Category: News

In a revealing article in , Manchester United’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan has opened up on why his late father Hamlet continues to be his inspiration.

The Armenia captain tragically lost his dad when only seven years old due to a brain tumour and it naturally had a profound effect on his childhood. By somehow summoning up the strength to follow in his father’s footsteps, he has not only emulated Hamlet’s achievement of representing his country but is now appearing for one of the biggest clubs in the world.

“When you walk onto the pitch at Old Trafford, it is not just a pitch, it is a stage,” the attacking midfielder said. “If my father could see me on that stage, I think he would be very proud.

“I was always kind of chasing him and I think, even though he’s not here, he helped me to get to this place. If he was still alive, maybe I would be a lawyer or a doctor right now. Instead, I am a footballer.

“The year after my father died, I started football training,” he added. “He was the drive for me, he was my idol. I said to myself, I have to run just like him. I have to shoot just like him.

“By the time I was 10 years old, my entire life was football. Training, reading, watching, even playing football on PlayStation. I was totally focused on it. I especially loved the creative players — the maestros. I always wanted to play like [Zinedine] Zidane, Kaká and Hamlet. (Pretty good company for my father).”

The decision to head to Brazil as a 13-year-old to train with Sao Paulo for four months must have been an extraordinarily difficult one to take but it helped broaden the youngster’s horizons and develop his playing style.

“That was one of the most interesting times of my life, because I was a very shy kid from Armenia who didn’t speak any Portuguese,” he admitted. “But I didn’t care at all because, to me, I was getting to go to football paradise.

“I dreamed of being like Kaká, and Brazil was the home of that creative style, which the Brazilians call ginga. That time was very important to me, because it shaped my style as a player. When I returned to Armenia after four months in Brazil, I was still quite skinny and weak, but I had technique and skill. I was feeling very free on the pitch. I was feeling like the Armenian Ronaldinho. (Ha ha ha ha. No, I’m joking).”

Thankfully, United’s fans are now able to enjoy the ‘Armenian Ronaldinho’ after narrowly failing to sign the Brazilian star during Sir Alex Ferguson’s time in charge. The Old Trafford faithful have had to be patient but are clearly now falling in love with the summer signing from Borussia Dortmund.

“I knew it would be a challenge to leave a good situation at Dortmund and succeed at United,” he said. “But I did not want to sit in my chair as an old man and have any regrets. I was ready to move.

“When the deal was done and dusted, I sat down to sign the contract with United and that’s when it hit me. That’s when I realised that this big move to the Premier League was really happening.

“I will never forget that moment, nor will I forget the time I put on the red Manchester United shirt before my first training session with the club. It made me feel so happy and proud about what I had achieved in my career.

“At the beginning of this season at United, I suffered an injury and have not had many chances to play. It would be fair to say that the start of my life in Manchester was not perfect. But there have been many other times when I’ve had setbacks, and I have never given up. I will continue working every day so that I can help the team succeed.”

Having overcome incredible adversity in the past, there is every reason to expect Mkhitaryan to continue achieving his goals and become a firm favourite at United.

For the full, extensive must-read interview with Henrikh Mkhitaryan on his upbringing and football career so far, visit .

On December 2, 2016, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills, Jr. and Armenian Minister of Culture Armen Amiryan unveiled in Gyumri the newly restored mural “In the Mountains” created by famed Armenian artist Hakob Hakobyan.  The U.S. Ambassadors’ Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) funded the restoration of this mural.

With the funding, the mural was removed from an abandoned factory building in Gyumri, repaired and conserved, and installed safely in the city’s Achemyan State Drama Theater where it is once again accessible to the public on the second floor.

“For the past several years the mural we are here to celebrate was hidden away in an abandoned factory. It was crumbling into dust,” Ambassador Mills said during the unveiling ceremony. “But thanks to the U.S. State Department’s Ambassadors’ Fund for Cultural Preservation it now has new life.  Now the eyes of the next generation of artists, community leaders, and innovators will see Hakobyan’s work, perhaps here of his story, and find in it inspiration to create future works of art that capture the spirit of Armenia.”

The mural was created by Hakob Hakobyan (1923-2013), an Armenian artist whose works are considered national treasures. His murals are included on the official list of historical and cultural treasures of Shirak province.

The restoration work done on “In the Mountains” was carried out by the Minas Avetisyan Cultural Foundation with the participation of Fabrizio Iacopini, a renowned restorer from the Restoration Institute in Florence, Italy.  The Minas Avetisyan Cultural Foundation was established in 2003 by Arman Avetisyan, the son of prominent Armenian artist Minas Avetisyan, to preserve his and other artists’ murals, removing them from abandoned industrial buildings in Gyumri and moving them to safe locations.

“The restorer’s work is a labor of love, of respect for artists and their works.  And their passion and dedication is clearly on display today,” Ambassador Mills said.

This is not the first time the U.S. Ambassadors’ Fund for Cultural Preservation has worked on rescuing a mural in Gyumri.  Last year, another project preserved Rafayel Atoyan’s “On the Way to the Watermill” mural, moving it from an abandoned factory to Gyumri’s newly-renovated Youth Palace.

The U.S. State Department established the U.S. Ambassadors’ Fund for Cultural Preservation in 2000 to celebrate mankind’s shared cultural heritage and to bring countries and peoples together. Through the AFCP, the U.S. State Department each year funds a number of projects around the globe that protect unique cultural heritage sites.

The AFCP has been providing support for Armenian cultural sites since 2005, funding projects such as preserving the archeological finds at Areni cave, protecting the Dashtadem Fortress, mapping and cataloging items found at the Noratus medieval cemetery and its collection of khachkars, preservation of a medieval masonry bridge in the Garni Gorge, and documentation of traditional Armenian music and dance.  Earlier this fall, the AFCP awarded a $450,000 grant to preserve and restore the historic St. Hovhannes Church in  Meghri.

“Culture, art, traditions – these help celebrate the uniqueness of Armenia.  This love of culture is shared by Americans.  And by preserving these Armenian treasures, we not only help bring our two people together, but save a unique treasure for generations to come,” Ambassador Mills said.

Covert Media has sold the Armenian disaster film “Earthquake” and fantasy thriller “The Night Watchmen” to multiple major international territories including Germany, Japan and Korea, has learned exclusively.

Sales were made through Covert’s recently launched Lexica Films label,which began operations ahead of the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival with the aim to champion five to 10 foreign language titles per year. Senior VP of International Jim Harvey leads the sales for President of International Liz Kim Schwan.

“Earthquake,” which had its market premiere screening at the American Film Market, has been acquired by AT Entertainment for Japan and First Run Inc for South Korea as well as Movie Cloud for Taiwan, One World Movies for India, Moxienotion for Indonesia, Sahamongkol for Malaysia and Vietnam, and with Cine Star for Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Colombia. The film has been submitted as Armenia’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film for this season’s Golden Globes.

Konstantin Lavronenko stars in a fictional account of the devastating 1988 Spitak earthquake in Armenia.

“Earthquake” is directed by Sarik Andreasyan from a script by Aleksey Gravitskiy and Sergey Yudakov, with participation from Grant Barsegyan and Arsen Danielyan. The cast also includes Sabina Akhmedova and newcomer Viktor Stepanyan.

Today, the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Republic of Armenia Maria Pavlova Tsosorkova-Kaymaktchieva presented her credentials to President Serzh Sargsyan, President’s Press Office reports.

The President of Armenia congratulated the ambassador on her appointment and wished every success. Serzh Sargsyan noted with satisfaction that the Armenian-Bulgarian interstate relations have a strong base anchored in the cultural similarities and centuries-long friendship and dynamically developing political and economic dialogue. All this, according to the President, create an excellent foundation for further strengthening and deepening of the relations between Armenia and Bulgaria. Serzh Sargsyan expressed hope that the newly appointed ambassador will promote these relations through her active work, contributing to the opening and development of the entire potential for cooperation in different areas.

Ambassador Maria Pavlova Tsosorkova-Kaymaktchieva concurred with the President’s assessment of the interstate relations and stressed the importance of the full utilization of the existing legal field, which comprises over five dozen documents, and expansion of cooperation.

The parties exchanged also views on the NK peace process and challenges existing in the region.

The Azerbaijani side kept violating the ceasefire regime in almost all directions of the line of contact with the Karabakh forces last night.

More intensive firing was reported in the eastern direction of the frontline, where the Azeri side used firearms of different calibers, 60 and 82 mm mine throwers  and an automatic grenade launcher.

All in all, the rival violated the ceasefire 125 times, firing over 2,000 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The Armenian side incurred no losses as a result of ceasefire violation, the NKR Defense Ministry said.

The Ministry also refuted the claims of the Azerbaijani side that “one was killed, nine wounded as a result of heavy fighting in the eastern direction of the line of contact” and said “it’s yet another misinformation.”

The Front troops of the NKR Defense Army confidently continue with their military duty and resort to response actions if necessary.

The situation has been calm this morning.

French ambassador Stéphane Visconti has been appointed co-chairman of the Minsk Group. Since 1992, this group has been instructed by the OSCE to mediate between Armenia and Azerbaijan in order to put an end to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Minsk Group has been represented since 1997 by a co-presidency composed of France, the United States and Russia, each of which is represented by an ambassador.

The co-presidency of the Minsk Group maintains a high level of engagement in political negotiations and the implementation of confidence-building measures.

Ambassador Stéphane Visconti was successively Consul General of France in St. Petersburg and Munich. He also served as adviser to the Prime Minister and then to the Mayor of Paris for international relations. Until recently he was the French Ambassador to Latvia. He succeeded Ambassador Pierre Andrieu.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan had a phone conversation with US Vice President-elect Mike Pence at the initiative of the American side.

President Sargsyan congratulated President-elect Donald TRump and his team on election victory and wished them success in their responsible mission.

The interlocutors underlined that the current high level of Armenian-American political and economic cooperation will be  maintained, but will also be furthered under the new Administration.

Reference was made to issues of reciprocal interest, including the regional problems and challenges.

Photo: Reuters

 

Europol has warned that militants from so-called Islamic State (IS) will aim to step up attacks on European targets, as they face defeat in the Middle East, the BBC reports.

The European police force says more foreign fighters will try to come back to Europe, and “several dozen” capable of attacks could already be there.

Their tactics could include car bombs, kidnappings and extortion, it said.

But the report plays down the likelihood of attacks on critical infrastructure, such as nuclear sites.

It says that IS militants now prefer soft targets, and there is now a greater emphasis on “lone actors” such as the perpetrator of the lorry attack in Nice in July.

It warns that some Syrian refugees in Europe may be vulnerable to recruitment by extremists who infiltrate refugee camps.

Europe has been shaken by a series of attacks in recent years blamed on IS militants.

At a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, the Military-Industrial Commission approved the draft on Military-industrial and military-technical policy strategy.

Deputy Defense Minister, head of the State Military Industry Committee David Pakhchanyan said the strategy aims to turn the scientific-technical and industrial-technical potential into practical innovative means, which will help ensure the competitiveness of the production of the military industry complex.

Pakhchanyan underlined that the document has been worked out on the basis of the experience of the years of independence and the analysis of the April events.

He noted that the strategy also aims to boost the development of military industry, implementation and development of innovative technologies and organization oflocal production.

The main objective is to create a scientific-technical complex with a view of implementing the priorities of development of the military-technical policy.

According to Pakhchanyan, with the “nation-army” formula in the spotlight, it is necessary to review the education process in Armenia in order to turn the school-higher educational establishment-industry-science link into a scientific-educational complex.

During the meeting reference was made to development of the military industry complex and other issues related to the military-technical policy.

Photo: Getty Images

 

US President-elect Donald Trump has named Gen James Mattis, a former marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, as his defence secretary, the BBC reports.

“He’s our best,” Mr Trump said, as he announced his pick in a speech in Ohio.

Gen Mattis, who is known as “Mad Dog”, was an outspoken critic of the Obama administration’s Middle East policy, particularly on Iran.

He has referred to Iran as “the single most enduring threat to stability and peace in the Middle East”.

Mr Trump made the announcement in Cincinnati at the start of a “USA Thank You Tour 2016” for his supporters.

“We are going to appoint ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis as our secretary of defence,” he told the crowd.