Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that the first space satellite had been launched into low Earth orbit.
cooperation of the Armenian state CJSC “Geokosmos” and the Spanish company Santlantis”, — he said.
Pashinyan said that the satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral on May 25.
not only to Armenian, but also to foreign operators. Satellite images will allow, among other things, to control borders”, — noted the prime minister.
He is standing in the prep corner of the tiny kitchen at Mini Kabob, the beloved restaurant his family owns in Glendale, California. The night before, the 32-year-old and his father finished catering a local wedding for 100 people, so supplies are low, including the seasoned ground beef that forms the base of what is arguably their restaurant’s most iconic dish—the tender lule kebab. When it emerges from the flames, it glistens with fat and ripples with flavor. Swaddle the meat in a blanket of chewy lavash and a shower of paper-thin onions, and it’s one of the best bites in the entire city.
Although it might feel like Mini Kabob is a reference to the restaurant’s shockingly small size—it clocks in at barely 299 square feet—or its shockingly small staff (there are exactly three employees: Armen; his father, Ovakim; and his mother, Alvard), it is in fact a style of kebab, known as loghme in Farsi. The Martirosyans inherited the name of the place from the original owner, who started the restaurant 36 years ago directly in front of his mechanic shop, selling meat skewers when he wasn’t fixing cars. Ovakim, who spent several years working as a cook in the Russian army, bought the restaurant 25 years ago after it had passed through a series of different owners, transforming the kitchen into a celebration of simple but flavor-packed Armenian cooking (with a gently Egyptian influence, thanks to Armen’s grandparents).
The space might be small, but it is difficult to ignore the energy and heart that ebbs and flows through the space. It’s a mom-and-pop shop in the truest sense: Ovakim is a master of meat and takes on a majority of the labor-intensive prep work. He butchers the various proteins before grinding them down and seasoning them according to recipes he likes to keep close to the vest. Ovakim then lovingly and patiently pats and sculpts the meat onto the flat, swordlike metal skewers with wet hands. It’s easy to see the years of experience in his steady rhythm.
Alvard, who Armen says is definitely the “best cook” in the family, has knife skills that might worry even the most veteran assassin. She whips up batches of the restaurant’s cold appetizers, like ikra, a tangy eggplant salad, and mounds thinly shaved onions tossed with sumac, which help round out nearly every dish. Alvard and Ovakim do all the shopping for the restaurant themselves, regularly visiting the local supermarket and carrying back plastic shopping bags of eggplants and peppers.
Armen, who joined the business full time after completing culinary school, staging in prestigious kitchens around Los Angeles, and managing other restaurants, pulls triple duty managing the grill, answering the endlessly ringing phone, and welcoming the customers who pop in and out of the shop at a rapid clip. (Due to the space constraints, there are just two small tables in the front of the restaurant for dine-in customers, so it’s mostly a to-go operation.) It’s a job he makes look easy, never breaking a sweat as he jumps from grill to customer.
Like many successful family businesses split across generations, there exists an underlying tension, felt most palpably between son and father. Armen is nearly bursting at the seams with ideas on how to modernize and expand the restaurant, while Ovakim prefers to keep things the way they have been for the past quarter century. “I’ve been trying to get him to let us accept credit cards for years,” says Armen with a sigh. The compromise? The “cash only” sign in bright blue ink still sits in front of the register, but Mini Kabob is now on all the third-party delivery apps.
The biggest shift has been the restaurant’s robust presence on social media. Armen mans the Instagram account with nearly 37,000 followers, posting everything from behind-the-scenes videos of kebabs charring on the grill and close-up shots of him marinating the meat for their tender beef shish kebabs to charming videos of his parents dancing around the shop. He recently put the restaurant on TikTok, where Armen amasses thousands of views on videos of him and his parents re-creating popular dance trends while in the restaurant. Mini Kabob’s internet presence has won it a legion of fans, elevating it from an under-the-radar neighborhood joint to one of Los Angeles’ most famous kebab spots, counting celebrities like Diplo and Eric Wareheim among its fans.
Armen is hopeful that he can one day make Mini Kabob not so mini by expanding into the space next door so there is at least a proper dining room to lay out platters piled high with rice, charred peppers, crispy beveled potatoes, and supremely tender tubes of meat licked by the flames of the grill. And though he has a deep emotional attachment to the restaurant he grew up in, he also has ambitious culinary aspirations of his own. When he isn’t slinging kebabs, Armen runs a pop-up concept called MidEast Tacos, fusing his California upbringing with Armenian roots. He is in the process of opening a brick-and-mortar location of MidEast Tacos while daydreaming about other concepts he would like to bring into the world. But for now, he must get back to the kitchen: The kebabs will not grill themselves—and the orders are piling up.
[Armenian News note: See some of the menu items with photos and recipes at the link below]
09:28, 26 May 2022
YEREVAN, MAY 26, ARMENPRESS. The United Nations Security Council will hold a meeting on North Korea on Thursday, according to its program released on Wednesday, reports TASS.
On Tuesday, North Korea conducted three missile test launchers.
Voting on a US draft resolution calling for tougher sanctions against Pyongyang is expected to be held, Reuters said citing an administration official.
According to Seoul, North Korea test launched three ballistic missiles on Wednesday. One of them, according to the South Korean military, was an intercontinental missile, the two others were short-range missiles. The launch od one short-range missile was probably abortive. In response to Pyongyang’s tests, two missiles, one South Korean and one American, were launched toward the Sea of Japan.
15:05, 26 May 2022
YEREVAN, MAY 26, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan reacted positively to the acquisition of the 65,03% of the Armenian Securities Exchange (AMX) by the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
Kerobyan said that the Warsaw Stock Exchange is the most active and largest stock exchange in Eastern Europe.
“The contribution of their experience in the Armenian capital market can’t be overestimated. We believe that their arrival will bring great benefit the development of our capital market. We already see significant interest from private companies for instruments of the capital market,” Kerobyan said.
He said that prior to 2018 there were very few companies in the non-financial sector who were working transparently with profit. The accepted business model, before 2018, was to generate revenue by saving taxes, he said. But starting from 2018, companies have broad opportunities to work with profit and transparently.
“I can’t say that it has become transparent entirely, but we see that the number of companies who are properly undergoing audit is significantly growing. This is the base of the companies who should be active participants of the capital market,” Kerobyan said.
On May 24, the Board of the Central Bank of Armenia approved the acquisition of the Armenian Securities Exchange (AMX) by the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
According to the agreement, the Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW) will acquire 65.03% of AMX.
The Armenian Central Bank issued the following press release on the acquisition:
“On its May 24 sitting, the Board of the Central Bank of Armenia gave its consent to the acquisition of the Armenian Stock Exchange by the Warsaw Stock Exchange. According to the agreement, the Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW) will acquire 65.03% of shares of the Armenian Stock Exchange (AMX) (967 shares in total). The Central Bank of Armenia will maintain 25.02% of shares, and the remaining 9.95% are the AMX’s own shares. The value of the transaction will be about AMD 873 million, a part of which (about AMD 499 million) will be paid after signing the Share Purchase Agreement, and the rest, after completion of processes established by the Share Purchase Agreement.
The GPW announced about its plans to acquire the AMX in September 2020, after which necessary studies were carried out, a development plan for the next five years was developed, and necessary corporate approvals were obtained.
The Board of the Central Bank stresses the importance of the entry of the WFB as an institutional investor into the Armenian financial market, which will give an impetus to the development of Armenian capital market, and will foster integration of Armenian and Polish capital markets, opening new opportunities for both the Armenian companies and the investors.
Development program prepared by the GPW provides for a number of measures aimed at the improvement of capital market infrastructure, including development of the trading system, expansion of the stock exchange and the Central Depository services, as well as introduction of state-of-the-art technological solutions.”
The GPW is the largest and the developed market in Central and Eastern Europe. The GPW organizes trading in stocks, bonds, derivatives, fund shares and other instruments. The GPW is a public company, the shares of which have been listed since 2010 with a capitalization of about 320 million euros.
The AMX is the only operator in the regulated securities market in Armenia, which organizes trading of both securities and other financial instruments. The AMX is the 100% shareholder of the Central Depository of Armenia. 90.05% of the AMX shares belong to the Central Bank of Armenia, and the remaining 9.95% are the AMX’s own shares.
17:13, 26 May 2022
YEREVAN, MAY 26, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a meeting with Valéry Freland, the Executive Director of ALIPH – the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas.
The Armenian Prime Minister commended ALIPH’s activities in protecting historic-cultural heritage and expressed readiness for partnership on behalf of the Armenian government, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a press release.
Pashinyan said that protecting the Armenian cultural and religious heritage from destruction in territories that have gone under Azerbaijani control is a priority objective, and that the unhindered involvement of the international community, especially UNESCO, is highly important to preserve Armenian monuments in Nagorno Karabakh and prevent the continuous cases of vandalism.
The sides also discussed cooperation issues in the direction of preserving and restoring historical-cultural monuments in the territory of Armenia.
Views were exchanged over the reinforcement and digitization works, development of necessary infrastructure, exchange of experience and opportunities for training of specialists.
By CNA Staff
London, England, May 27, 2022 / 03:00 am (CNA).
Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian is the new representative of Catholics at the Middle East Council of Churches.
The Armenian Catholic leader was elected to represent “the Catholic family” at the closing session of the council’s general assembly, held on May 16-20 in Wadi El-Natrun, northern Egypt.
He succeeds Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako, the leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church, reported ACI Mena, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner.
The Middle East Council of Churches was founded in 1974 to bring together the region’s Evangelical, Oriental Orthodox, and Greek Orthodox Christians. Catholics joined the body in 1990. The council has four presidents, each representing one of its four constituent communions.
Patriarch Minassian, 75, became the 21st Catholicos-Patriarch of Cilicia of Armenian Catholics in September 2021.
He succeeded Patriarch Gregory Peter XX Ghabroyan, who died in May 2021 at the age of 86.
Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan received today the Commander of the Russian Peacekeeping Forces in Artsakh, Major General Andrey Volkov. Defense Attaché of the Russian Embassy in Armenia, Colonel Igor Shcherbakov was present at the meeting.
Major General Andrey Volkov briefed the Armenian Minister of Defense on the situation in the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Artsakh and the developments.
The interlocutors praised the efforts of the Russian Federation to stabilize the military-political situation in the region, as well as the process and effectiveness of the Russian peacekeeping mission in Artsakh.
The sides also exchanged views on regional security issues.
Yerevan EUBC Men’s Elite European Boxing Championships: 9 Armenian boxers advance to quarterfinals
09:41, 27 May 2022
YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. The quarterfinals are kicking off at the Yerevan EUBC Men’s Elite European Boxing Championships.
9 boxers from the Armenian national team will enter the ring today.
Armenia’s Artur Hovhannisyan will face Martin Molina Salvador of Spain in the flyweight division. Armenia’s light welterweight Hovhannes Bachkov will fight Petr Novak of Czech Republic.
Light Heavyweight Hambardzum Hakobyan’s opponent in the quarterfinals will be Luka Plantic of Croatia.
Baregham Harutyunyan will compete against Georgia’s Sakhil Alakhverdovi in the minimumweight division, while Davit Chaloyan will fight Ayoub Ghadfa Drissi El Aissaoui of Spain.
Later in the day, Gurgen Madoyan will face Georgian opponent Lasha Guruli in the welterweight division. Rafayel Harutyunyan’s opponent in the cruiserweight division is Belgium’s Victor Schelstraete.
Featherweight Artur Bazeyan will fight Turkey’s Batuhan Citfi, and heavyweight Narek Manasyan will compete against Vagkan Nanitzanian of Greece.
12:35, 27 May 2022
YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan held a meeting with the visiting President of Montenegro Milo Đukanović.
Speaker Simonyan noted that in the 16 years of establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, President Đukanović’s visit is the first high-level visit.
The sides discussed the circle of bilateral partnership, emphasizing inter-parliamentary ties. Effective and continuous dialogue between the legislative bodies was viewed as a priority, with the parliamentary friendship groups expected to greatly contribute to this.
Comprehensive cooperation with the EU and the issues of regional security and establishing lasting peace were discussed.
Speaking on the post-war situation, Speaker Simonyan highlighted practical support of international partners in resolving the outstanding humanitarian issues.
President of Montenegro Milo Đukanović said that short-term solutions to conflicts are followed by long-term sufferings, with severe consequences for the countries.
President Đukanović said he will discuss the issue of the Armenian POWs, including civilians, who are still held in Azerbaijan with his administration and also international partners.
President Đukanović said they have goodwill for the region and expect stability. He said that for any country – especially small countries like Armenia and Montenegro, in such difficult situations what matters is to preserve identity.