Author: Suren Karakhanian

Today, President Serzh Sargsyan attended the liturgy at Holy See Mother Echmiadzin Cathedral dedicated to Christmas and Revelation holidays.

Across the world, Christians have begun marking Christmas with services, with Pope Francis holding midnight mass at the Vatican, the BBC reported.

In the holy city of Bethlehem, the West Bank town where it is believed that Jesus was born, events have been overshadowed by recent violence between Palestinians and Israelis.

“There’s lights, there’s carols, but there’s an underlying sense of tension,” one pilgrim to Bethlehem, Briton Paul Haines, told Associated Press news agency.

Liz Ohanesian

There’s a moment in “Conan in Armenia” where late-night host Conan O’Brien and his assistant Sona Movsesian catch a glimpse of Mt. Ararat against the horizon. They didn’t know if they would see the mountain, the legendary final stop for Noah’s ark, and when they do, it’s a solemn moment. Mt. Ararat is a powerful symbol for the Armenian people and, while one might be able to see it on a clear day, it is just out of reach for Armenians, as it stands across the Turkish border. Conan explains that Mt. Ararat “used to be part of Armenia, now it’s not.” Sona is silent as she stares into the distance.

The whole situation is complicated, but that’s the case for Armenia in general. The modern nation has only existed since the fall of the Soviet Union, but the history of Armenia is ancient. That Sona proudly identifies as Armenian, but has never visited the country before this trip is understandable. Like Sona, I’m of Armenian descent, but have never traveled to the country and call Los Angeles home. For those of us who share this heritage, Armenia is a destination, maybe not to live, but definitely to visit. It is a physical homeland for a people who were nearly wiped off the earth during the 1915 Genocide.

For reasons I’ll never fully understand, the country is not a destination for people who aren’t part of the diaspora; travel hosts like Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern don’t have Armenia episodes, but reality star Kim Kardashian does. That Conan O’Brien chose to take Sona to Armenia is a big deal for those of us are Armenian, something my own family discussed over a San Fernando Valley Thanksgiving table while eating turkey and pilaf. But it also made for great television that could appeal to anyone.

“Conan in Armenia” essentially tells two, intertwined stories. There’s the story of Conan, who is entering both a culture and a place that is foreign to him, and the story of Sona, who has grown up with the culture, but hasn’t been to the place of its origins. Much of the episode plays out like a buddy comedy—Conan goofs off, Sona plays it straight, but gets a few deadpan zingers in here and there. They go on a series of very short adventures. Conan takes Sona to a matchmaker to find an Armenian husband. The two try to work as shepherds. They meet up with Armenian fans who were originally from Syria, but relocated because of the war. They drink vodka and learn how to make the thin, flat bread called lavash.

Throughout the episode, we get a wonderful glimpse of Armenia and, primarily, its capital Yerevan. We see the Yerevan Day celebrations, check out Conan on the set of an Armenian soap opera, and hear a lot of the language. Conan interacts with people young and old who are more than happy to get in on the gags with him. But, it all goes far beyond jokes about how Conan doesn’t understand the language and is a silly dancer. While Conan seems to struggle with simply greeting people in Armenian at the beginning of the episode, later on, he seems to be settling in fine. As Conan and Sona smoke a hookah, Conan remarks, “shad merci,” a slang-y way of saying “thanks a lot.” The premise of the episode is to help get Sona in touch with her roots, but it’s clear that Conan has a lot of love for Armenia too.

Near the end of the episode, Conan and Sona visit the Armenian Genocide memorial. Conan briefly explains the Genocide, which happened a century ago, before the camera follows Sona through the memorial. Sona tears up as she shares the story of her grandparents and finds the name of her family’s home village carved in stone. This segment is crucial for contextualizing the trip. It explains why there is a diaspora, and why a trip to Armenia is something of a pilgrimage for ethnic Armenians across the globe.

In the end, “Conan in Armenia” is more than just comedy abroad. It’s a story of friendship and empathy set in a country that gets very little exposure on American television.

Photo: AFP

A teacher has been attacked in a preschool class in Aubervilliers, a suburb of the French capital, Paris, by a man citing so-called Islamic State, the BBC reports.

The attacker shouted: “It’s Islamic State. It’s a warning”, stabbing the teacher with a box cutter or scissors before fleeing.

The life of the teacher, 45, who was alone in the room, is not in danger.

France remains on high alert after the terrorist attacks in Paris on 13 November that left 130 people dead.

Karim Benzema has been suspended from the France team until an investigation into his alleged part in a blackmail and sex tape case has been resolved, the BBC reports.

The 27-year-old striker could miss Euro 2016, which starts in France in June.

Benzema has been placed under formal investigation by a French judge over an alleged bid to blackmail France team-mate Mathieu Valbuena over a sex video.

The Real Madrid forward denies any wrongdoing but if found guilty, could face a minimum of five years in prison.

France Football Federation president Noel le Graet, who had previously supported Benzema, said it was a “heart-breaking” decision to suspend him.

But he added: “I have decided that he is not available for selection.”

According to French media, Benzema mentioned the tape to Lyon midfielder Valbuena, 31, during a national team training session at Clairefontaine on 5 October.

Benzema, who scored a hat-trick for Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday, told police he was advising a friend about what to do in a difficult situation.

But he was handed preliminary charges of complicity in attempted blackmail and participation in a criminal conspiracy by the judge in November.

When a suspect is placed under formal investigation, a judge will then determine whether there is sufficient evidence for the suspect to be formally charged.

Real Madrid have been expelled from the Copa del Rey for fielding an ineligible player against Cadiz on Wednesday, the BBC reports.

Denis Cheryshev opened the scoring as Real beat the third-tier side 3-1 in the first leg of their last-32 tie.

The Russian winger, 24, should have been serving a one-match ban – imposed while he was on loan at Villarreal last season – but he and Real claim they were not informed before the game.

Real have won the competition 19 times, with their last success in 2014.

Cheryshev was substituted just after half-time, when Real had realised their error. Coach Rafael Benitez said they wanted to “show good faith”.

The club’s president, Florentino Perez, said on Thursday the club would fight any sanction.

Spanish newspaper Marca reported Real will appeal against the decision to the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and, if necessary, the country’s sport court, TAD.

Osasuna were expelled from last year’s competition for fielding an ineligible player, and Benitez was in charge of Valencia when they were disqualified from the 2001 competition for selecting too many non-EU players in a tie.

The armed group neutralized as a result of measures taken by divisions of the National Security Service (NSS) had special financing, goals and objectives, NSS Deputy Chief Mikael Hambartsumyan told reporters today.

He said the level of armament, the number of members and the cruelty of the group were unprecedented for the Republic of Armenia.

Hambartsumyan added that the group received funding amounting to thousands of dollars, probe is underway to reveal the source of financing.

“The group had special goals and a well-developed plan. The planned crimes were targeted against  civilians, different branches of power and state bodies,” Mikael Hambartsumyan said.

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan could meet in Tbilisi today , Armenia’s Deputy FM Shavarsh Kocharyan told reporters today. Edward Nalbandian and Elmar Mammadyarov are attending an informal Eastern Partnership meeting in Georgia.

What are the expectations from the meeting? Shavarsh Kocharyan said “there can be expectations only in case Azerbaijan puts an end to its “everything or nothing” approach and refuses from the idea of seizing a favorable solution by force.”

The Deputy Foreign Minister said he has no serious anticipations. “On the other hand, it does not mean such meetings are not necessary. Meetings and talks are held even between countries in war.”

Commenting on the possible impact of the Russian-Turkish relations on Armenia, Kocharyan said: “This is a question involving our ally on one hand and our immediate neighbor on the other hand. Therefore, we should keep an eye on the developments.”

On Sunday November 22, the candidate of the conservative party Cambiemos Mauricio Macriwas elected president of Argentina by winning the runoff by three points against Daniel Scioli, the government candidate. Next, a review of the relationship between the newly Argentine president and the Armenian community of the country, reports.

During his tenure as Chief of Government of the City of Buenos Aires, Mauricio Macri the construction of a bust of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, after the intense complaints of the Armenian community and a misunderstanding of the locals officials. At that time, Turkish Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdogan called off a visit to the country for this reason.

In April 2012, Macri visited Yerevan for the transfer of the World Book Capital, which in 2011 had been in Buenos Aires and in 2012 was in Yerevan. He visited the Armenian Genocide Museum and that “Buenos Aires has received thousands of Armenian citizens that with their tireless work contributed to the development of Argentina and forged our cultural identity as a country.”

Some time later, in June 2014, the City of Buenos Aires . This time, the Chief of Staff of the City, Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, said that this museum was “a way to ensure that mankind will not commit atrocities like those committed almost 100 years ago in Armenia.”

The next month, in July 2014, Mauricio Macri the President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, with whom he had a private meeting and handed the keys to the City of Buenos Aires.

In April 2015, during the centenary of the Armenian Genocide, Mauricio Macri a post titled “100 years of the Armenian Genocide: I do not forget you“, which recalled that “the little purple flower with five petals called ‘Forget me not’ is the symbol chosen by the Armenian community to remember worldwide the more than one million Armenians who perished in the first genocide of the twentieth century” and noted that “100 years ago, on April 24 1915 began a bloody persecution of the Armenian people by the Ottoman authorities, which then culminated in the expulsion and death of millions of innocent people.”

“Today is the day in which we remember all the victims. It is they who tell us ‘Forget me not’,” he concluded.

The former President Nestor Kirchner enacted in January 2007 the Law 26,199, approved by Congress in December 2006, which declares every April 24 as the “Action day for tolerance and respect among peoples” in commemoration of the Genocide against the Armenian people. In September 1987 former President Raul Alfonsin made the first recognition of the Armenian Genocide during a ceremony with the Armenian community.