The South Caucasus News - SouthCaucasusNews.comKing Charles is to carry out his first major public engagement since his cancer diagnosis, the BBC reports.
The King and Queen Camilla will visit a hospital and specialist cancer center, in a public show of support for staff, patients and ongoing research work.
Aside from attending an Easter Sunday church service, the King has stayed away from public events and crowds.
But last week Buckingham Palace issued a statement with a more positive message about the monarch’s health.
The King’s doctors were said to be “very encouraged by the progress made so far” in his treatment for an unspecified form of cancer.
It means he is able to begin a gradual return to public engagements, starting with the symbolic trip to a cancer centre on Tuesday.
Irvine dedicated land in its Great Park over the weekend for an Armenian genocide memorial that was added to plans last year, the Orange County Register reports.
City officials, along with the Orange County Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee, held a dedication ceremony on Sunday, April 28, in the Great Park for the future memorial. It will be located on the edge of a forested part of the park being called the “Heart of the Park,” with a clearing in front of the memorial.
But the memorial is not just about remembering what happened in the past, said Garo Madenlian, a founding member of the Orange County Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee, but is also intended to call attention to current or future atrocities.
Madenlian pointed to the ongoing conflict between neighboring countries Armenia and Azerbaijan, saying Armenians are being targeted again. Earlier this month, a human rights organization asked the International Criminal Court to investigate claims that Azerbaijan is committing genocide against Armenians.
“It makes it more important to have something like this, to remember, never forget, but to be proactive to not let it continue to happen,” said Madenlian, an attorney who chairs the Orange County Armenian Center.
The memorial is meant to “serve as an abstract or personified concept representing a memorializing of the tragedies of the past, the present thriving community and the hopeful aspirations for the future,” city officials said in an announcement of the dedication, noting the city’s large Armenian American community.
The design for the memorial is still being worked on, said Madenlian. “The idea is for it to be a place that’s peaceful and quiet.”
The community plans to hold its annual gathering there once it’s completed, he said.
