Author: Emil Lazarian

New York Daily News
July 28, 2006

Ozzy knows best

Alloy of heavy metal headlines Osbourne festival

By GENE SANTORO
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Ozzy Osbourne

The music commonly gets shoved under just one moniker: heavy metal.
But the sounds huddled below that handy banner cover a wide range of
styles and sensibilities. There ‘s speed, goth, nu, thrash, alt and
prog-rock strains of metal. And nowhere is this range on healthier
display than at the annual Ozzfest show, which will have its wicked
way with Randalls Island tomorrow.
Though the great and powerful Ozzy Osbourne himself appears at only
some of the dates on this year’s version of the 27-city tour, New
York is among them. Fans can also expect to be pummeled by Disturbed,
Hatebreed, Atreyu, Avenged Sevenfold, Black Label Society, Bleeding
Through and Norma Jean.

Two of this year’s leading bands, System of a Down and Lacuna Coil
represent the breadth of the genre nicely.

System guitarist Daron Malakian likes to say, "They call us nu metal
or prog-rock, but there’s all sorts of stuff mixed in what we do."

>From the quartet’s 1995 start in Hollywood, their hard-hitting mix
has even included addressing social issues in their lyrics. The
Armenian-Americans have stirred controversy with songs like
"P.L.U.C.K.," about the death-by-starvation of 1.5 million Armenians
in 1915. After Sept. 11, 2001, Clear Channel Radio whisked their hit
single "Chop Suey!" off the air, citing lyrics like "Trust in my
self-righteous suicide." It was nominated for a Grammy.

This year they bagged a Grammy for "B.Y.O.B.," which questions the
value of war.

At the moodier end of the spectrum is Italy’s Lacuna Coil, a novelty
here because of singer Cristina Scabbia.

"In Europe, this is common, to have a woman singing this music," she
says. "But in America, it is so unusual that journalists made a big
thing of it. I really don’t get this. Music doesn’t have a sex."

Formed in 1996, Lacuna Coil finalized its six-piece lineup with
trademark male/female vocal tradeoffs three years later. They toured
steadily in Europe, then tried to break into the U.S. – something no
Italian band had managed.

But in 2002, "Comalies" made it to U.S. radio and MTV. Two years
later, the band headlined European and U.S. club tours while joining
Ozzfest’s second stage. This spring, "Karmacode" debuted at No. 28 on
Billboard’s pop-album charts. Now, Lacuna Coil appears on Ozzfest’s
main stage.

"Naturally we are delighted," Scabbia says. "We worked very hard to
get here. But we are Italians, [so] we are even happier about the
World Cup."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance
22 Concord Lane
Cambridge, MA 02138
Contact: Bianca Bagatourian
Tel: 617-871-6764
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

"THE ARMENIAN DRAMATIC ARTS ALLIANCE HOSTS LUNCHEON IN HOLLYWOOD FOR
SIMONE ABKARIAN
Hollywood, Ca.

On Monday, July 24th, the newly formed Armenian Dramatic Arts
Alliance (ADAA) hosted a luncheon in honor of French Armenian actor/
director Simone Abkarian who was in town to direct Love’s Labor’s
Lost, a Shakespeare play for the Actor’s Gang Theater of Los Angeles.

The play which has been receiving rave reviews, can be seen at the
Ivy Substation in Culver City where it will run through September,
2006. It also features the wonderful music of composer and musician,
Ara Dabandjian.
Mr. Abkarian, who has had a distinguished film career, most recently
was in the Bahamas filming for the new James Bond film "Casino
Royale" due out in November this year.
The luncheon was attended by various Hollywood professionals as well
as a host of ADAA advisory board members including screenwriter Jose
Rivera, artist Vahe Berberian and journalist Joan Agajanian Quinn.
Some new faces amongst the group were FOX TV correspondent, Anita
Vogel, documentary film-maker Carla Garapedian and award wining
producer and casting director, Valerie McCaffrey. During the course
of the meal, board of directors members Karen Kondazian and Bianca
Bagatourian led a discussion regarding the goals and growth of the
Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance whose aim is to project the Armenian
voice through the arts of stage and screen. Various artists also had
a chance to talk about their particular needs and how ADAA could
serve them best. Through many such events and discussions, this new
non-profit organization hopes to establish specific channels through
which to help Armenian artists prosper in the dramatic performing
arts fields. More information and photos can be viewed at their
website at: or write to [email protected]

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian officials say premature to blame pilot error for May plane crash
that killed 113

AP Worldstream; Jul 28, 2006

A top Armenian air safety official said Friday that a Russian-led
investigation into the crash of a passenger jet that killed 113 people
in May could be premature in saying that the cause was pilot error.

Artyom Movsisian, head of Armenia’s civil aviation authority, said
that the exact cause of the crash of the Airbus-320 operated by
Armenia’s Armavia airline on the approach to the Russian resort town
of Sochi remained unclear.

"Was it problems with the pilot’s health or nervousness of the air
traffic controller or the pilot’s loss of direction? This remains to
be seen," he said, adding that the conclusions announced in Moscow
were only preliminary.

The airline’s security chief, Arshan Nalbandian, said the Russian
findings "do not correspond to reality because the investigation is
not over yet."

Tatyana Anodina, the head of a civil aviation agency that links Russia
with 11 other ex-Soviet republics, said Wednesday that the pilots
allowed the plane to descend too low as it faced bad weather on its
approach to Sochi airport.

Anodina added that an automated system warned the two pilots that the
plan was flying dangerously low, but that a last-ditch effort to gain
altitude failed to head off the crash into the Black Sea, according to
the ITAR-Tass news agency.

Everyone on board died in the May 3 crash, which came a month before a
Russian S7 Airlines A-310 went off the runway and slammed into a
building in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, killing 125 people.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VARDAN PETROSIAN IS IN YEREVAN AND AGAIN WITH NEW PERFORMANCE

YEREVAN, JULY 28, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Actor Vardan
Petrosian residing in Paris is again in Yerevan and since July 24 he
has been performing a new program, "What to Do?" at K.Stanislavski
Russian Dramatic Theater.

"In the performance "What to Do?" I do not want to give instructions
what should be done indeed, but I want to make a spiritual advance in
the people," Vardan Petrosian said at the July 28 weeting with
journalists at the Hayeli (Mirror) club. In his words, his new
performance is the logical continuation of the "Ascent." What I wanted
to say as if remained incomplete after the "Ascent" and this is
natural, as the subject of the Genocide occupies a great place in our
history," he emphasized.

The actor said that by means of the performance he tries to take such
facts out of history that were not touched upon before. In his
performance "What to Do?" V.Petrosian also touches upon the role of
the great powers, which, as he said, have a great "contribution" to
the misfortune of the Armenian people. "Making a historical excursus,
I once more prove that foreigners remain foreigners. And our people
won only when it pinned its hopes on the God and on itself."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Arka News Agency, Armenia
July 28, 2006

HEAD OF UN/WFP TO ARRIVE IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, July 28. /ARKA/. A delegation of the UN World Food program
(WFP) headed by James Morris is to arrive for a visit to Armenia on
August 1-3, 2006, Liana Khachatrya, press secretary of the WFP
Armenia office, told ARKA.
She reported that James Morrison is to hold meetings with Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan and Premier Andranik Margaryan. The WFP
delegation is to visit Armenia’s regions, where the organization is
implementing its programs.
The WFP has been working in Armenia since 1993, providing aid to
220,000 socially vulnerable people every year. The organizations has
provided $75mln humanitarian aid. P.T. -0–

Today, Azerbaijan
July 28, 2006

Matthew Bryza to visit Azerbaijani lands under Armenian occupation
tomorrow

28 July 2006 [16:51] – Today.Az

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian
Affairs, US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza will
arrive in the Armenian capital Yerevan tomorrow.

APA reports that the US co-chair will arrive in Khankendi to meet
with head of the separatist regime functioning in the occupied
Azerbaijani lands Arkadi Gukasyan. He will come back to Yerevan on 30
July to continue to have talks there.

Mr.Bryza is due to visit Baku on July 31 – August 1.

The co-chair will have talks with President Ilham Aliyev, Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, head of Azerbaijani community of Nagorno
Karabakh Nizami Bahmanov in the Azerbaijani capital.

Bryza will inform other co-chairs Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia) and
Bernard Fassier (France) about his visits to the region.

The co-chairs said in their latest statement that they have nothing
to offer now, it is time for the Presidents to take steps. Bryza’s
visit to the region aims at introducing himself as co-chair.

URL:

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The New Anatolian, Turkey
July 28, 2006

Turkey brushes aside differences with Canada in evacuation effort

The New Anatolian / Ankara

Turkey is winning praise and thanks from Canadians for its
humanitarian efforts to save its people escaping from war-torn
Lebanon, notwithstanding tense relations between the two countries
since April.

Leaving aside tensions stemming from the Canadian government’s
decision to recognize the Armenian genocide claims and Ottawa’s moral
support for Israel in the current Lebanese fighting, a view strongly
opposed by Ankara, Turkish authorities and even citizens rushed to
help the evacuation of Canadians from Lebanon and to provide them
with all kinds of assistance before they left for their homeland.

While Canadian Ambassador to Turkey Yves Brodeur thanked Turkey
yesterday for its hospitality, the country’s newspapers called on
Canadians to take note and bear in mind that Turkey avoided
temptation by brushing aside differences when it comes to
humanitarian efforts. "The port of Mersin and the nearby airport in
Adana were instead opened wide for Canadians coming off chartered
ships," wrote the Montreal Gazette.

"Although it would have been an easy matter for the Turkish
authorities to find themselves too busy to return calls last week
when Canada requested the use of a Turkish port and airport to funnel
Canadians out of Lebanon as the principal staging post at Larnaca,
Greek Cyprus was overflowing with people from many nations, the
cooperation of Turkey’s government simplified the evacuation process
for many Canadians," the newspaper wrote. According to unofficial
data, authorities said yesterday that so far some 9,500 foreigners,
most of whom were Canadians and Australians, have been evacuated
through the port of Mersin.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, who arrived in Adana
yesterday to provide moral support to his country’s citizens escaping
the Israeli attacks in Lebanon, thanked Turkey in Turkish for the
country’s efforts in the humanitarian evacuation effort.

Turkish authorities also announced yesterday that the first
assistance sent by the Lighthouse Association has reached Lebanon.
According to the statement, 60 tons of aid reached and was
distributed in Beirut after a six-day journey.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agence France Presse — English
July 28, 2006 Friday 2:09 PM GMT

Police detain 27 illegal immigrants at Polish-German border

WARSAW, July 28 2006

Polish border guards and German police detained 27 illegal immigrants
aboard two trucks attempting to cross from Poland to Germany,
officials said Friday.

The immigrants — 12 Chinese, nine Vietnamese, four Armenians, one
Egyptian and a man whose nationality has not been established — were
detained at the western Polish town of Swiecko, border guard
spokesman Andrzej Kaminski told Poland’s PAP news agency.

Checks found 19 people aboard one truck at around midnight Thursday.
Several hours later, eight were discovered in a second truck. None
had identity documents.

The drivers of the two trucks face a jail term of up to three years
if found guilty of people-smuggling. The illegal immigrants are to be
expelled from Poland.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The New Anatolian, Turkey
July 28, 2006

WB says Turkey tackles corruption successfully

EkoTürk News Agency / Ankara

The World Bank released a new report titled `Anticorruption in
Transition 3-Who is Succeeding … And Why? ‘ taking a detailed look at
firm-level survey data and concluding that the studied region’s
progress in reducing corruption is unmistakable.
The study is the third in a series of World Bank reports tracking
levels of corruption in enterprise-state interactions since 1999.
Like its predecessors, the report draws on the Business Environment
and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS), a joint initiative of the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank.
The triennial survey, conducted most recently in 2005, covers 26
former socialist countries and Turkey, as well as five western
European comparator countries. The non-transition European
comparators are Germany, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain. More
than 20,000 firms have been interviewed since the inception of BEEPS.
"Since 2002, firms in most countries are paying bribes less
frequently and in relatively smaller amounts, and they report
corruption to be less of a problem than in the past," explains James
Anderson, co-author and Senior Economist in the World Bank’s Europe
and Central Asia region, "The common assumption that corruption is
steadily worsening does not stand up to scrutiny."
"Strong leadership is a key weapon in the fight against corruption.
Every country that has made measurable progress in reducing
corruption has had a strong champion who made transparency and
accountability top priorities," explains Cheryl Gray, co-author of
the study and Sector Director in the World Bank’s ECA region.
The study also comments about Turkey where it stands out in a way.
Those parts say;
On general corruption:
`For the first time in 2004/5, the BEEPS also was conducted in a
number of nontransition countries, including five European
comparators: Greece, Ireland, Germany, Portugal, and Spain. A sixth
comparator country, Turkey, has been included in all rounds of the
survey. The results confirm the widespread assumption that corruption
tends to be worse intransition countries than in Western Europe,
indicating that most transition countries – including the eight new
members of the European Union in Central and Eastern Europe – still
have a way to go in improving accountability in government. However,
along some dimensions of corruption the nontransition European
comparators – most notably Greece and occasionally Portugal, Turkey,
and the eastern part of Germany – fared worse than many transition
countries.
As with other measures of corruption, the impact of state capture is
perceived by firms to be somewhat lower in several European
comparators – Germany, Ireland, and Spain – but relatively high in
Portugal and Turkey and at about the average for transition countries
in Greece.
Firms in most transition countries – other than perhaps Estonia and
Slovenia – still report significantly higher levels of corruption than
Western European comparators – most notably Ireland, Spain, and
Germany, as some indicators in Greece, Portugal, and
Turkey are not too different than those in the transition countries.
Bribery appears to have worsened from already high levels in the
Kyrgyz Republic, from more moderate levels in Serbia and Montenegro,
and from previously low levels in Armenia. Of the comparator
countries, corruption in the tax system appears relatively higher in
Greece and Portugal, moderate in Turkey, and very low in Germany,
Ireland, and Spain.
Portugal and Turkey appear to have levels of corruption in customs
that are comparable to most of the new EU members, while bribery in
customs appears to be very low in Germany, Greece, Ireland, and
Spain.
Turkey appears to be tackling corruption successfully through a wide
variety of policy and institutional reforms, including a strengthened
supreme audit institution and a law on `Freedom of Information for
Citizens’ enacted in 2003 that has led to a major expansion in the
distribution of information to the public through government
websites.’

PanARMENIAN.Net

RA MFA: No One Treats Seriously Myths Invented by
Azerbaijan
28.07.2006 13:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Hearing Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov’s
statements one can suppose that this official speaks of a process he
is not concerned about, RA Foreign Ministry’s Acting Spokesman
Vladimir Karapetian said when commenting on the recent statement by
Mammadyarov on the Karabakh conflict settlement. `I think Azerbaijan
still suffers from the myths it invented and nobody but Azeris
believes in them or even takes seriously. The sooner they get rid of
these illusions the more possible will become the establishment of
stability and mutual trust in the region,’ Vladimir Karapetian said,
reported the RA MFA press office.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress