Month: November 2009

GEORGE BENSON – ROMANTIC OF THE ROAD

ArmInfo
2009-11-12 17:58:00

ArmInfo. The sole concert of the legendary George Benson is expected
in Yerevan today on November 12.

Earlier today George Benson said in a press conference in Yerevan that
he has prepared rather rich concert program for his fans. Everyone has
his own ideas of George Benson’s music, he said and promised not to
disappoint anyone’s expectations. G. Benson admitted that every time
he tries to leave popular music for traditional jazz, he gets new
enemies. He is sure that traditional jazz like classical music will
never die. The musician said he likes improvising music which makes
jazz different and quite new and fresh every time it is performed.

According to Benson, he is a romantic and likes novelties and
creation. His family of 7 sons and 8 grandchildren is the best source
of inspiration for George Benson.

George Benson (born March 22, 1943) is a Grammy Award winning American
musician, whose recording career began at the age of twenty-one as
a jazz guitarist. At age ten he was heard by a talent scout and this
discovery led to his first recording, the R&B song "She Makes Me Mad,"
on the RCA label. He is also known as a pop, R&B, and scat singer.

This one time child prodigy topped the Billboard 200 in 1976 with the
triple-platinum album, Breezin’. He was also a major live attraction
in the UK during the 1980s. In lare 70s and 80s Benson was focusingon
pop, but early in 90s he returned back to classic jazz standards and
acoustics. This period of his creation, he cooperated with the famous
Count Basie – Orchestra and then he created his own Big Boss Band.

Georgie Benson’s concert in Yerevan will be held under auspices of
President Serzh Sargsyan and with support of the Armenian Culture
Ministry and Prospects of the 21st Century Festival.

12TH TELETHON OF "HAYASTAN" ALL-ARMENIAN FUND ON NOVEMBER 26

NKR Government Information and
Public Relations Department
November 10, 2009

The 12 th annual telethon of "Hayastan" All-Armenian Fund under the
title "Our Shoushi" will take place on November 26. Direct all over
the world transmission of it will be conducted through satellite,
cable and internet communications.

All the funds raised during the "Telethon 2009" will be aimed at
restoration of main vital infrastructures of Shoushi, thus introducing
considerable changes into the people’s life. There is a great number
of problems in Shoushi subject to solution. Depending on the size of
funds raised during the telethon, the list of paramount importance
programmes coordinated with the NKR Government such as internal water
supply system, roofs of the houses, complete overhaul of schools,
and accomplishment of central roads, will be specified. The NKR Prime
Minister Ara Haroutyunyan, the Executive Director of the Fund Ara
Vardanyan will partake in the telethon in Los Angeles.

The clip of the song, dedicated to the telethon is already ready.

The inauguration of the telethon by TV companies will be held with
the song "We and Our Mountains" Mane Hakobyan (music), Avet Barseghyan
(verse), Inga and Anoush Arshakyans’ performance.

A FAREWELL RECEPTION

We dnesday, 11 November 2009

RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received outgoing UN Resident
Coordinator and Permanent Representative in Armenia Ms Consuelo Vidal.

The Prime Minister highlighted and thanked Ms Vidal for her successful
efforts exerted during a four-year-long mission in Armenia, by noting
that the Resident Coordinator’s personal contribution was as much
valuable as the activities of all UN agencies.

In turn, Ms Vidal assured that she would continue as a good friend
of Armenia and expressed confidence that her successor will uphold
the traditions of interaction and will add a new relish to UN-Armenia
cooperation.

In conclusion, reaffirming his appreciation of Ms Vidal’s contribution,
Tigran Sargsyan wished her every success with her upcoming mission
in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA’S EUROPEAN PROSPECT: ILLUSION OR CREDO

Civilitas Foundation
Thursday, 12 November 2009 22:31 |

The Civilitas Foundation’s monthly public debate focused on Armenia’s
prospects and obstacles in European integration and cooperation
processes. The debate was moderated by Tatul Hakobyan, journalist
and Civilitas analyst, with panel participants, Tevan Poghosyan,
Executive Director of the International Center for Human Development,
as well as Nune Sargsyan, Executive Director of Internews Armenia.

During the discussion, Mr. Vartan Oskanian, President of the Board of
the Civilitas Foundation, said the following, "I am confident that
Armenia has no other choice but European integration. But in order
to be able to integrate, we need three-way cooperation among Europe,
Armenian society and the Armenian authorities. If this trilateral
cooperation doesn’t work right, or all sides don’t participate, these
processes will never come to a successful conclusion, and our people
will not benefit from them. Let’s leave aside membership issues for
a while. I have always said, even during my years in office, that
it is the process, not the membership itself that our people need
to benefit from, such that the population feels positive change as
a result of this cooperation, every day of their lives.

We need to demand from the Europeans that they be more serious about
their involvement. Europeans have to be more consistent in demanding
that Armenia fulfill its obligations whether regarding cooperation with
the EU, the Council of Europe, OSCE or NATO. These are obligations
that we have taken, and Europe – whether that means Eurocrats or a
broader Europe, doesn’t really matter – has to be more consistent in
expecting that obligations are met.

Secondly, our society has to be more demanding in their everyday
lives. The people’s unprompted claim to their rights is commensurate
with all things European. If we can be consistent in our everyday lives
in pursuing those values, we will put pressure on the government to
fulfill their commitments.

But the most important of the three is the government. I have been part
of the government, and one of the reasons why I decided not to remain
there any longer, is that it was already very difficult to explain to
the Europeans why our actions differ so much from our commitments. That
problem always existed, especially after elections when there were
some undemocratic developments in Armenia. You can imagine the plight
of the foreign minister every time the issue was brought up in Europe.

This last link, the government and its faith in European values, is
essential. My experience has shown that our successive governments
have not been prepared to fully adopt and apply these values. They
have at best been very selective.

There are two problems here. First: the authorities have regarded
the full adoption and application of European values as a threat
to their power. This will remain the case until we manage to create
appropriate checks and balances in our political system. Democracy,
human rights, free media will always be regarded by the authorities
as a threat to their monopoly of power.

The second problem is that all those years, people within the
government who had real power to bring real reform and change, did
not truly believe in European values, for various reasons: Soviet
influence, a way of thinking, education. Thus these two factors
have kept all Armenian governments from seriously engaging in these
processes. European values do not come with frequent official travels
to Paris and Brussels. We have to be able to bring the environment
of Paris and Brussels here, to our country. And it is essential, that
in those seats of authority where the real power lies to effectively
implement real reforms, that those seats be occupied by people for
whom these values are natural, inborn, who completely believe in
these values, and don’t think whether they might threaten their power."

AZERI, ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS TO DISCUSS KARABAKH AT MEETING IN EUROPE

Interfax
Nov 11 2009

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev has given his consent to another meeting
with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in one of the European capitals,
Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told journalists on Wednesday.

"The particular venue and the time of the meeting will be determined
within the next few days," Mammadyarov said.

"We are planning to hold a meeting between the Azeri and Armenian
presidents in a European city, after which we will continue
negotiations at the Foreign Ministry level within the framework of a
meeting between the OSCE foreign ministers in Athens on December 1-2,"
he said.

No new proposals on settling the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh have
been made so far, he said.

"We have been discussing the basic principles over the past five
years. Some nuances appear, and, unfortunately, Armenia is again
proposing that issues that we discussed earlier and on which we
thought we reached agreements be discussed again," Mammadyarov said.

"It is difficult to negotiate in such conditions. Therefore, we
should see seriously whether we are ready for progress, that is,
whether Armenia is ready for and wants progress or whether these are
just negotiations," Mammadyarov said.

TURKISH, AZERBAIJANI TO WAGE FRIENDLY FOREIGN POLICIES: OIC SECRETARY GENERAL

Trend
Nov 11 2009
Azerbaijan

The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) secretary general thinks
that Turkish and Azerbaijani foreign policies will be outlined with
mutual consent.

"As a Turkish citizen I think we have unbreakable ties with the
Azerbaijani people," OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told
media in Baku today. "I realized that long ago. I have been observing
it since 1970. I think Turkish and Azerbaijani foreign policies will
be conducted with mutual consent. Neither Turkey nor Azerbaijan will
give up each other’s interests. One should not create conditions that
cause provocations."

Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers Ahmet Davutoglu and Edward
Nalbandian signed the Ankara-Yerevan protocols in Zurich Oct. 10.

Diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey have been broken due
to Armenia’s claims of an alleged genocide, and its occupation of
Azerbaijani lands. The border between them has been broken since 1993.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
lost all of Nagorno-Karabakh except for Shusha and Khojali in
December 1991. In 1992-93, Armenian armed forces occupied Shusha,
Khojali and seven districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan
and Armenia signed a ceasefire in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE
Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. — are currently holding
peace negotiations.

PEACE TALKS ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT INTENSIFY, AZERBAIJANI FM

State Telegraph Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan
November 11, 2009 Wednesday

The negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have intensified
again, said Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov.

The Minister noted Azerbaijani side`s major demand during discussions
is the soonest withdrawal of Armenia`s troops from the occupied
territories.

Mammadyarov said during the latest visit to the region, OSCE Minsk
Group co-chairs were told again about Azerbaijan`s stance.

Armenia wants the status of Nagorno-Karabakh to be defined before the
troops are pulled out. This non-constructive position bring already
agreed matters back to the negotiating table. First and foremost, the
status may be defined only after Armenia leaves occupied Azerbaijani
lands, IDPs return to their homes with peace and stability restored.

According to him, Azerbaijan is ready to grant the high status to
Nagorno-Karabakh. However, the status will be determined within the
framework of Azerbaijans territorial integrity.

The Minister pointed out the sides are expected to meet during the
upcoming meeting of OSCE Foreign Ministers in Athens.
From: Baghdasarian

THERE WILL BE NO TWO-DIGIT ECONOMIC GROWTH IN ARMENIA IN COMING YEARS, IMF REPRESENTATIVE FORECASTS

NOYAN TAPAN
NOVEMBER 12, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 12, NOYAN TAPAN. The loans provided by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) to Armenia are usually used by the
Central Bank of Armenia (IMF) for replenishing its international
reserve fund, the IMF Representative to Armenia Nienke Oomes said
at the November 12 press conference. According to her, the Executive
Board of the IMF on October 30 approved a tranche of 60 million USD
to Armenia, which will also be provided for the replenishment of
the CBA’s reserve fund. N. Oomes announced that 480 million of the
promised 820 million-dollar loan has already been allocated to Armenia.

Commenting on the economic situation in Armenia, N. Oomes noted that
in the first nine months of 2009, GDP contracted by 18.3% which is a
"negative index". However, the decline stopped in September and a
1.7% growth was recorded. The GDP growth will be maintained in the
next three months, she forecast. In her words, the 18.3% decline in
GDP was caused by difficulties in construction sector in connection
with the global crisis. Another cause, according to her, is that
being cautious of the crisis, people stopped making investments in
the real estate market.

N. Oomes said the state revenues considerably fell in Armenia in the
first nine months of 2009 due to the financial and economic crisis. In
addition, there was a growth in state expenditures, and as a result,
the budget deficit increased to 7.5%. She forecast that in 2010,
the budget deficit will make up 5.8% of GDP, while GDP growth will
make 1.2% in 2010 and 3% in 2011. She said no double-digit economic
growth is expected in Armenia in the coming years.

ANDRE AGASSI DISCUSSES HIS NEW BOOK, "OPEN"

NBC News Transcripts
November 11, 2009 Wednesday
SHOW: Today 7:00 AM EST NBC

ANCHORS: MEREDITH VIEIRAEnhanced Coverage LinkingMEREDITH VIEIRA
-Search using: Biographies Plus News News, Most Recent 60 Days

LENGTH: 2292 words

MEREDITH VIEIRA, Enhanced Coverage LinkingMEREDITH VIEIRA, -Search
using: Biographies Plus News News, Most Recent 60 Days co-host:

Back now at 8:11 with tennis legend Andre Agassi. Following a 21-year
career filled with ups and downs, he made a memorable and emotional
exit from the professional stage in 2006 following a defeat at the
US Open. Since then, he has devoted most of his time to his family,
raising two children with wife and fellow tennis star Steffi Graf.

He’s also busy with the Andre Agassi College Prep Academy, a school
he started in his hometown of Las Vegas. And he is out with "Open:
An Autobiography," a new book about his life that contains some
shocking revelations.

Andre, good morning to you. Thanks for joining us.

Mr. ANDRE AGASSI: Good morning. It’s great to be here and see you.

VIEIRA: Shocking revelations for sure, beginning with your admission
that you hate tennis and almost always have. You talk about in this
book the pressure that your dad put on you from the time you were a
little boy to excel at this sport.

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah.

VIEIRA: You talk about your failed marriage to actress Brooke Shields.

You also talk about what was probably the lowest point in your life,
one of the lowest, and that’s the one that a lot of people are talking
about, your use of crystal meth.

Mr. AGASSI: Sure.

VIEIRA: We are going to touch on all of those. But first, you know,
you’re retired now. You’re not in the–in the public eye the same way
you used to be. You didn’t have to reveal all of this about your life.

Why did you make the decision to be so open?

Mr. AGASSI: Well, first of all, if you–if I were to do a book, I
wouldn’t do it halfway. It would be something that I feel somebody
can learn from or get inspired by as it relates to my story. But,
you know, I just–I found myself at a time in my life where I wanted
to take my story, find the story, the narrative in my life, and offer
that to people to help them. I think, you know, there’s millions of
people out there that wake up in a life that they didn’t choose for
themselves. And that’s what I found in my life. I never chose tennis.

I didn’t choose it until I was 27 years old. And, you know, what
do you do at that point, you know? And so I think–I think this can
be–have some real power.

VIEIRA: Your dad, Mike, is the one who chose tennis for you…

Mr. AGASSI: Hm. Yeah.

VIEIRA: …when you were little. You write about it extensively in the
book about, you know, standing on that tennis court and he’s created
sort of a jerry-rigged ball machine that fires balls at you. You
called it the monster, at 110 miles an hour. He didn’t want you to
just play tennis. He wanted you to be a champion. Why was he so hell
bent on that?

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah. I called it the dragon. But, you know, my father…

VIEIRA: The dragon, I’m sorry.

Mr. AGASSI: …my father had his own demons, if you will. You know,
he’s a man who grew up in Tehran, Iran, and he was a Christian
Armenian in a Muslim Tehran. His mom used to sort of make him wear
hand-me-down girls clothes to school, so from a young age, he was
getting in a lot of fights on the street and he’s a very driven man,
but he’s a fighter by nature. Came to America not speaking English,
put himself through school, raised four kids. Was very, very hard on
himself, very disciplined, but that sort of rage that he used to keep,
you know, he directed it at tennis. And I always felt he loved us,
it wasn’t an issue of that…

VIEIRA: Mm-hmm.

Mr. AGASSI: …it wasn’t an abusive thing, but it was an intensity
that if you didn’t play well, it changed the meal that night at your
house and, you know, for a seven-year-old, that leaves an impression.

VIEIRA: There’s a picture of you on the–actually on the back of the
book. I don’t know whether you’re six or seven at that point.

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah.

VIEIRA: When you look at that picture of you, who do you see? Who
was this little boy?

Mr. AGASSI: A pretty scared little guy, you know. I mean, I
internalized a lot, you know, and a lot of my pains my parents didn’t
see. But, you know, I watched three other siblings that I have, that
are older than me, go through, you know, a lot of the same emotions in
different ways. But I internalized, and I see somebody that’s scared,
somebody that doesn’t want to play the game.

VIEIRA: But you play it anyway.

Mr. AGASSI: But I played anyway. And that contradiction between what
I want to do and what I choose to do felt like core of my life.

VIEIRA: And you dad–sort of to give an indication to the readers of
just how much he wanted this for you, and how driven he was to see
you succeed…

Mr. AGASSI: Hm.

VIEIRA: …you tell a story about him giving you a little white pill
that turned out to be speed.

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah.

VIEIRA: You’re 11 years old…

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah.

VIEIRA: …and your brother had even warned you that this might happen.

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah, yeah. My father used to give me Excedrin before I
played matches for that caffeine. He thought it would help me, and
the Excedrin actually did help me. But then he got this one pill that
somebody told him was kind of a souped up Excedrin and he wanted to
give that a go. Anything to get me to achieve the American dream. And
that’s the thing I also point out in that particular scenario with
my father, which he would give me that, but the second I told him it
didn’t make me feel good or something was wrong, he would turn on a
dime. My father could deal with your pain and change if he knew your
pain, but a lot of times, he wasn’t aware of it.

VIEIRA: So at 14 you drop out of school. By 16 you’ve turned pro. By
20, you’re the darling on the tennis court. You’re known for–with the
rock star looks and that long hair. Comes 1990, the French Open. What
people don’t know is when they see the pictures of you–we’re going
to put it up–what they don’t know is that that hair wasn’t even
yours at that point. It was a weave. And on that day it was falling
out. You had it held together with bobby pins.

Mr. AGASSI: I did. The night before the finals of the French Open,
I used the wrong conditioner and it–my hair started to pull out of
it and it was about 80 percent off my head.

VIEIRA: So that’s another lie you were living. Why was that hair so
important to you?

Mr. AGASSI: I watched my brother lose his hair. It was very emotional
for him. That left an impression on me. Plus, it was so connected
to my image. It was so connected to what people said about me. And,
you know, I didn’t know myself, and when you don’t know yourself,
you’re not–you’re not comfortable in your own skin.

VIEIRA: Yeah.

Mr. AGASSI: And losing my hair was something I struggled with. I
actually had a lot of fun, though, writing about it, you know,
reflecting back on just how important it seemed.

VIEIRA: Yeah, to remember when, especially now that you have none. And
it was really your girlfriend at the time, Brooke Shields…

Mr. AGASSI: Hm.

VIEIRA: …who convinced you a few years later, said, `Look, just
shave your head.’

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah.

VIEIRA: And you went on to marry her, but in the book you say you
knew that it was wrong. You talk about at your wedding there was a
look-alike of her sort of to fend of the paparazzi, to throw them off.

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah.

VIEIRA: And you write the following in the book. "As I see the Brooke
look-alike leaving, I have a thought no man should have on his wedding
day: I wish I were leaving, too. I wish I had a decoy groom to take
my place." That was more than just jitters, wasn’t it?

Mr. AGASSI: It was. I think at that time of my life, I couldn’t have
been married to anybody. You know, I think timing is really important.

You need a marriage, two people that understand themselves before
you can start to figure out how life’s going to work together, and
I certainly didn’t understand myself.

VIEIRA: So why, Andre, did you go down that path, do you think now?

Mr. AGASSI: You know, it was so familiar to me. I mean, I played
tennis, something I didn’t want to do, and it was never–I was very
familiar with the feeling of doing something that I just don’t want to
do. I just never had a choice and I didn’t use–I didn’t make a good
decision. But it was a familiar feeling. I said, well, why not? I
mean, it’s–I’ve always given up on relationships and had two-year
blocks in my life historically. And here’s this two-year block and
it’s like maybe I could just figure it out.

VIEIRA: Speaking of why not, you said why not in 1997 when you married
Brooke Shields, and in 1997 you said why not to crystal meth.

Mr. AGASSI: Hm.

VIEIRA: A low point in your life. You are–you are–I don’t know,
who–Slim, your assistant at the time…

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah.

VIEIRA: …offered it to you and you said, and I’m quoting you now,
you said after you took it, "to get an undeniable satisfaction from
harming myself and shortening my career." That’s why you tried it.

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah. Well, I was depressed is really the big reason. I
mean, I found myself in a life I didn’t want to be in. I was doing
something that I hated, that I hadn’t chosen for myself. I was in a
marriage I didn’t want to be in and, you know, I was depressed. No
energy, pulling out of tournaments. And here somebody comes along and
offers me an escape and I took it and, you know, like most mistakes
that people make, they lead to more and more mistakes.

VIEIRA: Were you hoping that it would destroy your career?

Mr. AGASSI: I think in some sort of odd way. I was–I thought about
quitting many times and it was just hard for–hard for me. I never
quite had the strength to quit. I never–I wanted to continue in some
way. I had this conflict. And I just knew that maybe this will just
remove the choice for me. You know, it’s like–it’s like wishing
yourself injury on the court, which used to–I used to get that
feeling a lot, too. If I just fell over and broke my ankle, I mean,
gosh, I wouldn’t have to do this.

VIEIRA: And then there was the phone call that came that changed
everything.

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah.

VIEIRA: We’re going to come back and talk about that.

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah.

VIEIRA: Andre Agassi. And we’ll be back with more right after this.

***

VIEIRA: We are back talking to tennis legend Andre Agassi about his
new autobiography "Open."

Andre, thank you for sticking around.

Mr. AGASSI: Sure.

VIEIRA: We left off 1997. You start taking crystal meth with your
assistant. Towards the end of that year, you made a decision you want
to stop this and you want to start taking tennis seriously again,
because you’ve been losing consistently.

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah.

VIEIRA: And right about then you get a phone call from a member of
the tennis association, an official with USTA, actually…

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah.

VIEIRA: …saying that they’ve got a urine test on you and you’ve
tested positive for crystal meth. You have been caught.

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah, yeah.

VIEIRA: And you find yourself in yet again a lie. You write them a
letter and what do you say?

Mr. AGASSI: In the letter, I lie. I didn’t know what to do. I had
nowhere to turn. I was–I was…

VIEIRA: Because they want an explanation.

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah. I was ashamed of it, I was scared, I was panicked. I
had nobody to turn to because nobody knew in my life, and I wrote a
letter that was filled with lies. I said my assistant had a spiked
drink. It’s how he used to ingest the drug. He’s a known drug user,
and I took a sip of his–of his drink. And that came–that came on the
heels of me making a decision to not walk away from tennis. I was 141
in the world in Stuttgart when my coach said to me, you know, `Andre,
you’re too good for this. We’ve got to start over or we got to quit.’
And I remember looking out over traffic saying how many people go on
to lives that they–that they don’t want, lives they didn’t choose,
but they find reason to do it. And I committed that day to a life
that I’m going to choose. I can walk away from tennis. And it was
that moment when I chose tennis that a lot started to change. And
then that phone call came. Just…

VIEIRA: And then that phone call. But they bought your excuse. They
bought it. And then you realized now I really have a second chance.

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah.

VIEIRA: Every day is going to be a day of atonement, and you began to
turn your life around. The tennis improved, so did your personal life.

Mr. AGASSI: Well, I think that atonement is a great word and I think
this book, to be quite honest, is an atonement, because I, you know,
I had a lot more to lose in doing this than gain, you know? And–but
if a hit on my perception, it’s not–might not be what people perceive
of me, but it is the truth of me. And I think there’s a lot to be
gained from it.

VIEIRA: And as I said, your personal life also turned around.

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah.

VIEIRA: You–I mean, talk about the–some of the battles you’ve been
in. The toughest one was probably getting Steffi Graf’s attention,
your wife, right? You’d been trying for a long time and she just blew
you off time and time again. Finally, the two of you hit it off and
you got married and…

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah. Well, I had a phone call with her, you know, and
I was–and she had a boyfriend of six years and I think I had one of
the best lines ever in this conversation, because she was giving me no
inroads at all and I just–there was a pause on the phone and I just
said, `Six years is a long time.’ And there’s another pause and she
went, `Yes, it is.’ And I went, `Ah, I saw a little weakness there.’

VIEIRA: And you moved in for the kill, and the two of you got married.

You have two beautiful children now, Jaden and Jaz. You’re wearing
actually something that Jaden made for you. It says "Daddy Rocks."

Mr. AGASSI: Yeah. "Daddy Rocks." I haven’t taken it off in four years.

VIEIRA: All right. Thank you so much, so much I could talk to you
about. Andre Agassi…

Mr. AGASSI: Thank you.

VIEIRA: …thank you. The autobiography is called "Open." We’ll be
right back after your local news.

ARMENIA LOOKS TO EXTERNAL FINANCING FOR CONSTRUCTION OF OIL PRODUCT PIPELINE FROM IRAN

World Market Research Centre
Global Insight
November 11, 2009

Armenian minister for energy and natural resources Armen Moysisian
has said that Russia’s Gazprom is planning to finance 10% of the
cost of construction for an oil products pipeline that will connect
northern Iran to southern Armenia. Moysisian told Interfax that the
Russian gas giant will participate in the financing of the pipeline,
which is planned to link Tebriz in north-eastern Iran with Yeraskh in
southern Armenia, via its stake in ArmRosGazprom, the Russian-Armenian
venture that controls Armenia’s gas pipeline network. Moysisian said
that most of the financing for the estimated $250US-milion pipeline
will be provided by Iran.

Significance:Construction of the Armenian section of the oil products
pipeline, which will deliver gasoline (petrol) and diesel fuel to
Armenia from an oil processing plant in Tebriz, is expected to get
under way before the end of 2009, according to an Interfax report.

Moysisian said that the Armenia plans to build a storage terminal
in Yeraskh as well, from which the country can distribute oil
products throughout Armenia. Iran is itself struggling with a
domestic production capacity shortage in its refinery sector and
is reliant on imports to meet its demand, but at the same time it
is keen to develop long-term energy supply deals with neighbouring
states where possible, in order to counter its deepening isolation
given international sanctions. Armenia will not be allowed to buy
fuel at Iran’s heavily subsidised domestic prices.