Category: News

Massis Post – Real Salt Lake forward Yura Movsisyan was voted Etihad Airways MLS Player of the Month by fans on MLSsoccer.com for the month of June of the 2016 MLS season.

In his second stint with Real Salt Lake after re-joining the club this offseason from Spartak Moscow, Movsisyan had a tremendous month, scoring three goals in three consecutive games as RSL went 2-1-1 in June. The one-time Russian Premier League Golden Boot winner has proven incredibly important for RSL this season, as the team is 4-0-2 in matches where Movsisyan scores He now has six goals on the season as RSL sits third in the Western Conference standings (27 points, 8-5-3 record).

“When I came back to Real Salt Lake, I said I wanted to score goals and win games. Doing both right now has made this a great homecoming,” Movsisyan said. “I want to thank all the fans who voted for me and continue to support RSL.”

Movsisyan is the second Real Salt Lake player to earn Player of the Month honors this year after FW Joao Plata did the same in March. He is the fifrth different RSL player to earn the award, joining FW Jeff Cunningham (August, 2006), GK Nick Rimando (July, 2008 and June, 2010), Alvaro Saborio (May, 2010) and Plata (March, 2016).

Movsisyan’s first goal of June came in RSL’s 3-2 victory over New York City FC at Yankee Stadium on June 2. With NYCFC leading early in the second half, Movsisyan made a run into the box, collecting a pass and overpowering a defender to create enough space for a right-footed shot to bring the match level 1-1. Movsisyan has proven unbelievably clutch with all six of his goals this season coming in the second half of play.

After a two-week break for Copa America Centenario, Movsisyan picked up right where he left off, as he scored the game-tying goal against the Portland Timbers on June 18 at Rio Tinto Stadium. With Real Salt Lake trailing by a goal late in the match, Movsisyan attacked the Timbers defense, drawing a foul and setting up a penalty kick. Movsisyan would proceed to convert the penalty in the 70th minute to draw RSL even for a final 2-2 score.

In yet another positive result for RSL, Movsisyan again scored an equalizing goal in a 2-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls on June 22 at Rio Tinto Stadium. Down a goal in the 65th minute, midfielder John Stertzer sent a wonderful ball into the box that Movsisyan rose to and headed past Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles, drawing the match even at 1-1.

Voting for MLS Player of the Month presented by Etihad is open to public. The five final nominees are chosen by MLSsoccer.com editorial staff.

June Voting Results
Real Salt Lake forward Yura Movsisyan – 36.77%
New York City FC midfielder Jack Harrison – 22.01%
Philadelphia Union midfielder Roland Alberg – 21.15%
Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri – 12.32%
D.C. United goalkeeper Bill Hamid – 7.75%

The Canadian Senate’s Standing Committee on Human Rights on July 4^th issued a preliminary report regarding its study of the integration of the Syrian refugees, as well as the challenges faced by various levels of government, private sponsors and by non-government organizations which provide assistance  to the refugees,  Levant Settlement Centre (LSC) informs.

The committee made six important recommendations to the Canadian Government.  The most important is the elimination of the loan program for transportation, medical exams, and related expenses.

The committee will table its full report and recommendations in the fall.

The Levant Settlement Centre (LSC) has advocated the waiver of the loan program since last January. Aris Babikian, founder and chair of the centre, was interviewed on CBC-TV on Jan. 14 where he urged the government to waive the loan. On Feb. 8, during the meeting of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada, Babikian discussed the issue with the Hon. John McCallum, Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship. Later, the LSC worked with a group of Syrian refugees to draft a petition to the minister asking him to “forgive the loan“ so that the refugees  “may start their new life in Canada with clean slate and without undue financial stress.“  Babikian also raised the issue during his June 2 testimony at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Immigration and Citizenship hearing.

The loan program is hampering refugees integration into the Canadian society.  “Many refugee families are spending their days and nights agonizing over this issue instead of concentrating on improving their English language skills and finding a job, “ the petition to the minister stated.

“We are grateful to the Senate Committee which made such a ground-breaking recommendation. We hope that the House of Commons Committee, which conducted similar study, will also make such a recommendation, “ Aris Babikian, founder and chair of the Levant Settlement Centre stated.  “By waving the loan program the Canadian Government will bring to full circle its trend-setting and outstanding humanitarian and compassionate Syrian refugee`s program and help ease their transition and settlement in their new home in Canada.“

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama in a telephone conversation on Wednesday dicussed the settlement of the Krabakh conflict, TASS reports, quoting the Kremlin.

Putin informed Obama on the June 20 meeting in St Petersburg on peace settlement of the conflict.

On July 8, President Serzh Sargsyan will conduct a working visit to the Republic of Poland where he will participate at the meeting of the Heads of State and Government of the NATO member and non-member states related to the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan. The meeting will be held in framework of the NATO Summit. In Warsaw, the President of Armenia will also hold bilateral meetings.

Photo: Getty Images

 

Barcelona football star Lionel Messi and his father will appeal against a Spanish court decision to sentence them each to 21 months in jail for tax fraud, the player’s lawyers say, the BBC reports.

Argentine Messi, aged 29, was also fined €2m euros (£1.7m; $2.2m) by the court in Barcelona.

In addition to the prison term, Messi’s father, Jorge, was fined €1.5m for defrauding Spain of €4.1m in 2007-09.

However, neither man is expected to serve time in jail.

Under the Spanish legal system, prison terms of under two years can be served under probation.

Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan attended today the conference on “European Business Perspectives, obstacles and opportunities in Armenia” organized by the European Business Association.

Addressing the conference, the Prime Minister said “the government implements a continuous policy of making Armenia a more attractive country in terms of business environment. We have announced and are consistently implementing an “open doors” policy, applying almost no restriction on investment opportunities.”

He said the steps toward improvement of the business climate have been highly assessed by renowned international organizations. “We’re implementing a policy targeted at ensuring equal conditions for all. Foreign companies should feel comfortable and safe in Armenia,” the Prime Minister said.

According to him, Armenia can serve a bridge between the Eurasian Economic Union and the EU member states. “Another opportunity is the Framework Agreement on Trade and Investment signed between the Republic of Armenia and the United States, which creates favorable conditions for investments and promotion of commodity turnover between the two countries,” the PM added.

“We attach great importance to investment programs with a view of creating new jobs and attracting new investments by offering a broad framework of privileges to entrepreneurs,” Hovik Abrahamyan stated.

Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Switalski said “EU wants to work more closely with businesses and propose concrete steps to improve the business and investment climate.

Photo: AFP

 

A French court has sentenced two former Rwandan mayors to life in prison for their part in the 1994 genocide, the BCC reports.

Tito Barahira, 65, and Octavien Ngenzi, 58, were found guilty of crimes against humanity and genocide.

They were accused of playing leading roles in the massacre of 2,000 ethnic Tutsis who sought refuge in a church in the town of Kabarondo.

About 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis, died at the hands of Hutu extremists during the Rwandan genocide.

It is the second case of its kind to be brought in France, after Rwandan army captain Pascal Simbikangwa was jailed for 25 years over the mass killings.

Photo: WHAS

 

The Ark Encounter, a life-sized version of Noah’s Ark opens in Kentucky today, according to WHAS-TV. 

The project has been the focus of controversy and the use of Kentucky tax breaks offered to the developers of the park just south of Cincinnati.

Researchers spent more than $100 million to make the project a reality and those who made contributions were also on hand for Tuesday’s ribbon cutting.

Ken Ham, CEO of Ark Encounter, responded to critics who were highly critical of the project due to its Christian roots.

“It’s a group of secularists singling this out and they’re all sorts of misconceptions [and] misinformation. This is so major – it is going to have a major impact because we are Christians and we are going to get the Christian message out and that’s what it’s all about – it’s prejudice against the Christian message,” he said.

Ham says he expects 2 million visitors in its first year.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is set to become the first Armenian to wear the famous red of Manchester United following his £26 million transfer from Borussia Dortmund, but he’s not the first Armenian to make England’s north west his home.

By Matt Ford

The 27-year-old attacking midfielder, who scored an impressive 23 goals in 51 games for the German club last season, and set up 32 more, will join an established Armenian community which has lived in Manchester for generations.

And Artur Bobikyan, head of the Holy Trinity Armenian Church on Upper Brook Street which forms the centre of Manchester’s Armenian community, says that Armenians in the city are looking forward to welcoming their compatriot.

“We’re really proud of Henrikh and he is such a humble guy,” says Artur, speaking to MM at the Armenian Taverna restaurant on Albert Square.

“He’s a brilliant player and we hope he’s going to score a lot of goals for United.”

The first Armenians to arrive in Manchester were textile merchants in the first half of the 19^th century and by 1862 there were around 30 Armenian firms operating in “Cottonopolis.”

The Holy Trinity church opened its doors on Easter Sunday 1873 by which time there were over 2,000 Armenians living in the north west of England.

Manchester’s Armenian community today numbers around 400 people, many of whom gathered on 3 July to celebrate Vardavar, the annual festival during which Armenians drench each other with water.

“We invited Mkhitaryan to our Vardavar celebration at the church,” says Artur, who is also a concert pianist and composer.

“We said to him: ‘Come here and we’ll wet you properly!’ We’re sure he will turn up at church at some point.

“Media interest in Armenia is huge and I’ve already had requests from friends of mine at home asking for reports, so it’s going to be big.

“Everyone in Armenia is talking about him.”

Football is the most popular sport in Armenia and Mkhitaryan is the top scorer in the history of the national team with 19 goals in 59 appearances.

His father, Hamlet Mkhitaryan, played for Armenian side Ararat Yerevan in the 1980s, scoring 46 goals in 170 games in the former Soviet Top League, before dying of a brain tumour in 1996 when Henrikh was just seven.

“I believe playing for such a great club honours my father’s memory, and the inspiration and drive he gave to me when I was young,” reads Henrikh’s statement on the club’s website.

Artur, who played football on the pitches behind the seminary with the other priests when he was studying to join the clergy, recalls how everyone remembers when Ararat won the Soviet championship in 1973.

“Sport was very important and especially football. The Soviet Union contained over a dozen different countries so it was a very big deal back then.”

Football faces competition from another of Armenia’s favourite pastimes – chess.

Armenia has more chess grandmasters per capita than any other country in the world and chess lessons have formed a compulsory part of the school curriculum since 2011.

“The President of Armenia is a great chess player and he supports it, so they encourage chess from a young age,” explains Artur.

“It’s great to exercise the mind. If you walk around the back streets of Yerevan, you will see men playing chess in the shade – and kids playing football, obviously.

“Football is still really big now. Perhaps not compared to the Spanish or Latin countries as we are a very small nation – it’s about quality rather than quantity!”

Armenia might be a pawn in the world of professional football, but in Henrikh Mkhitaryan, United hope to have found their own grandmaster to keep their rivals in check.

And despite missing the Vandavar festival this year, he probably won’t have to wait too long to get drenched in Manchester either.

– Thanks to his business acumen, poster boy looks, and relentless activism for freedom of the internet, Reddit’s co-founder Alexis Ohanian has become one of the most high-profile residents ofBrooklyn.

A startup based in Armenia and San Francisco named 1AI Solutions has recently launched a working AI-based version of Alexis Ohanian named Avedis Ohanian.

1AI Solutions studied five years of Alexis Ohanian’s cognitive processes to accurately reproduce his decision-making process and speech habits. Additionally they used 3-D printing to replicate the body of Alexis Ohanian, infusing it with their proprietary Artificial Intelligence engine.

The reason? Pure necessity.

“There’s a lack of qualified IT professionals here in Armenia“, said Dr. J.P. Hagopian, the CEO of 1AI Solutions. “We need to hire people, but we simply can’t find enough good candidates. At some point our HR manager said that we should clone one of the high-performing Silicon Valley guys. She was kidding, but the idea stuck.”

When Dr. Hagopian decided to focus his team’s efforts on developing an Artificial Intelligence program that could mirror Alexis Ohanian’s cognitive processes, things got serious.  Through a combination of algorithmic neuroscience, stand alone software and computer aided design, 1Ai-solutions will mass produce the future IT professionals of the world.

“Ohanian is very vocal about a number of issues”, said Dr. Hagopian. “It made things easier for us: we were able to aggregate data from his time at Reddit, his investments, his Ted Talks and social media profile to get a better idea of how he thinks, and how his ideas shape the way he acts.”

Avedis 1.0 has been performing better than expected in early Turing tests.  The team led by Dr. Hagopian is confident that future versions will have full cognitive abilities and natural language capabilities.

To see Avedis Ohanian in action, visit the 1AI Solutions