of a formal playing agreement being brokered. However, that possibility is made complicated by Galaxy’s probable demands for a transfer fee, as Gerrard has another year left on his contract with the Major League Soccer club.

Gerrard is expected to attend Liverpool’s home match with Crystal Palace on Sunday and should meet Klopp in person for the first time early next week when the pair will try and plot the way forwa

On 2 November Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan received head of the “Landmine Free Artsakh Campaign” initiative Ojeni Panosyan and program manager of the “HALO Trust” organization for Armenia and Artsakh Yuri Shahramanyan.

Issues related to the demining process in Artsakh were discussed during the meeting.

President Sahakyan underlined that the “HALO Trust” organization fulfilled a very significant mission in our republic, adding that active participation of the “Landmine Free Artsakh Campaign” initiative in the implementation of mine clearing activities was demanded and necessary.