Author: Samvel Nahapetian

Photos:Instagram/David Beckham  

David Beckham has made the latest stop on his global tour by reaching Antarctica, where he plans to play what will likely be the coldest football game of his career, according to .

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid man is currently jetsetting across the planet as he looks to play a game of football on all seven continents as part of a BBC documentary on grass roots football across the globe.

And the 40-year-old has taken to Instagram to post a selfie, where the wrapped up former England skipper marvelled at his latest setting.

“Just marked the pitch out … Anyone see the corner flag behind me ?? game 5 Antartica WOW no words !!!!,” he wrote.

The Syrian Army, with the support of armed militia fighters, has liberated 50 villages in the south-east of Aleppo province, a militia source said Tuesday, reports.

Canadian Armenian filmmaker Atom Egoyan newest work, Remember, was presented at Festival du Nouveau Cinéma last week and attempts to bring a material reality to the unfathomable tragedy of genocide, reports.

After success at the Venice Film Festival, the Oscar nominee presents a tale that revolves around Zev Guttman (Christopher Plummer), a Holocaust survivor struggling with dementia. He tries to track down and kill the Nazi leader of his block at Auschwitz, who killed Zev’s family before escaping to North America under an assumed name.

Due to his failing memory, Zev must constantly be reminded of his mission through a letter written by Max (Martin Landau), a fellow Auschwitz survivor and the organizer for Zev’s journey.

“It focuses on the questions of memory and justice and how to deal with unresolved history. It’s fuelled by the notion of trauma. The two characters are both survivors,” said Egoyan.

Anti-Semitism and the formation of hate play a central role in Remember, exemplified in a powerful scene where Zev visits the home of a neo-Nazi (Breaking Bad’s Dean Norris). At first, the man believes Zev is a Nazi as well. After Zev is forced to admit that he’s Jewish, the man becomes furious, forcefully screaming threatening anti-Semitic profanities.

“It’s horrifying in that moment; we understand the mechanics,” Egoyan said. “We see what triggers hate. When the trust is betrayed, he has to find a reason for his sense of pain and it converts into this extraordinarily violent anti-Semitism.”

This is Egoyan’s second film with Plummer. Their first collaboration, Ararat, also focused on themes of genocide, specifically the Armenian massacre during World War I.

From 1915 to 1918, the former Ottoman Empire was responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in what is now the Republic of Turkey. Many of the persecuted were burned alive, drowned or given poisonous drugs. Others were subjected to death marches, where they were forced to wander toward the Syrian Desert, deprived of food and water. Raphael Lemkin used these events as a reference when he first coined the word genocide in 1943.

Egoyan said that as an Armenian, he can relate to Remember’s theme of mass murders left unresolved, especially since the institutional perpetrators have never admitted guilt, and the Turkish government still hasn’t recognized the methodical mass murders as genocide.

“I’m bringing my own sort of history, but I’m also understanding the persistence of what fuelled the Holocaust,” he said.

The Ottomans committed the Armenian genocide with the oversight of the German government. During his reign, many of Hitler’s key friends and policy makers could be directly connected to perpetrators in World War I. Evidence suggests that Hitler used tactics gleaned from the Armenian genocide as a template when executing his Final Solution.

More and more institutions are recognizing the Armenian genocide. Within the past year, Pope Francis acknowledged the genocide at his service in Rome, going as far as to say: “Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it.”

Egoyan is proud that the Catholic Church supports the plight of the Armenians, though he’s more pleased to hear that the German and Austrian governments have acknowledged their roles. He feels that their admission of responsibility has opened a new constructive dialogue.

“Some extraordinary things happened this year,” he said. “People are beginning to understand [the genocide] as a template for things that happened afterwards.”

“I used to always boycott Turkey,” said Egoyan.

As a young man, the Canadian director was passionately involved in a political Armenian student group at the University of Toronto, dedicated to bring awareness to issues of genocide and a destructively selective state memory. This year, however, Egoyan attended a wedding in Turkey for the daughter of Hrant Dink, the Armenian journalist assassinated by a Turkish nationalist in 2007.

When the director entered Turkey for the first time, he discovered a community of Armenians that were never driven out, a people on the frontline of forming a new dialogue around the genocide. At the time, these groups gave Egoyan hope for a new dynamic in the conversation between the Turkish government and Armenians.

“When I went in the summer all this seemed very possible. Literally three weeks after I got back it all went to hell. It’s very scary what’s happening in Turkey right now.”

Though the dialogue process may have broken down as political tensions in Turkey increased, Egoyan believes that there are enough progressive forces to shift the discussion, just as he has witnessed in the 28 countries who acknowledge the genocide around the world.

“Since I was a student, Canada has recognized the genocide,” he said. “That was an extraordinary moment. There’s a huge shift in contagiousness.”

The relics of a 16th-century church built by Spanish colonisers has emerged from a reservoir in the south of Mexico, The Independent reports.

It is the second time the church, usually submerged on the reservoir bed, has been revealed in the state of Chiapas as a result of drought.

A water level drop of at least 80 feet in the Grijalba river which feeds the reservoir has revealed the 400-year-old roofless religious building, with its 10 metre high walls, 61 metre length and 14 metre wide hall.

The river was last this low in 2002, when visitors were able to walk about inside the church.

Today, fishermen are ferrying curious passengers around the ruins, which were submerged in 1966 when the nearby dam was completed and the area flooded.

Liverpool are expected to name former Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp as their new manager on Thursday, the BBC reports.

The 48-year-old is set to arrive on Merseyside for further negotiations with the Anfield club before signing a three-year contract.

The German would replace Brendan Rodgers, who was sacked on Sunday following the 1-1 Premier League draw at derby rivals Everton.

Klopp wants former assistants Zeljko Buvac and Peter Krawietz as coaches.

Bosnian Buvac, 54, and German Krawietz, 43, were key members of Klopp’s backroom team during his time at Dortmund.

Liverpool had also been considering former Real Madrid and Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, who is out of work.

But the 56-year-old Italian has suggested he may only return to management next season.

The Armenian National Assembly voted 104 to 10 with 3 abstentions today to put the package of Constitutional amendments on a referendum.

The Republican Party faction voted in favor of reforms, so did the Prosperous Armenia (except for Tigran Urikhanyan).

Three members of the Orinats Yerkir faction abstained, two others voted no. Lyudmila Sargsyan of the Armenian National Congress, Tevan Poghosyan of the Heritage faction and Alik Arzumanyan were the three opposition lawmakers to support the initiative.

The parliamentary hearing was accompanied by protests outside the National Assembly. A number of citizens were detained.

India and Armenia have cultural and historic ties that go a long time back, but in terms of tourism for Indian visitors Armenia is still a little known destination. “India is a priority emerging market for us. We have a lot of things in common. The people of our country feel comfortable in India and vice versa,” Sergey Avetisyan, deputy minister, Republic of Armenia Ministry of Economy, told the 

In Armenia the Ministry of Economy includes tourism as segment of the economy. There is a department of tourism within the ministry which deals with policies of tourism, laws, regulations. The Armenian Development Foundation is the implementing arm of the policies.

Pointing out that Armenia is obviously interested in attracting tourists from India, Avetisyan stated, “You have a huge population and we are obviously interested in Indian tourists in terms of the numbers. But besides the numbers our historic and other linkages connects us. And that is why we have good potential for developing tourism.”

Avetisyan however acknowledged that Armenia will never be a mass tourism destination. “Our country is primarily a cultural tourism destination. We have our phenomenal history, deep roots into pagan culture, and into Christianity, being the first Christian nation. In terms of tourism our first position is cultural and historic tourism. Following which is nature based experiences like hiking, eco tourism, etc. People normally come here because of culture and heritage. The Armenian diaspora is huge, we have Armenians spread all across the world, who are our natural ambassadors telling about our country to their friends. There are Armenian societies, churches in many countries,” he mentioned.

The ministry is in talks with the travel trade community in Armenia to understand their interests and channel the resources through them. “Next year we will give the money from our budget to the travel trade industry. We will help them. Tourism is about the private sector,” stated Avetisyan.

It is not just India, Avetisyan remarked that other Asian countries like Philippines are interested in Armenia. “The whole tourism sector is about history, stories and fairy tales, and people need that kind of thing. You always welcome someone who is packing that and giving it to you,” he said.

On September 29, President Serzh Sargsyan partook in the 70th session of the c in New York, where he made an address.

Statement by the President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan
at the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly

Distinguished President Lykketoft,

I congratulate you upon election to the honorable post of the President of the United Nations General Assembly. I am confident that under your able leadership this jubilee Session will meet expectations we all harbor.

Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I also congratulate all of us upon the 70th anniversary of the United Nations. The establishment of this Organization had been one of the greatest achievements of the humankind that consolidated nations around shared aspirations and principles. The past 70 years have been characterized by the most important positive developments – an end was put to colonialism, racial discrimination and apartheid. Many people around the world exercised their right to self-determination, got in charge of their own fate by establishing and building independent states of their own, thus increasing the number of the UN member States from 51 to 193.

Amid all these achievements, we shall recognize that currently the world faces new challenges such as terrorism, extremism, intolerance, economic crises, climate change, trafficking in human beings and their organs, as well as drugs and arms, migration crisis etc. The list enumerating these challenges is long. It is the very necessity to struggle against them that obliges us to resolutely reiterate our joint commitment to the mission of this Organization and its Charter.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Last year, on the eve of the Armenian Genocide Centennial, from this podium I expressed our gratitude to the nations that recognized the Armenian Genocide and named them all individually. I called upon the international community to bolster the struggle against the recurrence of the crime of genocide through recognition and condemnation.

Today, from this very podium, I thank Pope Francis, and acknowledge the historical Mass he celebrated; the European Parliament, and recall the Resolution it adopted; the German President, and, believe me, his well-known statement will thenceforth take part in the pages of our nation’s history textbooks. I thank the legislative bodies of Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, numerous provincial and city councils, as well as dozens and hundreds political and non-governmental organizations.

I thank the Presidents of Russia, France, Cyprus, and Serbia, as well as delegations of numerous other countries that on April 24 paid tribute to the victims of the Armenian Genocide in Yerevan.

Our determination to keep the prevention of the crime of genocide on the international agenda is testified by the Resolutions we periodically table at the Human Rights Council, and the latest one to that effect was adopted this year. Building further upon it, just a few days ago this Assembly passed a resolution establishing December 9 as “the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime.”

Dear Attendees,

The peaceful resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh problem remains one of the most salient issues in our region. I shall note that aggressive policy pursued by Azerbaijan resulted in the absence of any meaningful progress of negotiations for the conflict settlement, and the situation drifts toward increasing tension. The dictatorial regime of the country made disgraceful repression an instrument to strangle the people’s wrath as the oil-based economy obviously falters, and even that, nevertheless, it considers being inefficient. Now it needs images from the Line-of-Contact in order to divert the attention of its own public. I would like to draw the attention of this Assembly to the fact that Azerbaijan, besides various provocative actions, has now started to apply largecaliber artillery firing at the peaceful settlements of the bordering districts of both the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

Just a few days ago in the bordering area of Armenia three women fell victim to Azerbaijani bombardment. The question that comes up to one’s mind is whether there is any reasonable person that can demonstrate any unflawed logic of that cruelty. It is obvious for us that the Azerbaijani leadership has irreversibly lost both the sense of reality and of norms of human conduct.

Azerbaijan completely disdains 5 joint Statement issued by the Presidents of the U.S., Russia and France, and the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group. Shall it continue its such an aggressive policy, it will not leave Armenia any other choice but to take necessary legal and political-military steps to provide the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh Republic with the opportunity to develop in security and peace.

Although it is obvious to everybody as to which party instigates the cease-fire violations, I still would recall some facts.

It is strange – isn’t it? – that now it has already been for years that Azerbaijan stubbornly refused to withdraw snipers and establish incident investigation mechanism, which were proposed by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. The question that comes up to one’s mind is what Azerbaijan is afraid of?

It is strange – isn’t it? – that during the European Games hosted by Azerbaijan, when they needed image of stability, there had been almost no shooting fired at the border, while immediately subsequent those Games shootings extensively renewed. I do not expect you to buy assertions of any of the parties, but still anticipate you to exercise your mother wit.

It is strange – isn’t it? – that in the 21st century our neighbor day in, and day out, relentlessly and indefatigably takes pride in excessive accumulation of arms and manifold expansion of the military budget; it stubbornly continues making bellicose threats to renew the military hostilities, and does it at the highest level of the head of state.

I think now it is obvious to everyone why Armenia had consistently been urging the international community to make statements that were not generic, but were unambiguous as to whom it was addressed to while discussing the ceasefire violations. We shall understand that muffling of the early warning signals of threats to the peace and security may materialize in catastrophic repercussions.

Dear Colleagues,

Today we witness unspeakable cruelty taking place in the Middle East. The religious intolerance resulted in the irreversible aftermath. We have been most directly affected by the atrocities unfolding there, since they result in the destruction of the Armenian spiritual and cultural heritage artefacts, murder and expulsion of the numerous Armenians residing in Iraq and Syria. The Armenian community of Syria, whose history is centuries-long, shares and experiences all hardships that the Syrian people are undergoing in these difficult times. We are trying to aid the refuges to the best of our abilities: until this day, Armenia received more than 16 thousand refugees from Syria. By this sheer figure, Armenia is one of the first among recipient European countries.

Armenians know well the fate of the refuges, of the exiled and expelled. The Armenian Genocide should have claimed many more lives, and the survivors should have gone through much more hardship unless a number of nations, our friends had given us their shoulder in those difficult times. Today it is Germany, Sweden, and some other countries that deserve their due praise for humanism they displayed. They provided hundreds of thousands of refugees with safe haven, and thus reiterated that the assistance was necessary both from the legal and humanist perspectives.

Dear Colleagues,

This year we all witnessed how the joint and adequate actions paved the way t
o smoothing out a difficult international issue. An historical agreement was made on the nuclear program of the Islamic Republic of Iran, an immediate neighbor of ours. That critical deal is undoubtedly going to contribute to the global settlement of the conflict situations and consolidation of the mutual trust, and it was made possible by the extended and consistent political and diplomatic efforts.

All these come to prove that when there is a political will to bridge disagreements and emphasize the spirit of cooperation, it is indeed possible to find solutions for the most complicated issues. From this podium I would like to once again stress the importance of taking diplomatic efforts, especially with the aim to eliminate the closed borders. Armenia has been subjected to the illegal blockade by its neighbors, and we deem unacceptable such an improvident policy that in the 21st century establishes artificial obstacles disrupting intercultural, human to human and trade contacts. In this context, we highly value the periodic review carried out under the framework of the UN Conferences on Landlocked Developing Countries. We stand ready to invest further efforts in this endeavor, also by hosting intermediate workshops on this topic in our country.

Mr. President,

To conclude I would like to join all speakers who have called to take joint efforts to struggle against the darkness, vandalism and hatred. There can be no great and small countries for that cause, and every single one has a role to play. Armenia stands ready to make its contribution to that joint struggle of ours.

I thank you.

The board of scandal-hit Volkswagen meets on Friday to shake up its management.

On the agenda will be choosing a replacement for chief executive Martin Winterkorn, who resigned on Wednesday.

Reports have said that the front-runner for the top job is Porsche chief executive Matthias Mueller.

VW is also expected to dismiss executives tainted by the scandal over the rigging of emissions tests by software in its diesel cars in the US.