13:00,
YEREVAN, MAY 23, ARMENPRESS. 22 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Armenia in the past one week, the ministry of health said.
The total number of confirmed cases has reached 422,939.
11,121 tests were conducted within a week.
One patient has died from the disease. The death toll has risen to 8624.
The number of recoveries rose by 150, bringing the total to 412,221.
The number of active cases is 388.
14:12,
YEREVAN, MAY 23, ARMENPRESS. The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved today a $25 million loan for Additional Financing of the Education Improvement Project (EIP) in Armenia, the World Bank said in a press release.
The project will further assist the Government in improving school readiness of children entering primary education, the physical condition and availability of educational resources in general education, and quality and relevance in higher education institutions in Armenia.
Quality of education is a key challenge causing a mismatch between the formal qualifications of graduates and the skills sought by employers, therefore slowing overall productivity, and hampering economic growth in Armenia. The project, which spans three education levels, will help strengthen the education trajectory and the human capital of Armenian children and is aligned with mid- to long-term government and sectoral strategies.
“Establishing an equitable and high-quality education system is key not only for growth but also in providing hope for a brighter future for the youth of Armenia,” says Carolin Geginat, World Bank Country Manager for Armenia. “With this project, the Government aims to improve the relevance and quality of, and access to, educational services at all levels, including in the early years of a child and for higher education. The project contributes in important ways to strengthening Armenia’s human capital and to enhancing the competitiveness of the economy.”
The project has two main components. The first component will focus on enhancing the quality of general education by financing 80 additional community-based preschools in early education for children aged four to six, as well as the training of teachers and principals assigned to new preschools. Four upper secondary schools that are in poor seismic condition and located in areas of climate risk will be rehabilitated and refurbished.
Furthermore, under this component, data-driven evidence-based policy making for improving managing, teaching, and learning will be promoted. 200 school laboratories in general education will be equipped and furnished and will be provided with resources to help teachers deliver a project-based learning approach in the context of the revised science, technology, engineering, and mathematics STEM curriculum.
The second component will finance higher education institution (HEI) projects to improve labor market relevance, organizational efficiency, and equity in enrollment and other opportunities. A call for proposals under the Competitive Innovations Fund (CIF) will welcome projects that aim to develop innovative approaches to strengthen STEM education in both universities and basic education.
“This project will incentivize HEIs to attract more female students into STEM fields of study and jobs, and have more female teaching staff working in programs,” says Renata Freitas Lemos, World Bank Task Team Leader of the project. “Frequent community roundtables with teachers, parents, and students at any stage of the proposed activities will improve citizen engagement and participatory monitoring of education outcomes.”
The original EIP project has delivered strong results to date. 136 preschools have been established and around 3,500 five- and six-year-old children have been enrolled across the country. 13 schools have been fully rehabilitated and refurbished, while 107 high schools have been equipped with laboratory equipment and furniture for STEM subjects along with E-learning materials.
An education management information system (EMIS) which captures the developments at all levels, has been established and is fully operational and expanded nationwide. 4,475 teachers and administrative staff have been trained in information and communication technologies usage. Grants for 18 research projects were awarded to 15 universities across Armenia.
The World Bank will provide a $25 million IBRD loan of variable-spread, with a 14.5-year grace period and a total repayment term of 25 years. The Government contribution is $6.25 million. Since joining the World Bank in 1992, and IDA in 1993, commitments to Armenia have totaled approximately $2,502,870 million.
12:10,
YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan met with President of Latvia Egils Levits in Davos, Switzerland, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, the Armenian President’s Office said.
The Latvian President said he is happy to welcome Vahagn Khachaturyan as the President of Armenia and congratulated him on assuming office, wishing success and a productive activity.
Both Presidents highly appreciated the Armenian-Latvian political dialogue and the dynamics of the inter-state relations and emphasized the necessity of further enriching and developing these ties.
The prospects of establishing lasting and stable peace in the region and making joint efforts with the European Union in this direction were discussed at the meeting.
The Armenian and Latvian Presidents also exchanged ideas about the relevant issues and challenges of the international security.
PanARMENIAN.Net - U․S․ Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has discussed with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu the settlement of relations with Armenia, the Turkish Minister told reporters on Thursday, May 19.
"We discussed the situation in Ukraine, the process of normalizing relations with Armenia, the situation in Syria and the regions," Cavusoglu said, according to Hurriyet.
According to him, issues on the bilateral agenda were on the table too
Turkey and Armenia last December named special envoys to discuss the normalization of ties. Three rounds of talks followed on January 14, February 24 and then May 3.
Askold Melnyczuk and Peter Balakian in conversation, May 17, 2022
A beautiful home in Cambridge, Massachusetts was the setting for an evening with Peter Balakian on Tuesday. “A totally unique ambience – I never read in a Victorian parlor before,” the guest of honor observed. Dozens of devotees filled the room to capacity and beyond in anticipation of an in-person reading by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author. The event was presented by the Grolier Poetry Book Shop and the Harvard Square Business Association, and thanks to the continuing pandemic, was also available over Zoom.
Balakian is the author of eight books of poems, including Ozone Journal, which won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, and Ziggurat, both published by the University of Chicago Press. His memoir Black Dog of Fate won the PEN/Albrand Award and was a New York Times notable book, and The Burning Tigris won the Raphael Lemkin Prize and was a New York Times bestseller and New York Times notable book. He is Donald M. and Constance H. Rebar Professor of the Humanities in the Department of English at Colgate University.
Joining Balakian in conversation was author Askold Melnyczuk, whose most recent book The Man Who Would Not Bow was published last year, and who Balakian described as the “James Laughlin of our generation.” After introducing Balakian and his newest poetry collection No Sign, Melynczuk referred to the first poem titled “History, Bitterness,” Balakian’s recollection of his day at the Yaddo writer’s colony during which a friend handed him the phone and invited him to say a few words to an ailing James Baldwin who lay dying in the south of France. The poem then describes a cafe in Paris and the author’s great-uncle, a bishop in the Armenian church who took part in the Paris peace talks in 1919 as a representative of the decimated Armenian population.
Melnyczuk noted that Balakian’s poems are “inevitably linked to family memories” with “stories behind the stories.” There is a layering process to the collection, “a kind of sedimentary poetics [that] culminates in the truly astonishing title poem ‘No Sign’ in which the word sedimentary recovers its literal meaning as the poem folds nothing less than a history of the planet tracking a conversation between an estranged couple against the backdrop of geological time.”
In addition to “History, Bitterness,” Balakian read “Summer Ode,” “Yellow Lilies,” “How Much I Love You,” “Eggplant” and “Apricot.” His intent with these selections was to provide a flavor of the collection, while also offering the inspiration for each poem, often including his Armenian upbringing, in particular his beloved grandmother Nafina. “She appears in and seems to endlessly be an animating force of energy in my mind,” explained Balakian about the Genocide survivor who served as the central character in his memoir Black Dog of Fate and who was the sole survivor of the death march from her family, along with her two infant children.
“Everything comes back to the kitchen,” Balakian explained about the section that he called a series of meditations on fruits and vegetables. “Memory goes through food and culture and history and homes and meditations to take you to many places,” Balakian said, continuing, “And sometimes they evoke historical vibes.”
Peter Balakian reading from No Sign, May 17, 2022
For the first time at a public reading, Balakian read from “No Sign,” a special treat that included the first four sections of the poem. One reason why he had yet to read this title poem is because he “wants readers to enjoy swimming in it.” Balakian said he spent a lot of time reading and thinking before beginning “No Sign,” a poem demarcated by “he” and “she,” conversational and dramaturgical without being a play, about the dialogue between an estranged couple that reunites on the cliffs of the New Jersey Palisades. Their dialogue “reveals the evolution of a kaleidoscopic memory spanning decades, reflecting on the geological history of Earth and the climate crisis, the film Hiroshima Mon Amour, the Vietnam War, a visionary encounter with the George Washington Bridge, and the enduring power of love” as described by the publisher.
During the conversation between Melnyczuk and Balakian, the subject of imagination was raised. “The imagination is a strange place. We all live in it, artist, writers or not,” Balakian said. Both authors agreed that imagination has a role to play in our lives, encouraging us to delve deeper and further than the surface level of data and information we receive. “Isn’t imagination the source of all our hope?” Melnyczuk asked, to which there was a palpable reaction from those gathered in the parlor, a fitting conclusion to an illuminating evening.
According to the data confirmed by Azerbaijan, 38 Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) and civilian captives are currently held in Baku, Artsakh’s Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Gegham Stepanyan said in the country’s parliament on Thursday.
However, the ombudspersons of Artsakh and Armenia as well as human rights organizations have proofs of 80 more people being held in Azerbaijani captivity, the ombudsman said, noting that Azerbaijan does not confirm the data.
“This suggests that Azerbaijan is deliberately hiding the real number of captives," Stepanyan stressed.
Of the 38 prisoners, 35 are soldiers and 3 are civilians who were captured after the 9 November 2020 statement. 19 civilians are reported missing. There are people among them, whose capture can be confirmed by facts, he noted.
All 38 were convicted in Azerbaijan on trumped-up charges, the ombudsman said.
12:14, 12 May, 2022
YEREVAN, MAY 12, ARMENPRESS. President Vahagn Khachaturyan received today Ambassador of Serbia to Armenia Tatjana Panajotovic Cvetkovic, the Presidential Office said.
During the meeting the sides attached importance to the existing political dialogue between Armenia and Serbia and stated that the cooperation has a serious development potential in commercial, cultural, scientific, educational and other areas.
In this context the necessity of giving a new content and impetus to the agenda of the Armenian-Serbian bilateral and multilateral partnership was emphasized.
17:59,
YEREVAN, MAY 13, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received Minister of Sport of the Russian Federation Oleg Matytsin, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister noted that Armenia and Russia are strategic allies, Armenia is ready to develop and strengthen cooperation in all spheres, including sports. According to the Prime Minister, Russia is considered a superpower also in the field of sports, hence, the exchange of experience and cooperation in various sports is important. Prime Minister Pashinyan stressed the need to popularize sports, for which purpose the Prime Minister's Cup tournaments in various sports are held in our country. Prime Minister Pashinyan stressed the importance of popularization of sports, for which purpose the “Prime Minister's Cup” tournaments in various sports are held in our country.
Oleg Matytsin noted that they had effective discussions with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia aimed at giving a new impetus to further cooperation. In particular, a number of issues related to the organization of joint training camps in various sports and the development of sports infrastructure were discussed.
The foreign ministers of CIS member states meet in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on May 13
Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan told his CIS counterparts that Yerevan seeks to guarantee the security, rights and freedoms of the Armenians of Artsakh, as well as ensure the status of Karabakh under a comprehensive settlement of that conflict.
However, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov toed Baku’s position, that the Karabakh conflict was settled when Azerbaijani forces, aided by Turkey, unleashed their aggression on Artsakh and “liberated” it through the use of force.
This scenario played out at the CIS Foreign Ministers summit, which is begin held in the Dushanbe, the capital Tajikistan. This is where Mirzoyan and Bayramov met Thursday to discuss the parameters for so-called peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan. They also agreed that the first meeting of a commission tasked with advancing border delimitation between the two countries will be meeting next week in Moscow.
In his remarks on Friday, Mirzoyan told his fellow foreign, that his meeting with Bayramov and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov the day before would be a step toward establishing peace in the region.
He reaffirmed Armenia’s commitment to the implementation of the agreements reached by the statements of November 9, 2020, January 11 and November 26, 2021.
Mirzoyan also reiterated Yerevan’s hope that the much-discussed peace talks would advance under the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.
The group, which has been mediated the Karabakh peace process for more than two decades, seems to have dismantled as a result of the standoff between the West and Russia over the military campaign in Ukraine. The Minsk Group co-chairs seem to be engaged in the current Karabakh process as special envoys to the South Caucasus.
21:56,
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. On May 11, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a telephone conversation with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev to discuss the process of negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, ARMENPRESS reports Blinken wrote on his Twitter page.
"I spoke with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev today about how the United States can continue to support the positive dynamics of the recent peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia," he wrote.
The Department of State issued a statement on the telephone conversation, noting that the parties discussed "the forthcoming concrete steps aimed at establishing peace in the South Caucasus, including the delimitation and demarcation of borders, the opening of transport and communication routes, and the release of remaining Armenian prisoners of war."
"Secretary of State Blinken reaffirmed the United States' readiness to assist by cooperating on a bilateral basis, as well as with like-minded partners, including in the status of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair, to assist the countries in finding comprehensive and lasting peace," the State Department said in the statement.