Protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his team are being held in several cities of Armenia, including Yerevan, APA reports citing Sputnik Armenia.
The members of “Voice of youth” held protests named “Wake up, student” in 15 higher education institutions.
The protesters gathered in front of the universities with posters reading “Wake up, student”.
Source: Azeri-Press News Agency
A Turkish court has sentenced rights activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala to life in prison without the possibility of parole on highly controversial charges of attempting to overthrow the government, APA reports Aljazeera.
The verdict on Monday stems from allegations that he bankrolled a wave of anti-government protests in 2013 and played a role in the 2016 attempted military coup in the country.
The case will now go to the court of appeals and could continue to the Supreme Court.
On Monday, Kavala was acquitted on separate espionage charges.
Source: Azeri-Press News Agency
Twitter is in the final stretch of negotiations about a sale to Elon Musk, a person with knowledge of the matter said, APA reports citing Bloomberg.
The social media company is working to hammer out terms of a transaction and could reach an agreement as soon as Monday if negotiations go smoothly, according to the person.
Source: Azeri-Press News Agency
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoian and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayramov have agreed on the structure of a commission on the delimitation of the border between the two South Caucasus countries amid simmering tensions over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
On April 25, the ministers also discussed ways for the commission to meet and talked about security issues in areas close to the border as well as matters related to preparations for a peace treaty after a six-week war between the neighbors in 2020.
Earlier this month, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian agreed to start drafting a bilateral peace treaty to resolve the conflict around Nagorno-Karabakh and set up a joint commission on demarcating their common border during talks in Brussels hosted by European Council President Charles Michel.
Baku wants the peace deal to be based on five elements, including a mutual recognition of each other’s territorial integrity. Pashinian has publicly stated that the elements are acceptable to Yerevan in principle, fueling Armenian opposition claims that he is ready to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Baku regained control of parts of the breakaway region in the 2020 war, as well as seven adjacent districts that had been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces since the end of a separatist war in 1994. Some 2,000 Russian troops have been deployed to monitor the current cease-fire.
Nagorno-Karabakh, which had been under ethnic Armenian control for nearly three decades, is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
On April 24, Azerbaijan’s State Border Guard Service said its troops prevented the illegal entry of an Armenian saboteur group into Azerbaijani territory.
Baku accused Yerevan of what it called “an attempt to disrupt” ongoing efforts to conclude a peace treaty.
Armenia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement late on April 24 that it had launched an investigation into the appearance of one of its soldiers on the Azerbaijani side of the border.
Copyright (c) 2015. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036
BAKU, Azerbaijan, The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Europe Hans Henri Kluge will visit Azerbaijan, Trend reports.
During the visit, Kluge will take part in events dedicated to the European Immunization Week.
At the same time, the director will get acquainted with the Primary Health Care Strengthening pilot project in Azerbaijan’s Shamakhi district.
Source: TREND News Agency
Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival celebration is undoubtedly the planet’s most ostentatious, mind-blowing spectacle, uniting millions of Brazilians and visitors within the lush environs of the Marvelous City in rapturous merriment over the 5 days preceding the pious Catholic season of Lent. The party happens every February or March, ending 40 days before Easter and commemorating the close of the long, hot Brazilian summer with a lavish, world-renowned Carnival parade in the Sambadrome. Also on tap are popular itinerant street parties called blocos, and chic, high-gloss costumed balls called bailes.
With a parade tradition stretching as far back as the 1930s, Rio is home to over 70 samba schools. Representing modest neighborhoods from throughout the metropolitan area, the largest and most creative schools (collectively, the Grupo Especial) end up competing for cash and nationwide fame during a 2-night bonanza of sound and spectacle in Rio’s one-of-a-kind Carnival stadium, the Sambadrome. First opened in 1984 and designed by Brazil’s architect extraordinaire, Oscar Niemeyer, the nearly 2,300-foot-long stadium, with its distinctive arch — jokingly referred to as a concrete thong — holds up to 90,000 raucous spectators who pay anything from R$10 to over R$5,000 for the privilege of cheering on their favorite schools amid the unmatched energy of Carnival.
The competition itself, televised nationally late into the night on the Sunday and Monday of Carnival, consists of a series of performances in which each of the top 12 samba school’s roughly 3,000 members sing and dance nonstop — with calculated precision for 90 minutes, dressed in dazzling costumes atop monumental floats and slowly parading down the length of the Sambadrome to the wild cheering of fans and the intense scrutiny of the parade judges. The judges consider each school’s performance in categories such as song lyrics, drumming cadence and precision, costumes, overall harmony and allegorical theme, with the lowest scoring schools relegated to the second-string Grupo de Acesso. Themes include whimsical homages to various world cities, historical events, and Brazilian personalities.
Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency
