Author: Antonian Lara

REP. COHEN WINS RACIALLY CHARGED TENNESSEE PRIMARY BATTLE
Kris Alingod

All Headline News
75362
Aug 8 2008

Nashville, TN (AHN) – Freshman Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) won by a
landslide in Thursday’s Democratic primary election. Cohen won after
a highly contentious and racially charged battle with African-American
lawyer Nikki Tinker.

Unofficial results had Cohen leading 79-19 percent, proving that his
rival’s controversial TV ad linking him to the Ku Klux Klan had not
fooled voters.

Fliers asking, "Why do Steve Cohen and the Jews Hate Jesus?" written
by a controversial African-American minister who supported Tinker,
were distributed in Memphis during the race.

Cohen, who is Jewish, is favored to win the general election against
independent candidate Jake Ford. He is the first white U.S. congressman
in Tennessee to represent a predominantly black district. Cohen
recently sponsored a House bill "apologizing for the enslavement and
racial segregation of African-Americans." The bill passed last week.

Voters were apparently not bothered by reports that Cohen had assaulted
a filmmaker a day before the primary. The filmmaker, Peter Musurlian,
allegedly attempted to enter the lawmaker’s Memphis home. Cohen
says Musurlian has inaccurately reported his opposition to a House
bill condemning Turkey’s treatment of Armenia during World War II as
"genocide."

Tinker argued that an African-American should represent the district,
which has 60 percent black voters and only 35 percent whites. Her
campaign, however, earned the ire of even early supporters, including
EMILY’S List.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) had also repudiated the "incendiary attacks"
during the contest, and asked Democrats in the district to unite.

PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN APPROVES SUPPLEMENT TO 2007 LIST OF JUDGES’ PROMOTION

ARMENPRESS
Aug 6, 2008

YEREVAN, AUGUST 6, ARMENPRESS: President Serzh Sargsyan received
today Sheikh Saud Bin Sakr al Kasimi, the Ras al Khaima emirate’s
successor to the throne and the United Arab Emirate’s (U.A.E.) deputy
prime minister, and members of his entourage.

The presidential press service quoted Serzh Sargsyan as saying that he
was pleased with dynamically developing relations between Armenia and
the UA.E., saying also various-level reciprocal visits and partnership
projects have become more frequent in recent years.

"Armenia has always been striving to have friendly relations with
the Arab world, including Gulf countries and this is a historical
strive," he said. The Armenian president described the achievements
of the U.A.E. in recent years as impressive.

Stressing that there is a big potential for both countries to boost
their relations, President Sargsyan emphasized its full use. He said
the fact that trade between the two countries doubled in the last
six months is the testament of more active contacts between their
business people.

Sheikh Saud Bin Sakr al Kasimi thanked for the support of Armenia
to U.A.E.’s companies operating in Armenia expressing hope that
this partnership will continue. He said his country seeks to create
an environment of prosperity, stability and economic growth and is
cooperating with those countries which pursue these same objectives.

The two men spoke also about joint programs in development of tourism,
mining and other industrial sectors. Sargsyan said foreign investments
in Armenia bring not only new jobs and experience but also a new
quality and new culture. He pledged his government’s support to
these projects.

NO PROGRESS REPORTED IN MOSCOW TALKS ON GARABAGH

AzerNews Weekly
Aug 6 2008
Azerbaijan

Talks last week in Moscow between the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign
ministers seeking to settle the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict
produced no tangible result despite proceeding constructively.

The Azerbaijani minister, Elmar Mammadyarov, told a news conference
after meeting his counterpart on Friday that their meeting had
been beneficial and both sides decided to continue holding peace
talks. Also, he did not rule out that a meeting of the two countries`
presidents might soon take place.

The Armenian minister, Eduard Nalbandian, said both countries had
agreed to continue negotiating, using the conflict resolution agenda
introduced by OSCE mediators.

He also said the next face-to-face meeting might be held on the
sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in late September.

"We sense, today, how important such meetings are. Our meeting before
the UN session is possible, as well," Nalbandian said.

Mammadyarov and Nalbandian first had a one-on-one meeting at the
Russian foreign minister`s residence, followed by broad discussions
during a meeting attended by the co-chairs of the mediating OSCE Minsk
Group (MG). The members of the Minsk Group had held discussions in
the Russian capital prior to Thursday`s meeting of foreign ministers.

Meanwhile, Novruz Mammadov, head of the Azerbaijan President`s Office
international relations department, called upon the MG co-chairs to
step up effort at finding a solution to the long-standing dispute.

Mammadov expressed disappointment that some of the demands put forward
by Baku were not met.

"The co-chairs either don`t understand us or simply don`t want to
do so," he told a local TV channel. "As diplomats or experts on
conflicts, we respect their work. But the co-chairs should justify
and assert themselves. It is useless just to pass time, come and go,
and prolong the matter."

METAMORPHOSIS OF VIC DARCHINYAN
Igor Frank

411mania.com
/boxing/81966/Metamorphosis-of-Vic-Darchinyan.htm
Aug 4 2008
TX

Darchinyan wins another title but not before making some changes.

As I woke up Sunday morning in Tacoma Washington, I was still thinking
about a brilliant performance that Vic " The Raging Bull" Darchinyan
put on yesterday at the Emerald Queen Casino by ravaging his opponent
Dimitri Kirilov and thus earning his IBF super flyweight title.

What a difference a year makes. Last year I saw Darchinyan twice:
once in April beating undersized and overmatched Victor Burgos, who
ended up seriously hurt and in the hospital in Carson, California,
throwing a haymaker after a haymaker and the second time in Bridgeport,
Connecticut when Vic was separated from his senses by a perfectly
placed left hook of "The Flash" Nonito Donaire in what many considered
to be an upset of the year. In both fights Vic looked like a crude
banger, who threw one punch at a time with singular purpose to knock
you out, not much technique, just stocking and banging. It worked
for most of his career, but in a fight with Donaire, Flash was able
to time him and counterpunch with a lot of success and deliver a one
punch knock out that fans are still talking about. It was a kind of
punch that not many can recover from; consider that plus a near fatal
conclusion to a Burgos fight, that obviously bothered Darchinyan for
a while and many thought that Vic was damaged goods. When I previewed
this contest between Kirilov and Darchinyan a week ago I called it
a classic match up of boxer versus puncher and was not really sure
about the outcome, but the way the fight unfolded was a complete
surprise to me.

The puncher, Darchinyan turned boxer, he was on fire from the onset:
he moved, threw a lot of jabs and straight left hands right down
the middle.

Supposedly , Kirilov had a lot of experience fighting southpaws,
but he seemed lost in the ring with Vic, who moved his right leg on
the outside of Dmitri’s left leg and was always in perfect position
to fire a straight left hand that was landing with hammer like power
and an alarming regularity.

Darchinyan looked like he had more balance and he actually moved to
avoid blows from his adversary and his punches looked different:
they were straight and on target. From the second round on Vic
continued to throw dynamic, fast and accurate combinations of jabs
crosses hooks and uppercuts mixed in with thunderous body punches
that reverberated outside the ring and made me wince. Vic actually
boxed like a true professional with a confidence of a champion. It
was the most impressive performance that I have ever seen from Vic
and the most dramatic change that I have seen in a fighter in a long
time. By the end of the third round I started to worry for the safety
of Kirilov in lieu of him catching a huge amount of hard shots from
Vic, so I was relived when Dimitri was counted out at the beginning
of the fifth stanza and the fight was over.

Darchinyan promised a thriller and a knock out and he delivered in
a spectacular fashion.

So, as I was going down to a hotel lobby to get my morning coffee I was
still thinking about a miraculous transformation of Vic Darchinyan and
what could have caused it when I ran into a man I saw in Vic’s corner
last night. His name is Vazgen Badalian and he was called in from
Armenia to help after Vic parted with his trainer Billy Hussein. I
congratulated Vazgen on a tremendous victory and asked him what he
thought. He told me that he knew and trained Vic in Armenia since he
was eight years old and if Vic concentrates on task at hand he can
produce performances like that every time.

Mr. Vazgen Badalian is a famous and well respected trainer who has
developed a lot of amateur stand outs in Armenia and was in charge of
the Olympic team of that country. Let’s not forget that Vic Darchinyan
had a stellar amateur career: 178 fights, bronze medal at European
Championship in Greece in 1998, bronze medal in Goodwill Games in New
York in 1998, gold medal in European Championship in Ukraine in 1999
and was a member of Armenian Olympic team in 2000. One does not get
that far without knowing how to box. May be, Vic had so much success
in knocking people out that he forgot how to do it for a while. Well,
that time is over. Mr. Badalian brought Vic back to basics and brought
discipline back to his camp and Darchinyan looks to be a complete
fighter that has all the tools to compete on the elite level and he
is going to need all of it and more to vie with guys he called out:
Christian Mijares, Fernando Montiel and Nonito Donaire. In the ring,
Vic looks like a scorpion , predator, ready to strike at any time,
but in this fight he started to remind me of bare knuckle fighters of
19th century, guys that fought wars and did not mind spilling blood
and did not call it a sport." I like my style," said Darchinyan in
his post fight interview:" I am open, but you can not touch me." And
that certainly was the case on Saturday night when Vic stormed back on
the scene of super hot and talented 115 pound division in a dramatic
fashion and got himself right in the middle of some very intriguing
match ups.

NAGORNO-KARABAKH’S STATUS SHOULD REFLECT AZERBAIJAN’S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY – FOREIGN MINISTRY

Interfax News Agency
Aug 4 2008
Russia

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can only be resolved on the basis of a
phased approach and respect for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity,
Azeri Foreign Ministry spokesman Khazar Ibragim said on Monday.

"The following is on the negotiating table at the moment: the
conflict resolution should be phased, with Armenia withdrawing all
of its troops from the occupied lands, including Nagorno Karabakh,
in the first place, the return of Azeri refugees there, and only
after the relations between both [Armenian and Azeri] communities
are stabilized will the status of Nagorno Karabakh be determined,"
he told a briefing on Monday.

Azerbaijan’s position on this issue remains unchanged, and the
status of Nagorno Karabakh can only be determined in the framework
of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, he said.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s status should reflect Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity – Foreign Ministry (Part 2)

BAKU Aug 4

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can only be resolved on the basis of a
phased approach and respect for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity,
Azeri Foreign Ministry spokesman Khazar Ibragim said on Monday.

"The following is on the negotiating table at the moment: the
conflict resolution should be phased, with Armenia withdrawing all
of its troops from the occupied lands, including Nagorno Karabakh,
in the first place, the return of Azeri refugees there, and only
after the relations between both [Armenian and Azeri] communities
are stabilized will the status of Nagorno Karabakh be determined,"
he told a briefing on Monday.

Azerbaijan’s position on this issue remains unchanged, and the
status of Nagorno Karabakh can only be determined in the framework
of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, he said.

Last Friday, U.S. co-chairman of the OSCE (Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe) Matthew Bryza said after a meeting between
Azeri and Armenian foreign ministers that this status would be
determined by the vote Enhanced Coverage Linkingvote -Search using:
Biographies Plus News News, Most Recent 60 Days of the Karabakh
people themselves.

These are the basic principles mentioned earlier, the approximate
framework, Bryza said. Nothing has been agreed so far, he said.

What we have proposed is that Armenia should withdraw its troops from
the seven regions surrounding Nagorno Karabakh, peacekeepers should be
introduced to enable the return of displaced persons and refugees,
a corridor must be created which would link Armenia and Nagorno
Karabakh, and a vote Enhanced Coverage Linkingvote -Search using:
Biographies Plus News News, Most Recent 60 Days – be it a plebiscite
or a referendum, whatever, as long as it is a voting Enhanced Coverage
Linkingvoting -Search using: Biographies Plus News News, Most Recent
60 Days process – should be held to determine the future of Nagorno
Karabakh, its future status," Bryza said.

We do not know exactly when this will happen, he added.

All these modalities should be discussed, said Bryza.

KHAZAR IBRAHIM: "MATTHEW BRYZA REFUTES WHAT HE SAID A DAY BEFORE"

Azeri Press Agency
Aug 4 2008
Azerbaijan

Baku. Tamara Grigoryeva – APA. "If you pay attention to Matthew Bryza’s
statements, you will see that he either refutes them the next day,
or expresses quite different views. That’s why I do not want to
comment on Bryza’s recent statement", Spokesman fro Azerbaijan’s
Foreign Ministry Khazar Ibrahim said while taking a stance on the
statement of OSCE Minsk American Co-Chair Matthew Bryza in Moscow, APA
reports. Khazar Ibrahim lined up the issues on the table as follows:
the conflict will be solved stage-by-stage, units of Armenian army will
be withdrawn from Azerbaijani territories, all internally displaced
people (IDP) of Azerbaijan will return to their native lands and
Nagorno Karabkh’s status will be determined within the framework of
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity only after the communities have
normal relations. The diplomat said the importance of the negotiations
was that the process continued, but any progress was out of discussion.

"If there was any improvement, we could speak about new situation",
he said.

Matthew Bryza said in Moscow that the negotiations between Armenia and
Azerbaijan covered liberation of the regions around Nagorno Karabakh,
deployment of peacekeeping forces in the region and referendum
concerning Nagorno Karabakh’s status.

IN THE ARMED FORCES: MILITARY-ECONOMIC MANEUVERS
by Vladimir Mukhin

WPS Agency
What the Papers Say (Russia)
August 4, 2008 Monday
Russia

Overview of military exercises held in Russia last week; Large-scale
exercises were under way all last week in southern and eastern Russia,
involving over 20,000 personnel. The Southern federal district hosted
the Caucasus 2008 military exercises. The Siberian military district
hosted East 2008: a strategic command-staff exercise.

Large-scale exercises were under way all last week in southern and
eastern Russia. Over 20,000 personnel and 1,500 pieces of military
hardware participated in the maneuvers. Such events have been held
regularly in the Russian Federation in recent years. But this year,
judging by the tasks performed, their goals seemed more pragmatic –
closer to the real situation.

The Southern federal district hosted the Caucasus 2008 military
exercises. The Siberian military district hosted East 2008: a strategic
command-staff exercise for management of groups of troops (forces)
in Eastern Russia. In Moscow, the headquarters of the CIS Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) was used from July 30 to August 1
as the base for the second (theoretical) stage of a joint command-staff
exercise, Border 2008, in which questions of applying CSTO troops
to repel aggression against Armenia were worked out using maps (the
field stage of this exercise will be held in Armenia, August 18-22).

To all appearances, the scenario for the exercises in the Caucasus
is related to the actual situation in Georgia, which is making
preparations to use force to resolve the conflicts in South Ossetia
and Abkhazia, where most residents are Russian citizens and our
peacekeepers are present. In the event of an emergency situation, they
would be assisted by troops from the North Caucasus military district.

The maneuvers in Siberia were of a military-economic nature, rather
than purely military. Under the command of Army General Nikolai
Makarov, Chief of the General Staff, they studied and drilled
"a broad range of potential appropriate measures to ensure the
security of hydrocarbon transport across the territory of the Eastern
region." They also worked on training tasks aimed at "neutralizing
the consequences of environmental and industrial disasters, as well
as preventing terrorist attacks on civilian shipping and important
Armed Forces facilities."

Meanwhile, the officers gathered in Moscow were working hard on
exercise objectives in the event of a military conflict breaking out on
the borders of Armenia. This is a relevant topic, since in this region
there is some probability of hostilities aimed against Russia’s chief
ally in the Caucasus. There seem to be some problems with working out
military training objectives here. Exactly who should be viewed as
the aggressor for the purpose of these exercises: Azerbaijan, Turkey,
or someone else? Georgia’s relations with Russia are strained at
present; will Georgia permit transit of troops and forces traveling
from Russia and other CSTO countries to Armenia for the exercises?

Russia has been building up the strength of its armed units
stationed in the North and South Caucasus. Peacekeeping forces in the
unrecognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia have been reinforced. the 102nd
military base in Armenia has received substantial quantities of weapons
and ammunition, transferred there after the withdrawal of Russian
bases from Georgia. However, these forces aren’t providing complete
stability in the region. Terrorist attacks continue in Dagestan,
Chechnya, and Ingushetia (that is, in the very same republics where
exercises are being held); guerrillas have become more active. In
Georgia and Azerbaijan (concerning Nagorno-Karabakh), the likelihood
of large-scale hostilities has increased.

THE KEY SLOGAN OF THE UNYIELDING ARMENIAN OPPOSITION IS THE RESIGNATION OF PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN

arminfo
2008-08-01 22:07:00

ArmInfo. During an opposition rally today the leader of the Armenian
opposition, the first president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrossyan
criticized President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and demanded his
resignation.

He said that the key slogan of the unyielding Armenian opposition
was the resignation of President Sargsyan and the conduct of mid-term
presidential and parliamentary elections.

Ter-Petrossyan accused Sargsyan of usurping power through electoral
fraud on Feb 19 2008, participating in the organization of the Mar
1 massacres in Yerevan, wrecking the investigation of the events and
fully criminalizing the government agencies.

WAVE OF PROTESTS TO BE DIRECTED AGAINST TER-PETROSYAN

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on Aug 01, 2008
Armenia

"In the fight against the authorities or for power, the blood of an
Armenian was shed by another Armenian. If Ter-Petrosyan thinks that
the authorities will not manage to appease society unless he creates
a public support for them, he is sadly mistaken.

Some time in future, the wave of protests of the riotous society will
directed against Ter-Petrosyan if that society understands that his
programs were unrealizable from the outset," EDWARD ANTINYAN, Head
of the Armenian Liberal Progressive Party is convinced.

NEW MOTTO OF THE ALL ARMENIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT

A1+
[10:23 pm] 01 August, 2008

At his today’s speech made in the Matenadaran square Levon
Ter-Petrossian declared that from then on the motto of the All
Armenian Movement was Serzh Sargssian’s resignation and the holding of
special Presidential Elections. The demand is based on the following
accusations brought against Serzh Sargssian:

1)Privatization of power by holding falsified elections,

2) Having a share in the 1 March crime,

3) Hindering of the crime revelation,

4)Criminalization of the authorities.