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ITV, UKDec 26 2016 Man United boss Mourinho in awe of Mkhitaryan goal http://news.images.itv.com/image/file/1182451/stream_img.jpg Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored a superb goal. Photo: PAJose Mourinho was taken aback by the "phenomenal" Henrikh Mkhitaryan goal that capped Manchester United's comprehensive win and ensured a chastening Old Trafford return for Sunderland manager David Moyes. Initial struggles to break into the squad, never mind the line-up, have become a thing of the past for the talented Armenian, who has rapidly become a fans' favourite. Mkhitaryan netted in a third successive match on Boxing Day and few can have opened their United account with three better goals after he followed up his excellent solo goal Back from an ankle complaint, the 27-year-old substitute met a cross from Zlatan Ibrahimovic with an outrageous flick towards the end of the 3-1 win against Sunderland. "I have to watch back on TV because I didn't yet, but it looked for me phenomenal," Mourinho said of the beautiful, if in fact offside, goal. "I think he scored in the right goal, the Stretford End, with the people very enthusiastic just behind. "It was a great moment and for him important because he was going up and up and then the injury comes. "He was out of two matches and he's back. And to be back not just (with) the goal, I think he also brought quality with his performance. I am obviously happy." Last updated Mon 26 Dec 2016 http://www.itv.com/news/2016-12-26/man-united-boss-mourinho-in-awe-of-mkhitaryan-goal/

Turkey Entangled in Euphrates Shield Operation in Northern Syria Sat Dec 24, 2016 7:58 http://www.groong.com/news/attachments/msg591443/pngqLczRIld3a.png TEHRAN (FNA)- Media sources revealed on Saturday that the Turkish Army has suffered heavy death toll in its so-called anti-ISIL operation in Northern Syria and is growingly entangled in waves of problems with no way out. The Russian language Kommersant daily reported that based on recent information, the Turkish forces have suffered heavy casualties in their operation in Northern Syria codenamed the Euphrates Shield that they started over four months ago. The paper added that 16 Turkish soldiers have been killed and 33 more have been wounded in only one day, proving that the Turkish operation that once seemed to be successful is now no more than a big problem for the Turkish Command. The Turkish soldiers and Ankara-backed militant groups face firm resistance of ISIL in the town of al-Bab in Northern Aleppo. ISIL used it suicide combatants, which surprised the Turkish army and its militant allies and inflicted major losses on them. The Turkish army's casualties have been unprecedentedly high since the start of Euphrates Shield Operation in August 24. The Turkey-backed militants also suffered major losses on the same day. Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik announced in country's parliament on Thursday that 2,000 sq-km of land have been cleansed of ISIL in the Euphrates Shield Operation and over 1,000 militants of ISIL have been killed, adding the army was engaged in cleansing operation in the town of al-Bab. Also, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced in a news conference in Ankara that "ISIL is spending its last days in al-Bab". But, news received from the battlefield is something else. ISIL managed to carry out a diverse attack on Turkish forces. They seized two German mad-Leopard tanks of the Turkish army and an armored vehicle. The Turkish army's offensive and advance have been stopped on al-Bab's gates. Current situation has nothing to say about a crucial victory of the Turkish army and its militant allies in al-Bab. Turkey's military said on Wednesday that four Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes near the ISIL-controlled town of al-Bab in Northern Syria. Around 20 Turkish soldiers were killed in the course of the "Euphrates Shield" operation, launched nearly four months ago, to push ISIL militants as well as Kurdish militants away from the border, the Daily Star reported. Eleven soldiers were wounded, one of them critically, and were transported to hospital for treatment, the military said. "Clashes are continuing in the area of al-Bab town hospital, which has for a long time been a weapons and ammunition store for the terrorists," the army said. It said the area was closely protected by ISIL and was on the slope of a hill overlooking al-Bab. Earlier, the army said the Turkish-backed militants had gained full control of the highway from al-Bab to Aleppo and that Turkish warplanes had destroyed 48 ISIL targets and killed 15 militants. Four Turkish soldiers were slightly wounded when the vehicle they were travelling in was damaged by a roadside blast, it added. http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951004001098

Live MindDec 23 2016 Blue Santa and fruit-less Armenian cakesUnder Mamata Banerjee, Christmas in Kolkata is tourist-friendly. But the city’s traditions, like the Armenian celebrations, continue to flourish http://www.livemint.com/rf/Image-621x414/LiveMint/Period2/2016/12/24/Photos/Processed/Santa-ksRF--621x414@LiveMint.jpgA group selfie at Park Street. Photographs by Indranil Bhoumik/Mint Though born and brought up in Kolkata, it is only recently that Brunnel Arathoon, 36, started examining her Armenian roots. All these years, Arathoon says, she had only the one identity, of a Catholic; her paternal origins in the Eurasian country remained a footnote in family dinner-table conversations and a conundrum in social circles. “I had absolutely no idea of my Armenian identity and the history surrounding it. After I got to know of my father’s side originating from Armenia before shifting to Kolkata, I started looking up the map of the country. It is nice to know where one goes back to,” says Arathoon. For the first time, she has baked the traditional Armenian Christmas cakes— spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon and stuffed with walnuts, and, unlike most other Christmas cakes, without fruit. They are a marker of her Armenian roots, a country from where large numbers came to settle down in Kolkata and do business, as far back as the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Also Read: 50 ways to say Merry Christmas Though the British are popularly believed to have been the first Europeans in Kolkata in 1690—Job Charnock, an employee and administrator of the British East India Company, is regarded as the founder of the city now called Kolkata— the discovery of an Armenian tombstone in the city dating back to 11 July 1630 has pushed back Kolkata’s European links by at least another 60 years. The site of the tombstone of Rezabeebeh, “wife of the late charitable Sookias”, is the Armenian Holy Church of Nazareth near Burrabazar, built in 1707 and widely regarded as the oldest surviving church in Kolkata. It stands as a monument to the city’s earliest encounter with Christianity, even as the number of Armenians has dwindled to an official estimate of less than a hundred. Arathoon, however, contends there are many like her: uncounted Armenians grappling with issues of identity, since only Armenians who are baptized are counted. http://www.livemint.com/r/LiveMint/Period2/2016/12/24/Photos/Processed/Santa2-ksRF--621x414@LiveMint.jpgBrunnel Arathoon with her children, decorating her Armenian Christmas cakes. Having bagged orders for 56 cakes within a few days of promoting her effort on Facebook, Arathoon hopes the world will now come to know of her Armenian background. “Christmas in Kolkata is as good a time (as any ) to spread the word,” says Arathoon. We meet one evening at a café attached to a book store in the Park Street area. It’s a week before Christmas, and Park Street is a merry swirl of revellers in red and white Christmas caps, caught ethereally within a dazzle of blue and white lights. On 16 December, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the state government-organized Kolkata Christmas Festival in this area’s Allen Park. This nearly three-week-long festival, which has been organized since 2011, sees street-corner pop-rock concerts, dancing, choir performances, parades, Christmas merchandise, roadside stalls selling Anglo-Indian beef roasts and pork vindaloo, and a heady maze of festive illumination running across Park Street and the St Paul’s Cathedral-Victoria Memorial area. At around 14-15 degrees Celsius, this year’s winter temperature is just adding to the cheer. On 25 December, Park Street turns into a pedestrian-only zone, with thousands of people in their Christmas finery taking it over. This year, Banerjee spoke about visiting churches at midnight on Christmas Eve even when she was not chief minister. Her comparison of Christmas celebrations to Durga Puja almost echoed the campus saying in Kolkata that describes 25 December as a day dedicated to “Jishu (Jesus) Pujo”—a day when many non-Christian Bengali homes will bake or buy cakes, party at clubs, visit the zoo, St Paul’s Cathedral or Park Street, perfectly at ease in their red Xmas caps. Youngsters can often be seen in red Santa Claus clothes, complete with faux white beards, while the Santa illuminations put up by the Trinamool Congress-run state government glow in blue and white—red is not a colour it favours. Bengali gospel songs played over public address systems and Santa cutouts in dhotis complete the appropriation of the occasion by even those who are not Christians. Reverend Thomas D’Souza, archbishop of Kolkata, laughs aloud when I ask him to explain this effortless syncretism. At his 130-year-old colonial residence, marked by tall ceilings lined by Burma Teak beams and ornately carved furniture, we sit over fragrant Darjeeling tea and delicious fruit cakes in his parlour; Pope John Paul II spent two nights in the adjoining bedroom when he visited Kolkata in 1986. D’Souza, who assumed the archbishop’s role in 2011, says: “For a lot of people in Kolkata, Christmas is about religion and spirituality. But if you see the enthusiastic response of the people, you’ll realize that it is also a festival of Kolkata.” http://www.livemint.com/r/LiveMint/Period2/2016/12/24/Photos/Processed/Santa3-ksRF--621x414@LiveMint.jpgChristmas decorations on sale at Free School Street. Certainly, it has developed its own local flavour over the years—and tourists tend to flock in droves during this period. Private tour operators, hoteliers and restaurant owners report more traffic. “Christmas in Kolkata is certainly becoming a brand ever since the festival in Park Street started. An entire new segment of tourists has come up for whom Christmas celebration in Kolkata is the most happening after Goa,” says Anil Punjabi, chairman (eastern region) of the Travel Agents Federation of India. Week-long Christmas packages have been introduced by travel companies, he says, with two-day visits to Darjeeling or the Sunderbans thrown in with a five-day stint in Kolkata. Last year, tourist arrivals in Kolkata during this period saw an 18% increase over the previous year, topping an average annual growth of 10-15% since 2011, says Punjabi. He is seconded by Sudesh Poddar, president of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Eastern India, which has 800 business establishments, including five-star hotels such as Taj Bengal and JW Marriott Kolkata, as members. “Last year, we accounted for a 25% increase in business. Christmas in Kolkata is already a beautiful event but more areas should be added as festival venues,” he suggests. They are yet to map the effects, if any, of demonetization. For Jayant Kripalani, actor, adman and author of New Market Tales, based on stories emerging from the iconic shopping hub in central Kolkata, the spirit of Christmas doesn’t lie in “Park Street and its lights”. He finds much of it tacky. “The New Market centre to me is Christmas. I missed those special shops that popped up there. Christmas has always been about the midnight mass at St Paul’s Cathedral and Nahoum’s (a reputed Jewish confectionery and pâtisserie) cakes,” he writes over email. “But I must confess I find the carols in Bengali prettier than the ones in English. What I’m trying to say is, I like the Indianization of Christmas more than Christmas itself.” Over the years, indeed centuries, Christmas celebrations in the city have evolved. For it was once the capital of British India, with Kolkata being the first port of call for boatloads of European missionaries in India. Between the 17th and 18th centuries, the Portuguese, Danes, Dutch and French all set up camp in the vicinity of Kolkata, often with the intention of proselytizing. Instances like the conversion of poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt to Christianity may be few, but Bengalis in 19th century Kolkata, closer to their roots but familiar with Western thought, chose an amalgam of both worlds. The Brahmo Samaj, founded in 1830, and helmed during different periods by reformers like Raja Rammohan Roy, Debendranath Tagore, Keshub Chandra Sen and Rabindranath Tagore, emerged as a prominent Hindu reformist movement that sought to give women a respectful position in society, including the right to education and property, eradicate superstitious practices, return to the Upanishads, ensure exposure to the Western world and battle the caste system, according to Nitish Sengupta’s book, History Of The Bengali-speaking People. Indeed, “during the Christmas celebrations in 1864, a group of Brahmo youth, under the inspiration of Keshub Chandra Sen, brought their wives out of the purdah and introduced them to their male friends, thus taking the first steps towards free mixing”, notes Partha Pratim Basu in Strangely Beloved: Writings On Calcutta, edited by Nilanjana Gupta. http://www.livemint.com/r/LiveMint/Period2/2016/12/24/Photos/Processed/Santa4-ksRF--621x414@LiveMint.jpgAbraham Mazumder (left) conducting the KMA orchestra at St Paul’s Cathedral. Photographs by Indranil Bhoumik/Mint At the Visva Bharati university campus in Santiniketan, founded by Rabindranath Tagore, author Nabaneeta Dev Sen remembers Christmas being celebrated as Christo Utsav, with prayers, hymns and Brahmo songs being performed without the presence of any religious motif or motive. “I’m not sure why Tagore started this practice, especially since Santiniketan didn’t celebrate Durga Puja. Maybe it was his way to intellectually remember the day by being religion-neutral,” she says. On 16 December, when the large audience present at the hallowed Indo-Gothic St Paul’s Cathedral, built in 1847, heartily applauded the Christmas concert of the Kolkata Music Academy (KMA) Chamber Orchestra conducted by Abraham Mazumder—which included a rendition of three Tagore compositions other than those of Beethoven, Purcell, Mozart and Christmas carols—it could well have been celebrating the spirit of inclusiveness that sees people of all faiths coming together for Christmas in Kolkata. “Brahmo Sangeet (Brahmo music popularized by Tagore) is actually church hymns, though he kept out the harmonies. Tagore knew the value of music and humanity was his religion,” says Mazumder. "I must confess I find the carols in Bengali prettier than the ones in English. What I’m trying to say is, I like the Indianization of Christmas more than Christmas itself."- Jayant Kripalani For the oldest Christian community in Kolkata, the Armenians, the 25th is the beginning of the period of “Advent of Jesus”, not the day they celebrate Christmas, says Anthony Khatchaturian. Khatchaturian, a prominent Armenian in Kolkata, organizes popular city walks; this year, a “Cake Walk” through the city’s popular Christmas cake outlets has been introduced. It is only on 6 January, when the period of Christ’s incarnation culminates, that the oldest church in the city, the otherwise deserted Armenian Holy Church near Burrabazar, will swell up with the sounds of prayer and singing. Playing it out of the park Five alternatives to Park Street for a Kolkata Christmas http://www.livemint.com/r/LiveMint/Period2/2016/12/24/Photos/Processed/Park-ksRF--621x414@LiveMint.jpgBow Barracks gears up; and (below) celebrations at New Market. Bow barracks The ghetto-like residential area of the city’s Anglo-Indian community in central Kolkata throbs with parties, concerts and balls on the road. Don’t leave without tasting the homemade wine and the meat-heavy food. The Christmas festival starts on 23 December, taking a two-day break—25 December and Boxing Day—before it begins again on 27 December. http://www.livemint.com/r/LiveMint/Period2/2016/12/24/Photos/Processed/Park2-ksRF--621x414@LiveMint.jpg New market New Market, built in 1874, has a timeless aura. A visit to the area is never just about shopping, it’s about diving straight into the pulsating heart of the city. There are Christmas trees, silver bells and golden balls everywhere. Don’t miss a bite at Nahoum, a quick detour for cold cuts at Kalman Cold Storage or a stroll around the moody Free School Street, now called Mirza Ghalib Street. Around the Victoria Memorial This is among the city’s leafiest areas, with the imposing St Paul’s Cathedral and Victoria Memorial, the sprawling Maidan and the Nandan cultural complex in the vicinity—it’s just the right place to laze in the winter sun. Club life Christmas in Kolkata is incomplete without a visit to its many British-era social clubs, like the Calcutta Club, the Bengal Club and Tollygunge Club. An uppity air and warm hugs go down with gin and tonic here. They organize concerts and belly-dance performances. Nightclubs Kolkata’s many nightclubs ring in the season with late-night gigs featuring EDM, exotic dancers from all over the world, cabarets, even fire-eating acts. With the state government allowing only four-and-a-half dry days annually and clubs remaining open till late, the party tap never quite goes dry. Shamik Bag http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/CeotOPEHGPUTSp2HUGahdJ/Blue-Santa-and-fruitless-Armenian-cakes.html

American Armenian Rose Float Association Posted 2:03 PM, December 22, 2016, by KTLA 5, Updated at 02:02PM, December 22, 2016 Dimensions: 24’H x 18’W x 55’L Float Title: Field of Dreams! Float Theme Featuring three children atop a majestic Artsakh (Karabagh) stallion in the foreground descending from historic Mt. Ararat in the background where Noah’s Arc came to rest. Mt. Ararat has long stood as a spiritual symbol of faith for people around the world. Also growing out from the soil of this snow-capped mountain, a pomegranate tree with a peacock, a symbol of good fortune and fertility for Armenians around the world. The children atop the stallion wearing traditional Armenian garments hold symbols representing literature, music and science, paying tribute to fields in which this historic and ancient people have contributed to the collective human experience. This years uplifting theme “Echoes of Success” is represented in this positive portrayal paying homage to accomplishments of Armenians in the fields of music, literature and science. Flowers/Materials used Field of Dreams coverage: Artsakh Stallion, head of brown coffee, green fine ground split pea, crème farina, black onion powder, ground cinnamon, orange fine ground lentil, tan fine walnut shells, mane of brown coffee, crème soy and black beans, inside nostrils of brown coffee, white powdered rice, eyes of white powdered rice, black onion powder, dark red ground cinnamon, green fine ground split pea, brown coffee, pupils of black seaweed, eyelids of black onion powder, bronze fine cut strawflower, lashes of seaweed, area around eyes-black onion powder, inside ears of black onion seed, hi-lites of creme farina, around mouth-black onion powder, dark grey ground cinnamon, brown coffee, tan fine walnut shell, under chin-black onion powder, body of brown coffee, orange fine ground lentil, reddish brown ground cinnamon, tan fine walnut shell, creme farina, green fine ground split pea, stars of white fuzzy cut everlasting, light green fine ground split pea, lower legs black onion powder, light green fine ground split pea, crème farina, hooves of black seaweed. Blanket of faces of black beans, sides of black ground onion seed, designs of white, yellow and xmas red button mums, blue fine cut statice, orange peach fine ground lentil, green fine ground split pea, black onion powder. Top design-black onion powder, red large kidney beans, yellow and green whole split peas, blue fine cut statice. Children riding horse-faces of crème and dark creme farina, white powdered rice, eyebrows of onion powder and dark pink fine cut strawflower, nose shadows of dark pink fine cut strawflower, mouth of dark pink fine cut strawflower, white powdered rice and black onion powder, eyelids of dark pink fine cut strawflower, creme farina and black onion powder, eyelashes of light blue and dark blue fine cut statice, pupils of black seaweed, white powdered rice, light green fine ground split pea and dark green fine ground parsley, black onion powder, crème farina, hands of dark crème farina. Front Girl-black onion seed and gold clover seed, fronts of black onion powder, all small dots, crème soy beans, red cranberries, yellow and green whole split peas, orange and brown whole lentils, small circles of black onion powder, medium/brown ovals, brown whole lentils, black beans, reddish/brown pinto beans and white navy beans, crème soys beans and black beans, hair of black seaweed, flower accents of light pink dendrob blooms, shirt stripes of kermit green and wine mums, black onion seed, elfin pink mums, light lavender mums, dark lavender mums, black onion seed. Middle Child-black seaweed, onion powder, small kidney dots, black beans, fine ground black beans and fine ground rice, dots of blue statice, yellow strawflower, wine mums, onion powder. Shirt-mums-light beau, light lavender wine mums, blue fine cut statice-Jacket Squares of yellow button mums. Sleeves of light lavender, wine, kermit green, elfin pink, dark lavender mums, black onion seed and trim of black beans. Last Child-hair and hat of black seaweed, design of black beans, light beau mums, navy beans, white button mums, ground onion seed, white button mums, whole orange lentils, light beau mums, blue statice, light beau mums, white button mums, blue fine cut statice. Sculpted Flowers: wine mums, black beans, pink carnation petals, red fine cut strawflower, dark wine fine cut strawflower, pink carnation petals. Colorful Accents: yellow whole split peas, orange whole lentils, light pink fine cut strawflower, blue fine cut statice, red small kidney beans, backs of white fine ground rice, red fine cut strawflower, green ground parsley flakes. Sculpted Flowers, centers of wine mums, black beans, , petals of gold flax/clover seed, orange fine cut lentil, white large lima beans, backs of white fine ground rice and green ground parsley seed. Big Flowers-centers of gold mums, dark beau mums, petals of white fine cut everlasting, pink fine cut strawflower, light lavender mums, backs of white fine ground rice and green ground parsley. Small Daisies-centers of gold and dark beau mums, petals of white fine cut everlasting, light lavender mums, fine cut pink strawflower, backs of white fine ground rice and green ground parsley. Birds: beaks of yellow fine cut strawflower and orange fine ground lentil, black onion seed, eyes of black onion powder, white powdered rice and blue fine cut statice, around eyes-yellow whole split peas, orange whole lentils, main boday of black onion powder, dark blue and light blue fine cut statice, orange fine ground lentil, yellow fine ground split pea, legs of black onion powder, dots of yellow whole split pea, orange whole lentils, dark blue and light blue fine cut statice, light pink, red, dark pink and bronze fine cut strawflower. Fancy Tails-black onion powder, circles of black beans and black onion seed. Peacock on horses tail-top crown of red fine cut strawflower and blue fine cut statice, beak of red fine cut strawflower, eyes of blue fine cut statice, and white powdered rice, chest and butt of black seaweed, black onion powder, big dots of soy beans and orange whole lentils, small dots of crème soy beans, rd fine cut strawflower and orange lentils, legs of black onion powder. Tail-background of light orange fine ground lentil, dark orange ground lentil, designs of green and yellow whole split pea, black beans. Peacock, eyes of black onion powder, white powdered rice, around eyes-white powdered rice, beak of yellow fine cut strawflower, body of blue, light blue and purple fine cut statice, wings of yellow, orange carnation petals and black beans, trim of black ground onion seed, tail of green ground parsley flakes, black beans, green whole split peas and dark green mung beans and green ground parsley flakes. Tree of Life-trunk of brown coffee, leaves of green ground parsley, fruit of dark red ground cinnamon, white powdered rice. Houses-chimney’s of black onion pow der, window frames, faces and edges of white navy petals and white fine ground rice, inside windows of yellow fine cut strawflower and orange fine ground lentils. Front houses of dry/natural bac bac, Christmas/cranberry beans, walls of natural dry cinnamon sticks, roofs of eucalyptus leaves, 1/4 inch rope, dry cinnamon sticks and white pumpkin seeds. Rear Houses of roofs with natural dry bac bac, crème corn husk, natural dry moneta fruit pods, corn husk, 1/4 inch rope, walls of cinnamon sticks, wheat triticum. Mountains-white roses, white gyp, green springer, light blue iris, lavender cats, light blue hybrid double stock, light blue and dark blue hybrid delphiniums, dark lavender roses. Floral Gardens-deep red roses, red gerberas, grey spanish moss and medium pomegranates, red ti leaves, peach roses and acapulco gerberas, orange roses, grey Spanish moss, green monstera leaves, green lotus pods, green cymbidiums, small sunflowers, red roses, white roses, white cats, white iris, yellow gerberas, spanish grey moss and medium artichokes. All text and information courtesy Pasadena Tournament of Roses. http://ktla.com/2016/12/22/american-armenian-rose-float-association-2/