Category: 2023

Feb 17 2023

They are looking to clinch their division and take the state championship.

LOS ANGELES - A high school basketball team thought to be underdogs is making big headlines and exceeding expectations this season.

The players attend the Armenian General Benevolent Union Manoogian-Demirdjian School in Canoga Park. In the past three years, the AGBU Titans have moved up three divisions.

There are 11 players on the team – eight seniors, two sophomores, and one freshman. They say they don’t see themselves as the most talented players, but their preparation, determination, and resilience have been on a winning streak.

Nareg Kopooshian has been coaching at the school for the past five years, but he’s been coaching the group of players since they were 8 years old.

"The part that I think makes us love basketball the most is the fact that we get to play with all our friends…  there's no nervousness around that. There's no one to impress," senior Avand Dorian said.

"I was once the tallest person in the room, and now I’m not," Kopooshian said.

Coach Kopooshian emphasizes "student" in the phrase student-athletes. The whole team works hard on and off the court and cumulatively has a 4.0 GPA. Academic studies come first and they also practice six days a week for two hours, and an hour of film.

They play in the semifinals Friday night. By the end of the season, their goal is to clinch their division and take the championship.

https://www.foxla.com/news/canoga-park-agbu-titans-baskeball-team-in-semifinals?fbclid=IwAR0wRY8HWZip7IwW90-GJe7T1GED1mQKg1iOy66WmVH6wPcq5r92V7Hec0M

Feb 18 2023

Feb 18 2023

Russian oppositionist, political scientist, and publicist Andrey Piontkovsky suggested that Putin, on the eve of the anniversary of the full-scale war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, could include South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Belarus, and even Nagorno-Karabakh in the Russian Federation. The expert stated this in an interview with Daria Kudimova.

According to the oppositionist, the events, or rather, the announcements of recent days, they have led him to such a conclusion. “Dance songs were planned for the evening of February 22, and on the morning of February 22, he, Putin, gathers both houses of the Federal Assembly. This means that some laws will be adopted,” Piontkovsky explained. In addition, Lukashenka was summoned to Moscow on February 20, and the presidents of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on February 21 and 22 (although Dmitry Peskov claims that there are no such meetings in the schedule of the President of the Russian Federation).

“I do not rule out that Putin will go for such a fake – expand the Russian Federation, take South Ossetia, Abkhazia into the Russian Federation, maybe kick his feet, strangle or shoot Lukashenka and also accept Belarus,” the expert expressed his opinion.

In addition, in Nagorno-Karabakh, the pro-Russian billionaire is pursuing the line “Let Nagorno-Karabakh become part of the Russian Federation.” “It will be presented as a great victory, as an expansion of the ‘Russian peace’. I understand this is madness, but in their logic, selling something to the population is a completely working option,” Piontkovsky said.

https://odessa-journal.com/andrey-piontkovsky-putin-could-include-south-ossetia-abkhazia-belarus-and-even-nagorno-karabakh-in-the-russian-federation/

Feb 19 2023

CARROLLTON, Texas — An Armenian Orthodox church in Texas has been named U.S. Building of the Year by an international group of architects and engineers.

Saint Sarkis Armenian Church, located north of Dallas, was voted as the top American architectural work in 2022 by World-Architects, an online publisher with national and regional platforms representing architects, landscape architects, interior designers, engineers, lighting designers, manufacturers, and architectural photographers from over 50 countries. 

Spanning over 4.5 acres, the church site includes three separate structures: the church building and sanctuary, gym and youth center, and a hall for offices, classrooms and a kitchen.

Saint Sarkis held its first Sunday service on April 24, 2022, coinciding with the day of remembrance for the 1.5 million victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, a theme that figures prominently in the church’s design.

A reflecting pool in the courtyard of Saint Sarkis Armenian Church. | The Christian Post

In honor of the Genocide’s victims, on the walls of the sanctuary are engraved 1.5 million circular icons, each uniquely designed as a testimony to the lives that were lost. And when viewed from a distance, the icons blend seamlessly into a “Tree of Life” in the shape of a traditional Armenian cross that overhangs the glass doors leading into the sanctuary.

Designed by architect David Hotson, the sanctuary building hearkens back to the architecture of what is considered to be the world’s first Christian nation of Armenia, which adopted Christianity in the early third century.

As are all Armenian Orthodox churches, Saint Sarkis is modeled after the ancient church of Saint Hripsime, which was completed in 618 AD and is still standing in the Armenian capital of Yerevan.

Inside the sanctuary at Saint Sarkis is an altar with an image of a young Jesus sitting in the lap of Mary which is adorned with flowers and other artifacts in the tradition of Armenian Orthodox churches.

The altar of the sanctuary at Saint Sarkis Armenian Church | The Christian Post

Led by Fr. Ghevond Ajamian, Saint Sarkis began as a community of just a handful of families in the late 1970s and early 1980s, meeting at a private home before the house was converted into a church in November 1991.

With about 800 families now involved with the parish, the church is run by Ajamian and a parish council that consists of nine members voted on annually by the parishioners. Saint Sarkis serves as the parish home for all Armenians in North Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. 

After a groundbreaking ceremony in 2016, Saint Sarkis took about six years to build, Ajamian said, “mainly because we didn’t account for COVID, or supply chain issues, or just random mistakes.”

When asked about being named the U.S. Building of the Year, Ajamian said while he wasn’t personally impacted one way or the other, it’s definitely an honor to have that recognition.

“From what I have heard, it is a very big deal and everyone is excited about it,” he said.

Fr. Ghevond Ajamian inside the sanctuary at Saint Sarkis. | The Christian Post

Funded by entrepreneur Elie Akilian at an estimated cost of upwards of $20 million, the project took longer than anticipated, pushing the original consecration date back from February 2018 until it was finally completed in April 2022.

Under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church in America and the Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin, located in Armenia, Saint Sarkis adheres to the Nicaean Creed from the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. 

The church itself is named after a 4th-century Roman soldier who became a Christian and was later martyred for his faith.

But despite the church’s rich Christian heritage, being located in the “belt buckle of the Bible Belt,” Ajamian said, has its unique challenges, especially in a culture dominated by Baptist and nondenominational megachurches.

“It’s not so much, ‘Alright, you do incense,’ or ‘Oh, you celebrate Christmas on this day and I do it on this day,’” he said. “It's more like, ‘Do you preach the Gospel? Do you try and show Christ in your actions and do you bring people to Christ?’” 

“If you’re doing these kinds of things, then I think we’re all on the same page.”

https://www.christianpost.com/news/armenian-orthodox-church-in-texas-2022-building-of-the-year.html

Russia – feb 19 2023