Author: Toneyan Mark

Hosts France advanced to the Euro 2016 final with their first victory over Germany in a major tournament since 1958 on a night of high emotion in Marseille, the BBC reports.

Antoine Griezmann, the tournament’s top scorer, made the decisive contributions in each half to set up a final against Portugal at the Stade de France on Sunday.

Griezmann scored from the penalty spot right on half-time when Germany’s Bastian Schweinsteiger was penalised for handball by Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli in an aerial challenge with Patrice Evra.

France held out against German pressure before Griezmann settled the destination of a pulsating semi-final with 18 minutes left when he turned in from close range after keeper Manuel Neuer could only half-clear Paul Pogba’s cross.

Joshua Kimmich then hit the woodwork for Germany and also saw a header brilliantly saved by France keeper Hugo Lloris – but there was no way back for the World Cup holders.

Today, on the occasion of Independence Day of the United States of America, President Serzh Sargsyan visited the residence of the US Ambassador to Armenia. On the occasion of the holiday, President Serzh Sargsyan congratulated Ambassador Richard Mills and in his person the staff of the Embassy and the people of the United States, and wished success in the continuous development and strengthening of the Armenian-American relations. The President of Armenia highly valued the input of the United States to our country’s economic development since independence, strengthening of democracy, maturing of the civil society and underscored that he was hopeful that after the presidential elections in the US, the bilateral relations will continue to develop dynamically.

Ambassador Richard Mills thanked the President of Armenia for the visit and congratulations. He noted that for the last twenty-five years he has been following closely developments in Armenia and agreed with President Sargsyan on the issue of the achievements registered in the country in the mentioned period of time. The US Ambassador underlined that the citizens of Armenia can rightfully take pride in progress achieved by Armenia in the last quarter of the century in the economic, social as well as political areas. He said that he was glad that the people and Government of the United States have played their part in that advancement.

The President of Armenia also sent a congratulatory message to the President of the United States Barack Obama:

“Honorable President Obama,

Allow me to wholeheartedly congratulate you and the people of the United States on the occasion of Independence Day of the United States of America.

Early next year, we will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our nations. Looking back on our journey, I note with great satisfaction that the Armenia-US relations have always been marked by cordiality, mutual trust and respect.
We highly value the great support extended by the United States towards the development of Armenia’s economy, the implementation of various reforms and the strengthening of our democratic institutions. Building on a strong tradition of fruitful cooperation and on the existing significant potential, Armenia stands ready to further deepen and develop the Armenian-American friendship and the close partnership.

We greatly appreciate the US engagement, as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, in the Nagorno-Karabakh peaceful settlement process. The diplomatic efforts that followed the full-fledged military operation of Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh in the early April, 2016, have once again underscored the key role played by the United States in the peace process. Similar to the co-chair countries of the Minsk Group, we are also strongly convinced that the maintenance of the unlimited-in-time trilateral ceasefire agreements of 1994-1995 and the implementation of steps leading to the establishment of an environment conducive to negotiations, would serve as a strong foundation for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through exclusively peaceful means. We expect that the United States, jointly with the other co-chair countries – Russia and France, will continue its active mediation mission towards the establishment of a stable and durable peace in our region.

Please allow me to once again congratulate you on Independence Day and to wish you and people of the United States continued progress and prosperity. Please accept, Mr. President, the assurances of my highest consideration,” reads the congratulatory message of the President of Armenia.

The reconstruction of the Mtskheta-Stepantsminda-Lars highway may take 2-3 weeks, Armenian Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of International Economic Integration and Reforms Vache Gabrielyan said at the government sitting today. The issue is in the spotlight of the Prime Minister and the government, he said.

The road is currently impassable because of flooding of Terek River. The land transportation of cargos is impossible. The Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations keeps in touch with the relevant authorities in Georgia and Russia, the Minister said.

At the request of the Armenian PM the Russian government has provided a plane to transport citizens stuck at Upper Lars border checkpoint. The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations has already flown 96 citizens to Yerevan, another 120 will be transported today, Vache Gabrielyan said.

On 29 June Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan met with chairman of the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) Garo Armen and adviser to the fund’s Board of Directors, former US ambassador to Armenia John Evans.

Issues related to the realization of various programs in Artsakh were on the agenda of the meeting.

President Sahakyan noted that the COAF’s activity substantially contributed to children’s patriotic upbringing as well as development of the countryside adding that Artsakh was interested in expanding cooperation with the organization.

On his final day of his stay in Armenia, the Pope will visit the Khor Virap monastery near the Turkish border where he will release doves in the direction of Mount Ararat. The monastery is revered as the site where St. Gregory the Illuminator, the founder of Christianity in Armenia, was imprisoned.

The monastery is revered as the site where St. Gregory the Illuminator, the founder of Christianity in Armenia, was imprisoned.

After a prayer in Armenian and Latin, Pope Francis and Catholicos of All Armenian Karekin II will head for the observation deck overlooking Mount Ararat. The religious leaders of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Roman Catholic Church will release doves in the direction of the closed border between Armenia and Turkey as a sign of peace.

The Pope will later bid farewell to Armenia, the first Christian nation and will leave for Vatican after a farewell ceremony at Zvartnots Airport.

Pope Francis’ plane has just landed in Armenia.

At Zvartnots International Airport the Pope was welcomed by Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan and Mrs. Rita Sargsyan, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, state officials and diplomats, bishops of the Armenian Apostolic and Catholic Churches.

The Pope was greeted by “Little Singers of Armenia” children’s choir headed by Tigran Hekekyan. Children in Armenian traditional costumes served Armenian apricot and lavash, the Armenian bread included in UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

It’s worth mentioning that the apricot is called prunus Armeniaca in Latin, which means Armenian plum.

The delegation will head for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin for a prayer at the Mother Cathedral. The Pope will later arrive in Yerevan for a meeting with President Serzh Sargsyan.

About 600 journalists have applied for accreditation to cover the Pope’s visit to Armenia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs.

Around 600 journalists applied for accreditation to cover visit to 1st nation.

— MFA of Armenia (@MFAofArmenia)

Pope Francis will visit Armenia June 24-26. Pope Francis has asked the faithful to pray for his upcoming trip to Armenia.

“I ask you to pray for me, who in a few days will go as a pilgrim to an eastern land, Armenia, the first among the Nations to receive the Gospel of Jesus,” he said at an audience for the Reunion of Aid Agencies For the Eastern Churches.

BarCamp Yerevan, Armenia’s favorite (un)conference will bring together more than 2000 IT and Media specialists on June 18-19.

The informal conference will be held for the 8th time and once again will give participants an opportunity to share knowledge, skills and experience. BarCamp Yerevan 2016 will again feature in depth workshops and a job fare for IT specialists.

As always BarCamp Yerevan will host international guests: Daniil Shyleiko, Marketing director of Yandex Taxi; Andrey Frolchenkov, SMM specialist; Eric Barret, the Executive Director of Jumpstart Media Company and Joanna Bronowicka, the Executive Director of Centre for Internet & Human Rights.

BarCamp is an international network of user-generated conferences (or unconferences). Those are open, participatory workshop-events with the participant-provided content. BarCamp Yerevan is made possible by volunteer effort. The organizing team are Armenian IT and Media specialists. The annual BarCamp Yerevan events have been held in Armenia since 2009. The first BarCamp Yerevan had from 200 to 300 participants, whereas 7 years later the number of participants exceeded 2000.

 

 

 

The Golden Apricot 13^th International Film Festival will be held in Yerevan July 10-17. This year’s event will be dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Armenia’s independence.

More than 900 applications for participation have been received from 91 countries, 135 films have been included in the competition and non-competition programs.  The festival will start with the screening of Hamo Beknazaryan’s Zareh, Director of Golden Apricot IFF Harutyun Khachatryan told reporters today at a press conference hosted by the Ministry of Culture.

The best feature and documentary films, produced during the 25 years of independence will be presented to spectators in a special program titled “Armenian Cinema: Our Days.”

To coordinate the program film critics have been invited, who not only will introduce the story behind every film, but will also hold a round table to rebound the history of the independent cinema, the issues and the ways of its development. The film A Story of People in War and Peace (2007) by Vardan Hovhannisyan will open the program.

How has the Golden Apricot Film Festival contributed to the development of Armenian cinematography over the 13 years of its existence? “We stepped on the path of independence without studios, programs and new films, while today we are welcoming the 25th anniversary of statehood with new names and films in Armenian cinematography,” Harutyun Khachatryan said.

Second, he said, “we showed the high level of Armenian cinematography,” and finally “Armenian filmmakers worldwide were given the chance to establish ties with the Motherland.”

Golden Apricot Film Festival in cooperation with British Council in Armenia will present a special film program, dedicated to the 400th anniversary of renowned British writer William Shakespeare’s death. The best films, based on Shakespeare’s works, will be screened in the frames of the program.

The “French New Cinema” program will be realized in cooperation with the Embassy of Francein Armenia. It includes the best three films of French production.  The program will open with Two Remis, Two, (2015) by Pierre Léon.

The “Danish New Cinema” program will be implemented in cooperation with the Danish Film Institute. The program will present the best Danish films of the last five years. The Commune (2015) by Thomas Winterberg will open the program.

The four best films by Basque directors will be presented in a separate film program titled “Basque New Cinema.” The film Autumn without Berlin (2015)by Lara Izagirre is to open the film program.

The General Partner of the festival is Armenia’s Leading Telecommunications Operator VivaCell-MTS.  The 10-year anniversary of cooperation between Golden Apricot Yerevan IFF and VivaCell-MTS will be celebrated this year.

 

 

 

Germany attaches importance to the implementation of an investigation mechanism along the Karabakh line of contact, German Ambassador to Armenia Matthias Kiesler said in Yerevan today.

“Germany, as an OSCE presiding country, hopes that the member states will approve the necessary financing for the implementation of the investigation mechanism and expansion of the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office.

“When Germany assumed the chairmanship of the OSCE this year, it streessed the importance of establishment of an atmosphere of trust at the line of contact. For that we need to expand the authority of Andrzej Kasprzyk’s Office,” the Ambassador said.

“After the agreement reached between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the German presidency is making efforts and taking measures towards creation of those mechanisms,” Matthias Kiesler said.

He voiced hope that the budget would be approved by all OSCE Minsk Group member states.