Hi there, I hope your past week was full of happiness and luck.

From FBI raids to NBA games, let’s dive right into the news from last week that concerns Armenians around the globe.

Home of Texas Representative Raided by the FBI as Part of Azerbaijan Probe

Image caption: Texas Rep Henry Cuellar’s Home Raided by the FBI

Texas lawmaker Henry Cuellar had his home and campaign office raided by the FBI last Wednesday. While details are still not public, the raid was related to a federal probe into unlawful activities between Azerbaijani and American businesses and officials.

Rep. Cuellar has repeatedly met with Azerbaijani businessmen and government officials, including Az Ambassador Elin Süleymanov Emin oğlu. Click here to read about Cuellar’s full involvement with Turkish and Azerbaijani officials on various trips, meetings, and deals.

Techy-Armos Had A Great Week

Image caption: Robin the Robot Makes Headlines Once Again (Photo by Expper Technologies)

Robin the Robot, an Armenian robot previously featured on Forbes, has raised $2 million USD in seed funding! Driven by emotional artificial intelligence (dystopian, I know), Robin has been created to care for sick patients in hospitals by cheering them up, and the funds raised will go to enhancing pediatric patients’ experiences. Founded in 2019 by Exxper Technologies, the co-investors are Healthcare Equity Angels, AiSprouts VC, AngelsDeck, as well as existing investor SmartGateVC et al. Robin the Robot has been marked as one of the top 100 inventions of 2021.

Multiply it by three, and that’s how much Voltz raised last week. Founded by an Oxford guy, London-based Artur Begyan, Voltz is a decentralised Interest Rate Swap and has successfully raised $6 million USD. Co-investors include cryptocurrency giants Framework Ventures and Coinbase Ventures. Begyan has experience working at the Central Bank of Armenia, Amazon, and Bank of America. Here’s to Martiros Saryan-inspired NFTs, I guess?

Lastly, ApplePay is now a thing in Armenia! Many Armenian banks and the cards they’ve issued are now eligible for ApplePay wallets and payments around Armenia; these banks include ACBA Bank, Ardshinbank, Ameriabank, Converse Bank, Inecobank, and Unibank.

We Lost Hrant Dink 15 Years Ago Last Week

Image caption: Dink’s Funeral-Turned-Protest in Istanbul Is Now 15 Years Old

Earlier last week, thousands gathered in front of the Sebat Apartment building in Şişli to remember Istanbulite-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. The prominent journalist was assassinated on the 19th of January, 15 years ago in broad daylight by a fascist young Turk – no puns intended. Dink co-founded Agos, a newspaper published in Armenian and Turkish started in 1996. He advocated for and elevated Armenian and other ethnic minority voices every chance he got.

One of his last interviews with someone thought to be the niece of Sabiha Gökçen – Turkey’s first female combat pilot – claimed that the infamous stepdaughter of Ataturk is… of Armenian origin. This sparked major outrage and charged many fascists against Dink.

An unannounced part of the 13th District in Paris is to be named after Dink, read a statement by Deputy Paris Mayor Arnaud Ngatcha last week.

Notable News Worth Mentioning:

Image caption: President Sarkissian Resigns (Photo from President.am)

• Armenian President Armen Sarkissian resigns, citing a lack of political impact. Not much is yet known,  but the Armenian constitution indicates that the President of the National Assembly – Alen Simonyan in this case – would replace him until a new one is selected.

• French-Armenian neo-folk-jazz duo Ladaniva wins the Public Choice Award at the 2022 Music Moves Europe Awards.

• Armenian Apostolic Church Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I names 2022 the Year of Diaspora because the diaspora has “begun to expand and spread, [...] wither and fade.”

• French Institute (aka Institut Français) to be established in Armenia.

• WizzAir flights to be launched between Abu Dhabi and Yerevan following talks between UAE gov officials and Arm President Sarkissian. The President also met up with various high-ranking officials to enhance bilateral relations in the educational and scientific sectors.

• Assistant Coach of the Detroit Pistons, Rex Kalamian, named head coach of the Armenian national basketball team. He has over 25 years of experience in the NBA.

Multimedia Corner

Image caption: Ladaniva Wins the Public Choice Award at the 2022 Music Moves Europe Awards (Photo from Ladaniva Official Facebook Page)

• Read: Learn about the mesmerising life of David Ohannesian, one of Jerusalem’s most prominent ceramicists, written by NYC-based writer and flutist Sato Moughalian.

• Listen: Support the award-winning duo Ladaniva by listening to their biggest hit, Kef Chilini – here.

• Watch: Watch Armenian Tr Parliamentarian Garo Paylan give a talk to the London-based Armenian Institute on the 19th of Jan, the 15th anniversary of Dink’s assassination.

• Learn: Not all Armenians are great, and Carl Gugasian is one of them. Who is America’s most prominent serial bank robber? Read about him here.