A plane carrying the Kazakh national football team had to make an emergency landing at Yerevan airport.
“The aircraft captain made a decision to return to the airport after the takeoff,” official spokesperson of the team Yerbol Kairov tweeted.
“The team’s aircraft had to return to Yerevan because of landing gear malfunction,” he said.
Armenian beat Kazakhstan 2:0 in the 2018 World Cup qualifier on Sunday.
Hovig, who represents Cyprus at Eurovision 2017, follows Germany’s Levina to accept a challenge to sing an Armenian song.
Hovig shared a Video of him singing the Armenian song “Yeraz im hayreni” (My Dream Homeland) by Robert Amirkhanyan.
“Thank you for challenging me and giving me the opportunity to sing one of my favorite Armenian songs,” Hovig said in a message.
Armenia’s entrant Artsvik earlier performed a German song “Das Wandern ist des Müllers Lust” and challenged Germany’s Levina, who sang Armenian folk song “Kakavik”
Artsvik later performed a popular Cypriot song Το γιασεμίν (The Jasmine) and chllenged Hovig, who is of Armenian descent.
Artsvik says Eurovision 2017 theme “Celebrate Diversity” inspired her to launch the series of covers. She’s challenging artists from around Europe to perform their own covers of Armenian folk songs of their choice.
Armenia beat Kazakhstan 2-0 in a 2018 World Cup qualifier held at Hanrapetakan Stadium in Yerevan.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored the opener on the 73rd minute, Aras Ozbiliz made it 2-0 two minutes later.
Kazakhstan was left with 10 men after Sergey Maliy was sent off for a foul against Mkhitaryan on the 65th minute.
– Pianist and songwriter Avo Uvezian passed away on Friday at 91, leaving behind over seven decades of musical history, and a legacy of cigars.
He built a name for himself late in life as a jazz pianist who traveled the world playing with many of the greats, writing for one of them. Avo Uvezian had traveled the world already by the time he hit it big. He played for the Shah of Iran and before that spent a year in Baghdad. His band, the Lebanon boys, toured the middle east until Uvezian found his way to America to attend Juilliard in the 1960s.
By then the accomplished pianist, who had been born in Lebanon in 1926, spoke a dozen languages, including Farsi, French, Turkish, and English. He once told Cigar Journal, “I usually count in Armenian in my head,” in 2015. “I find the best language to swear in is Turkish, and when dreaming of pretty women, French is the best language.”
But in it was the 1960s, and in English, that he finally got to write some melodies of his own. It was probably tough, trying to make the transition from performer to songwriter in his late 30s, but he had some good material. The first song to make it big was an enchanting melody, called “Broken Guitar.” And boy did it make it big.
Uvezian was living in New York, but a friend knew a singer from New Jersey that was looking for new standards. The man’s name was Frank Sinatra. In 1966 Uvezian played “Broken Guitars” for Sinatra, who fell in love with the melody, but convinced Avo to throw out the title and the lyrics. He wrote new ones, and gave it a new title. He called it “Strangers in the Night.”
Uvezian won’t be remembered as the composer. Bert Kaempfert is credited with the melody while many argue the documentation supports Uvezian.
Following “Strangers in the Night” making it big, Uvezian started over in Puerto Rico, filling the hot nights’ air with music. In the ‘80s, he went to Switzerland to have his daughter Christened, and enjoyed his first cigar.
Uvezian was immediately smitten with the smoke, but balked at the price and vowed to make his own brand of quality products. He went in search of someone to make them, and found Davidoff legend Hendrik Kelner in the Dominican Republic. Many of the first cigars sold out of a box atop Avo’s piano, but their popularity exploded. 100,000 in the first year, 750,000 in the first three. Davidoff ended up buying the distribution rights outright in 1995 for $10 million.
He continued to represent the brand though, going on multi-city, international tours to celebrate every year when a limited edition “birthday” cigar came out.
Uvezian’s health had deteriorated in recent years. A car accident added to a growing list of reasons not to travel. Still, he’d managed a few appearances, each with at least a few minutes reserved to play for his guests. He turned 91 just three days ago, and the last “birthday” cigar was released this month.
He’s survived by his wife Nivia, daughter Karyn, sons Jeffrey, Robert and Ronny, and a legacy of rooms where smoke and music filled the air.
On March 24, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received Richard E. Hoagland, the U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.
Steps aimed at creation of conditions conductive to the advancement of peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue discussed at the meeting.
– Inspired by music spanning the globe, the Armenian Pops Orchestra is celebrating the spirit of the Armenian people with a concert called “Sounds of the Diaspora.”
“It’s a celebration of life, of Armenian music, of us prospering as Armenians in different parts of the world,” said Greg Hosharian, who will conduct the orchestra during Sunday’s concert at the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena.
The two-hour concert will span genres, including jazz, pop and rock, and will feature instruments not often heard in orchestras, such as guitars and a bouzouki, a Greek instrument that resembles a guitar.
“It’s all kinds of styles with a more classical setting,” Hosharian said.
It will also reflect the adopted cultures of Armenian people who have settled all over the world.
The audience will hear music from such places as Greece, South America, the Middle East, Russia and the United States that’s been created by Armenian composers or songs that have inspired the Armenian community.
Some of the songs people will hear include the theme to “Zorba the Greek,” the “Russian Sailors Dance” and a piece by Brazil-based composer Alexey Kurkdjian called “The Legend of Boto.”
Hosharian will also debut his new original work called “Castle.”
“It’s very spirited music reflecting some Armenian folk melodies and of course original compositions,” said flutist Salpy Kerkonian, who assembled the orchestra for the concert.
“It’s going to be a very dynamic night,” she added.
The concert, which benefits the Edward Hosharian Scholarship Fund founded by the conductor’s late father, occurs at a poignant time for the Armenian community.
The show is set to take place just a few weeks before the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian genocide, which culminated in the deaths of some 1.5 million Armenians, as well as Greeks and Assyrians, systematically killed by the Ottoman government.
“This program with its theme of ‘Sounds of the Diaspora’ is very inspiring because we’re still here,” Kerkonian said, adding that her grandparents survived the genocide. “It says that we survived, and we are expressing ourselves through our culture.”
While the music is meant to chronicle the plight of Armenians who had to flee their homeland and settle in other places across the globe, the musicians promise that this is not going to be a somber night.
“Some of them (songs) are slow and they’re going to grab you by the heart, and then some of them are just going to make you want to stand up and dance,” said violinist Anna Kostyuchek.
Photo: AP
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been freed from detention, six years after being overthrown, the BBC reports.
Mr Mubarak left a military hospital in southern Cairo and went to his home in the northern suburb of Heliopolis, his lawyer said.
He was ordered freed earlier this month after Egypt’s top appeals court cleared him over the deaths of protesters in the 2011 uprising.
Mr Mubarak, 88, became president in 1981 after Anwar Sadat’s assassination.
He had been at Maadi Military Hospital since 2013, when he was transferred there on bail from Torah prison.
Mr Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted in 2012 of complicity in the killing of protesters who died at the hands of security forces in February, 2011.
Another trial was held and a judge decreed in May 2015 that Mr Mubarak could be released from detention.
“Terrorism is an evil that can occur anywhere. Therefore, it’s always necessary to be on the alert and take measures,” Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview with .
“I understand that large sums are being spent in London and Paris, but this is a crime that can never be predicted. It’s different when you have an obvious enemy. But when people with a different task penetrate into Europe under the cover of migrants is a completely different thing. This is very difficult to fight,” President Sargsyan said.
“Security threats are very different in today’s world. For us, the threat is the situation in our region, i.e. Azerbaijan’s wish to solve the Karabakh issue though force,” President Sargsyan said.
“Armenia is situated about 400 km away from the area of Islamic State activity. This means that the events taking place in the Middle East are directly linked to our security. Considering that many citizens of CIS member states are involved in IS actions, there will sooner or later be people in the region with military experience, with barbaric methods, who will create additional difficulties in this fragile stability. Unfortunately, we already hear Arabic language and different voices across the line of contact. It seems people from the Middle East are gradually getting involved in conflicts in our region. This is of course very dangerous. There are other challenges in the modern world,” he said.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan received today the Footballer of the Year Award at a ceremony held at the Football Academy of Armenia.
“I’m glad to be named best footballer and I believe this will be an additional motivation for me to try my best to be honored with the price once again,” Mkhitaryan told reporters after the award ceremony.
“But I’m not playing for the sake of being named the best player, I’m playing for my nation and doing my best to make Armenia better known to the world. The best footballer’s title is a great honor for me, but it’s not a goal in itself,” he said.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan initially struggled to have much of an impact at Old Trafford, but has earned plenty of praise for his displays for Jose Mourinho’s men in the second half of the campaign.
“It’s impossible to achieve anything without overcoming difficulties. It was not very difficult for me, because I was confident I would have a chance and use it. I just worked hard and waited for my chance,” he said.
“Whether I’m considered an important and influential player for Manchester United is not that essential to me. I’m just doing my best to help the team and to be part of it,” Mkhitaryan added.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan is often seen as Armenia’s Ambassador to the world, but the player says it’s not a pressure on him. “I’m trying to think about the game, because if I start thinking what I can and should do for my country, I’ll forget about football. That’s why I focus more on my training, on my performance. Only through my good performance can I show the world what it means to be an Armenian and to present Armenia to the world,” he said.
Mkhitarayn missed Manchester United’s clash against Middlesbrough last Sunday. “I had a small injury that’s why I didn’t play a part in the match although I was on the bench.”
The Armenia captain said, however, he feels good and is fully ready for the upcoming clash against Kazakhstan.
This is the 7th time the Armenia captain wins Player of the Year award and the sixth in a row.
The Manchester United forward was named Armenia’s 2016 Footballer of the Year, collecting 245 points out of 250 possible.
Gevorg Ghazaryan, who plays for Portuguese Maritimo, came second with 56 points. Marcos Pizelli was placed third.
FC Shirak head coach Vardan Bichakhchyan was named Coach of the Year.
Asbarez – The CineCulture Series and the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Fresno, are sponsoring a special screening of the film Lost Birds at 5:30pm on Friday, April 7, in the Leon and Pete Peters Educational Auditorium (west end of the SaveMart Center, near Shaw and Woodrow Avenues), on the Fresno State campus.
Directors Ela Alyamac and Arda Perdeci will be flying to Fresno from Turkey to be the discussants at the screening of their movie.
Set against the backdrop of the First World War in a small Armenian village in Ottoman Anatolia, Lost Birds is a historical fairy tale told through the eyes of a young brother and sister left behind in the 1915 Armenian genocide.
Lost Birds is the first film made in Turkey to depict the Armenian Genocide of 1915. It was brought to the screen by the five years of work, persistence, and courage of filmmakers Aren Perdeci and Ela Alyamac, who share writing and directing credits. Lost Birds handles the task of telling a very dramatic story in a fairy tale narrative and this leads the audience to feel something magical yet so real at the same time.
Bedo and Maryam’s happy home life is torn apart when their grandfather is apprehended and taken away by soldiers. Now, forbidden to go outside by their mother, one morning, the two children sneak away to play in their secret cave. But, when they return, they find their home and the entire village empty. Together, with the wounded bird they have been nursing back to health, the children embark on a perilous journey to find their mother.