Azerbaijan has again used a famous photo of Armenian volunteer Sargis Hatspanyan intheirpropaganda. A painting copyed from the picture taken in 1993 was recently showcased at an exhibition in Berlin.

Per a report from Haqqin.az, a group of young Azerbaijani artists and sculptors showed their works to the residents of Berlin on February 26.

A photograph from the exhibition reveals that one of the students of the Azerbaijan State Academy of Arts has reproduced the photo of Hatspanyan and an elderly Azerbaijani woman and titled her picture “Hope”.

The original photo was taken by photographer Zaven Khachikyan in 1993 during the days of the liberation of Qarvachar. Hatspanyan himself has described the day when hundreds of peaceful Azerbaijani civilians, mostly elderly people, children and women, were left behind by Azeri fighters. When Sargis and his friends entered the village and greeted a group of women in their native language, the 80-year-old woman named Shekhi khanum scolded him for being late as “the Armenians would soon be here.” Sargis realized that the woman had taken them for Azerbaijani soldiers and said that “the Armenians had already come.” Khachikyan then took the moment to secretly snap the two having a friendly conversation.

Azerbaijanis have repeatedly tried to use the photo in their propaganda, coming up various legends about its origin: this time they linked the image with the events in Khojaly.

The Special Investigation Service of Armenia refuses to comment whether the former Armenian foreign minister Vartan Oskanian was questioned as part of the March 1, 2008 case.

“No comment,” they said to a request of Armenian News – NEWS.am.

Earlier, armtimes.com reported citing its own sources that the former Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian had been questioned.

the third President Serzh Sargsyan have already been questioned.

KARS. – Armenian writer Yeghishe Charents’ house, which has been preserved for many years in Kars, Turkey, has been unexpectedly torn down. 

The Armenian News-NEWS.am correspondent reported from Kars that the demolition of this house was a surprise to the locals, too.

According to the rumors being spread in Kars, the nationalist mayor of the city had hurriedly ordered the flattening of this house in response to the events that had occurred in Khojaly village, in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), in February 1992. 

Local government elections will be conducted in Turkey in one month, but the incumbent mayor of Kars has no chances to be reelected, so he decided at the last moment to have Charents’ house destroyed.

But in its official statement on the demolition of this house, the Kars city hall noted that, supposedly, drug addicts assembled in that house, and therefore there was a need to tear it down.

Yeghishe Charents’ house was an important site primarily for Armenian tourists visiting Kars.

Academics are arguing that many people will soon be identifying as “digisexuals” and taking their sexual identity from having sex with robots.

While sex robots are currently quite primitive, a new report published in the Journal of Sexual and Relationship Therapy argues that before long they will be able to look, speak and act like real people – and will be specifically designed to fulfill a person’s desires.

http://tv.giphy.com/scifi

The report’s authors, Neil McArthur and Markie L. C. Twist, from the University of Manitoba, Canada, argue that we need to be ready to deal with the phenomenon when it comes to fruition.

There is no question, then, that sexbots are coming,” McArthur and Twist say. “Our view is that they will represent a different sort of sexual experience from what existing technologies offer. First of all, people will form an intense connection with their robot companions.”

“These robots will be tailor-made to meet people’s desires, and will do things that human partners cannot or will not do. For this reason, significant numbers of people will likely come to use robots as their primary mode of sexual experience.”

The pair, who also co-authored the book “Robot Sex: A Book for the Enlightened Sapiosexual,” argue that the rise of digisexuality will bring benefits, including potentially saving human relationships.

They also say that digisexuality will have a positive impact, particularly for people who experienced sexual trauma in the past or for those who have difficulty forming human relationships.

However they warn that  it will also bring a slew of difficulties and argue that doctors must be prepared to deal with digisexuality and have a framework for how to approach it.

Noel Sharkey of the Foundation for Responsible Robotics (FRR) recently argued against sex robots being used by the elderly in care homes.

“They are being proposed for the elderly in care homes, which I think is controversial. If you have severe Alzheimer’s you can’t really tell the difference. We need to think about as a society what we want to do about it,” the researcher said.

“It’s very sad because it’s going to be a one-way relationship,” he continued. “If people bond with robots it’s very worrying. You are loving an artifact that can’t love you back, and the best they can do is fake it.”

Sporting goods chain Decathlon has canceled plans to sell a sports version of the hijab Muslim headscarf in France after a public outcry. Supporters of the hijab say it allows women to be an active part of society.

French sporting goods chain Decathlon has canceled plans to sell a runner’s hijab in France following a public outcry and opposition from some politicians who called for a boycott.

Decathlon official Xavier Rivoire told the RTL broadcaster on Tuesday that the Muslim headscarf designed for runners would not be sold at its stores in France for the time being.

Decathlon had initially said it would sell the sports hijab to meet “a requirement of certain runners, and we are therefore responding to this sporting requirement.”

Several French politicians criticized Decathlon for its plans to sell the product in France, including Health Minister Agnes Buzyn.

Such a product is “not forbidden by law,” she said on RTL, but “it is a vision of women that I do not share. I would have preferred that a French brand not promote the veil.”

Aurore Berge, a spokeswoman for President Emmanuel Macron’s Republic on the Move (LREM) party, said that “sport emancipates, it does not suppress.”

She criticized “those who tolerate women in a public space only when they hide themselves.”

France banned the hijab, which covers the hair but leaves the face open, from schools and government offices in 2014. However, women wearing headscarves on street are still common.

Empowering women

Proponents of the sports hijab say it encourages Muslim women to be active and empowers them.

Angelique Thibault, who created Decathlon’s Kalenji running brand, said she was “motivated by the desire that every woman should be able to run in every neighborhood, every city, every country … regardless of her culture.”

Three years ago, after the commercial release of the so-called burkini, some French mayors banned the full-body swimsuit saying it symbolized female enslavement.

US sportswear giant Nike offers a sports hijab, a move backed by several prominent Muslim Olympic medalists who choose to wear the head covering.

Armenia exported weapons worth $155,000 to Bulgaria in 2017-2017, information published by the State Revenue Committee reveals.

The armament shipped abroad fall under the category of automatic firearms, machine guns, sniper rifles, as well as large caliber weapons, such as artillery and anti-tank supplies.

65 units of unspecified weapons were delivered in 2017 and 240 units in 2018 and were worth $32,500 and $122,000, respectively.

Based on the price and quantity of the supplies sent to Bulgaria, firearms or light grenade launchers were exported, rather than large-caliber weapons.

As reported earlier, the Democratic Republic of Congo received Armenian ammo with a $1.468.000 customs value back in 2014.

Bulgaria, in turn, delivered 1094 units of light machine guns to Armenia in 2017, according to the UN Register of Conventional Arms.

President of Iran Hassan Rouhani says since Armenia’s independence they have witnessed friendly relations between the two countries, expressing hope that they will witness the development of these relations during the activities of new Armenian government,

“During the meeting we have reached good agreements at different directions. Since Armenia’s independence we have witnessed friendly relations between the two countries and we hope to witness the development of these relations during the activities of the new government”, Rouhani told reporters following his meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Tehran.

“During today’s meeting we held talks on bilateral, regional relations and various issues taking place in the world. At the meeting with Mr. Prime Minister we have expressed satisfaction over Armenia’s position towards the sanctions imposed on Iran. The goal of our two countries is to push forward the works in accordance with our interests and not to allow any third country to interfere in these works and cooperation”, Rouhani said.

The Iranian President added that Armenia and Iran have formed a very good cooperation, there is a high level of political, cultural relations, cooperation in education, tourism and other areas between the two states. “We want for the cooperation to be at a high level in the remaining areas as well. There is a great potential for the economic cooperation which must be better used. In the energy sector Armenia and Iran carry out gas for electricity major program. During our talks we also touched upon the issues relating to the Meghri HPP works”, the President said.

Rouhani said another key topic they talked about relates to the North-South road construction works. “The Iranian side expressed readiness to participate in that project. Facilitations in the transportation system, in particular, concerning the trucks, is under our spotlight. We have also touched upon the agriculture sector. The Iranian side is ready to cooperate in this sphere, develop the activity of slaughterhouses in Armenia and etc.”, Rouhani added.

The next topic of discussion related to the IT sector. “Given the good cooperation between our countries we express our readiness to develop the ties in this direction. During the talks we have also considered the cooperation at trilateral – with Georgia, and quadrilateral – with Russia, formats from the perspective of Armenia-Iran cooperation in energy sector. As for the cooperation in the gas sector, we have expressed the readiness of the Iranian side to increase the supply volumes. We are also ready to carry out a trilateral cooperation to export gas to Georgia.

Another topic of discussion related to connecting the Persian Gulf with the Black Sea via Armenia. Summing up my remarks, I want to state that the most important point is that both countries have a desire, potential and will to develop the relations. We have given instructions to the responsible officials to discuss all issues before the inter-governmental session”, Hassan Rouhani said.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrived in Iran on a two-day official visit on February 27.