Author: Jagharian Tania

THE OSCE MISSION BEGAN MONITORING ON THE TERRITORIES OF THE AZERBAIJANI REPUBLIC AND NKR ARMED FORCES’ CONTACT LINE
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Oct 5 2006
In the morning of October 5, the OSCE Mission with the participation
of the NKR experts began its activity on assessment of the ecological
situation on the territories of the Azerbaijani Republic and Nagorno
Karabakh Republic armed forces contact-line. Currently the monitoring
is being carried out on the territories of the Azerbaijani side.
As it was informed earlier, at the request of the NKR leadership,
the monitoring had been postponed as the Karabakh side had put forward
definite demands on the format of conducting of the monitoring and sent
a corresponding note to the OSCE, the NKR MFA Press-Service reports.

LE PREMIER MINISTRE ARMENIEN RECU PAR JEAN-LOUIS DEBRE
Agence France Presse
4 octobre 2006 mercredi 4:18 PM GMT
Le Premier ministre armenien, Andranik Markarian, sera recu a l’Hôtel
de Lassay le 17 octobre par le president de l’Assemblee nationale,
Jean-Louis Debre, a-t-on appris mercredi de source parlementaire.
Cette visite interviendra moins d’une semaine après l’examen, le 12
octobre, d’une proposition de loi socialiste reprimant la negation
du genocide armenien.
Le texte, qui divise les partis au-dela du clivage droite/gauche,
prevoit de punir d’un an d’emprisonnement et de 45.000 euros d’amende
la negation du genocide armenien.
Il avait deja ete discute le 18 mai mais son examen avait ete
interrompu faute de temps. Les deputes UMP et le gouvernement avaient
multiplie les incidents de procedure pour retarder les debats. Le
vote n’avait pu avoir lieu.
La Turquie avait menace la France de retorsions commerciales.
Le texte a ete reinscrit par le groupe socialiste le 12 octobre dans sa
“niche” (seance d’initiative parlementaire).
En visite a Erevan, le 30 septembre, le president de la Republique
Jacques Chirac avait estime que la proposition de loi socialiste
“relève de la polemique”.
–Boundary_(ID_wzIiNIBsxN0k2Qx21 qDl9Q)–

NA TO CONSIDER LAW ON BODYGUARDS
Panorama.am
13:40 04/10/06
Vahan Hovanisyan, NA vice speaker, stood against the impressions
that the Law on Body Guards supports skinheads. “On the contrary,
it is about restriction of their rights and putting them under state
supervision,” Hovanisyan said.
Hrair Karapetyan, co-author of the law and chairman of Armenian
Revolutionary Federation block at NA, said, “We try to bring
illegal acts of body guards under the law.” The law will also cover
bodyguard services providing more complex procedures for their
licensing.

THE EU WILL PLAY ITS PART IN WORKING FOR PEACE – EU COMMISSAR
Author: A.Mammadova
TREND, Azerbaijan
Oct 3 2006
Trend’s exclusive interview with the EU commissar on Foreign
Relationships and European Security, Benita Ferrero-Valdner prior to
her tour of the region
Question: Are the arrangements of the EU trio to tour the South
Caucasus region in October confirmed? What is the route and program
of the visit?
Answer: Yes, the itinerary is now confirmed. On 2nd and 3rd October
the troika will travel first to Yerevan, then to Tbilisi, and lastly
to Baku. We will meet political leaders at the highest level, to
discuss progress in the Neighbourhood Policy Action Plans that we are
developing with each country, and the latest political situation in
the region, including the frozen conflicts.
Question: Azerbaijan urges that some items of the Action Plan for the
ENP do not take into account the country’s interests. What items of
the Action Plan are still to be co ordinated with Azerbaijan?
Answer: The EU has been consulting with the Azeri government on an
Action Plan to build on the existing Partnership and Co operation
Agreement. It is a plan that brings tangible benefits to both
partners – offering you a closer relationship with the EU, opening
up new opportunities for you in the huge European market, including
the Energy market, the chance for Azerbaijan to participate in EU
programmes, and a closer partnership on many issues of common interest.
Everything in the plan is there by mutual agreement and I am not aware
of any Azeri interests that have been neglected – quite the contrary.
I hope that the Action Plan can be finalised in time to be endorsed
by the EU Azerbaijan Co operation Council in mid November.
Question: Addressing the “Caspian Outlook 2008” Forum you stated that
the EU will support the reconstruction of important infrastructure
facilities and civil society projects in South Ossetia, Abkhazia and
Nagorno-Karabakh. Does it not mean the EU’s support to a separatist
regime and the non-recognition of the territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan and Georgia?
Answer: Not at all: we are completely committed to the territorial
integrity of both countries.
We very much want to see a diplomatic solution to all the conflicts
in the region. That means that right now, cool heads must prevail.
An escalation of tension could reignite conflicts with devastating
consequences for the whole region.
The EU will play its part in working for peace. The Neighbourhood
Policy is not a conflict prevention or settlement mechanism. But, by
promoting democracy and regional co operation, boosting national reform
programmes, and helping to improve socio economic prospects, I believe
we can contribute to creating the right climate for a settlement.
It is in that context that we say we are willing to do what we can in
terms of financial aid to support the reconstruction of the conflict
areas.

CHIRAC CALLS ON TURKEY TO “RECOGNIZE ITS PAST” IN CONNECTION WITH MASS KILLINGS OF ARMENIANS
International Herald Tribune, France
The Associated Press
Sept 30 2006
YEREVAN, Armenia French President Jacques Chirac called on Turkey on
Saturday to “recognize its past” in connection with the mass killings
of Armenians in the early 20th century.
“Turkey should acknowledge the mistakes of its past,” Chirac
said at a joint news conference with Armenian President Robert
Kocharian. “I believe that every country, in accordance with its
level of development, should acknowledge its tragic moments and the
mistakes of the past.”
A reporter had asked Chirac whether Turkey should have to recognize
the killings as genocide before being admitted to the European Union.
Armenians say that as many as 1.5 million of their ancestors were
killed in 1915-1923 in an organized campaign and have pushed for
recognition of the killings as genocide around the world. Turkey
rejects the claim that a mass evacuation and related deaths of
Armenians was genocide and says the death toll is inflated.
France’s parliament has officially recognized the killings as genocide,
and Chirac said in 2004 that Turkey would have to agree on that point
if it wanted to become an EU member.
YEREVAN, Armenia French President Jacques Chirac called on Turkey on
Saturday to “recognize its past” in connection with the mass killings
of Armenians in the early 20th century.
“Turkey should acknowledge the mistakes of its past,” Chirac
said at a joint news conference with Armenian President Robert
Kocharian. “I believe that every country, in accordance with its
level of development, should acknowledge its tragic moments and the
mistakes of the past.”
A reporter had asked Chirac whether Turkey should have to recognize
the killings as genocide before being admitted to the European Union.
Armenians say that as many as 1.5 million of their ancestors were
killed in 1915-1923 in an organized campaign and have pushed for
recognition of the killings as genocide around the world. Turkey
rejects the claim that a mass evacuation and related deaths of
Armenians was genocide and says the death toll is inflated.
France’s parliament has officially recognized the killings as genocide,
and Chirac said in 2004 that Turkey would have to agree on that point
if it wanted to become an EU member.

‘WHAT HAPPENED TO EU’S PRINCIPLE OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION?’
The New Anatolian, Turkey
Sept 29 2006
The Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson yesterday expressed dismay at the
exclusion of three Turkish-origin candidates from the Dutch elections,
describing the incident as a “bad precedent” which is contrary to
the European Union’s fundamental principle of freedom of expression.
Stressing that decisions on determining candidates and elections
procedures for the Dutch early general elections, set for Nov 22, are
an issue of domestic politics and stating views on this issue would be
wrong, spokesperson Namik Tan commented on the repercussions of the
issue in foreign policy.”Ankara is upset that political parties of
its friend and ally, the Netherlands, have one-sided views about the
Armenian genocide claims which is contrary to freedom of expression,”
Tan said in a written statement.
Three Turkish-origin candidates have been removed from the Dutch
elections list for not recognizing the Armenian genocide claims, ahead
of the early general elections. The removal of the three candidates —
Erdinc Sacan from the Dutch Labor Party (PVDA) and Ayhan Tonca and
Osman Elmaci from Christian Democratic Party (CDA) — is the result
of the activities of the Armenian lobby in the Netherlands.
Tan continued his criticism, saying that the baseless accusations
related to the Armenian genocide that have been covered in the media
are directed against Turkey and the Turkish nation and are unacceptable
to Ankara. “On an issue on which historians haven’t reached a
consensus, the one-sided view that was adopted by Turkey’s ally and
friend, the Netherlands’ political parties, by making recognition of
the genocide claims a pre-condition to becoming a candidate in the
elections, and without taking into consideration different views that
could be held by such candidates, sets a bad precedent.”
Recalling that Turkey opened its Ottoman archives, including military
ones, to contribute to efforts for an academic investigation of
the events of 1915, Tan also underlined that Ankara suggested the
establishment of a joint commission of Turkish and Armenian historians
to study the controversial genocide claims.
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson also stressed that developments like
the one in the Netherlands definitely do not contribute to Turkey’s
good-will efforts in the issue.

World’s Top 50 Richest: How They Made it
September-29-2006
Forbes is out with its list of The 400 Richest Americans.
Have you ever wondered how Forbes knows who to put on the list (and
where)? Here, in the magazine’s own words, is Forbes’ methodology:
Our estimates of people’s net worth are deliberately conservative and
should be considered `at least’ figures. We do our best to value
everything, from stakes in publicly traded or privately held
companies, real estate and investments in natural resources to art,
yachts and mansions. We dig through SEC documents and court records;
call analysts, employees, competitors and ex-wives; and look at
newspaper and magazine articles. We also take a hard look at
debt. However, we do not pretend to know everything on a private
balance sheet.
All numbers have been rounded to the nearest $100 million. All
publicly traded shares were priced Aug. 31. Privately held companies
are valued by coupling estimates (or, in some cases, company-provided
numbers) of revenues or profits to prevailing price/revenues or
price/earnings ratios for similar public companies.
I’m simply going to go through the list (in order) picking out those
names that might be of interest to readers of this article and saying
a few words about them (and their companies).
(I only selected billionaires who made the top 50.)
1 – William Henry Gates III ($53.0 billion)
Bill Gates, chairman of software giant Microsoft (MSFT), once again
takes the top spot. Today, more than half of Gates’ net worth is
invested outside of Microsoft. Despite a recent resurgence in its
share price, Microsoft is as cheap as it’s been in many years. The
stock has even started to catch the attention of some value
investors. Microsoft has been buying back shares and has plans to buy
back even more.
In June, Gates announced he will give up his day-to-day role at Microsoft;
however, he will remain the company’s chairman. This transition will be
completed in mid 2008.
2 – Warren Edward Buffett ($46.0 billion)
_Warren Buffett_
( ruName=3DWarren+Buffett) ,
chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), finds himself in a familiar
spot – right behind his good friend Bill Gates. Unlike Gates, Buffett
still keeps the vast majority of his net worth in a single
stock. Shares of Berkshire are up over the past twelve months.
As a result, Buffett’s net worth increased, despite the beginning of
the process that will ultimately lead to Buffett giving tens of
billions of dollars to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (and four
other charities started by members of his family). The secret to
Buffett’s success: since 1965, Berkshire’s value has compounded at an
annual rate of 21.5%.
6 – Jim C. Walton ($15.7 billion)
Jim Walton is the first of several Waltons on the list. Forbes has
been incredibly lucky with their top two richest Americans, Gates and
Buffett. It’s hard to imagine two more memorable men. It’s also hard
to imagine two more similar men who appear to be so different. Gates
is high-tech; Buffet is low-tech. Gates is young (actually, he’s 50
now); Buffett is old (at 76, he’s nowhere near the oldest on the
list). Gates made his money through innovation and
entrepreneurship. Buffett (unlike most self-made billionaires) made
his fortune by steering clear of both innovation and entrepreneurship,
seeking out investments in businesses that don’t change.
I recently saw a headline refer to _Warren Buffett_
( ruName=3DWarren+Buffett) as
an “entrepreneur”. Buffett is many things – but, an entrepreneur isn’t
one of them. Like many on the list, he’s an investor and a
businessman. Unlike many on the list, he has no appetite for direct
entrepreneurship. He has bought many businesses from entrepreneurs –
and those entrepreneurs continue to work for him at Berkshire. But,
the man at the top is no entrepreneur.
What does all this have to do with the Waltons? The only man that
would be as interesting a headliner for Forbes as Gates or Buffett is
Sam Walton. Of course, the founder of Wal-Mart (_WMT_
( ol=3DWMT) ) has been dead
for more than a decade now. Still, if the Walton family’s wealth is
aggregated it easily tops the list. In fact, it would now be close to
$80 billion.
9 – Michael Dell ($15.5 billion)
The eponymous founder of computer maker Dell (DELL) saw his net worth
decline over the last year as the market cut his company’s share price
in half.
Apparently, Michael Dell only has about a third of his net worth in
sharesof Dell. Part of that outside wealth is invested in _Eddie
Lampert_
( .php?GuruName=3DEdward+Lampert) ‘s
ESL investments.
Like Microsoft, Dell has started to attract the attention of some
value investors, as its price-to-earnings multiple has contracted in
the face of growing pessimism. The long-term growth outlook for Dell
certainly isn’t what it used to be; but, then again, the stock’s P/E
ratio isn’t what it used to be either.
12 – Sergey Brin ($14.1 billion)
Despite being only 41, Michael Dell isn’t even close to the youngest
name on the list. Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page (both
33), are the youngest on the list. Actually, there are eleven
billionaires on the list who are younger than Dell. But, of those
eleven, only Brin and Page are in the top twenty-five.
What’s the chance Brin and Page will eventually top the list? It’s
hard to say. But, there are a few factors going against them. The
biggest is that they’ve already sold a lot of stock. Gates, Buffett,
and the Waltons demonstrate the importance of keeping a very large
stake in a single company (at least during the period of fast growth),
thus allowing your wealth to compound atan annual rate far greater
than the advance in the general market. Selling this much stocks this
early (and planning to give away quite a bit) could keep Page and Brin
from topping the list, even if Google continues to grow at its
unfathomably fast pace.
Google isn’t cheap; so, the company will have to grow very fast just
to prevent a sharp decline in the price of its shares. Despite
Google’s youth,the company is already quite large – perhaps too large
to provide the growth needed to lift Brin and Page to the top spots.
With a market cap of $123 billion, Page and Brin’s Google is already
about half the size of Bill Gates’ Microsoft (which has a market cap
of $266 billion) and just a tad smaller than _Warren Buffett_
( ruName=3DWarren+Buffett) ‘s
Berkshire Hathaway (which has a market cap of $144 billion).
On the other hand, Gates and Buffett are both giving away their money
as well; so, that should keep them from pulling too far ahead of the
pack.
21 – Forrest Edward Mars Jr. ($10.5 billion)
Mars is one of the most valuable private companies in the United
States. It also happens to be a truly unique company. As a result, the
estimated net worth of the Mars family isn’t really comparable to the
estimated net worth of billionaires with stakes in public
companies. Remember how Forbes describedits methodology:
Privately held companies are valued by coupling estimates (or, in some
cases, company-provided numbers) of revenues or profits to prevailing
price/revenues or price/earnings ratios for similar public companies.
The problem with this approach is that there simply isn’t any public
company “similar” to Mars. Don’t believe me? Below is a list of Mars’
major brands.
Snackfood: M&M, Mars, Milky Way, Snickers, and Twix.
Petcare: Pedigree, Cesar, Whiskas, and Sheba
Main Meal Food: Uncle Ben’s
Let’s try to find some companies similar to Mars. There’s Hershey
(HSY).
That company has sales of $5 billion and a market cap of $12
billion. It also happens to average a double-digit return on assets
and a consistently highfree cash flow margin. Last year, Hershey had
a 46.89% return on equity.
Tootsie Roll (TR) has sales of just under $500 million and a market
cap of nearly $1.6 billion. That company generally averages a return
on assets inthe high single digits or low double digits along with a
consistent double-digit FCF margin.
Cadbury Schweppes (CSG) has sales of just under $12 billion and a
market cap of about $22 billion. However, Cadbury isn’t really all
that similar to Mars. Cadbury is actually an unusually capital
intensive business that even includes some bottling operations; Mars,
by all accounts, ties up very little capital in areas outside of the
company’s core competency.
Many of Cadbury’s brands were recently acquired rather than internally
developed long ago (as is the case at Mars). As a result, Cadbury
Schweppeshas some of the most bloated confectionary operations of any
confectioner with strong global brands.
This is evident in the company’s poor cost comparisons with the likes
of Hershey and Tootsie Roll in candies, Wrigley (WWY) in gum, and
Coca-Cola (KO) and Pepsi (PEP) in soft drinks. You’ll also notice that
Cadbury’s brands are generally in a weaker position than its
world-wide competitors in all of the areas in which it competes. Mars
is in exactly the opposite position.
Forbes estimates Mars has annual revenues of $19 billion. In the past,
Mars itself stated it had revenues of $18 billion (in 2005); so,
really the $19 billion number isn’t based on much actual guesswork by
Forbes – it’s essentially an acknowledged number.
As a public company, Mars would likely have a market cap of at least
$50 billion. Forbes doesn’t provide an explicit estimate for the value
of the company; however, based on the $10.5 billion net worth estimate
for the three members of the Mars family who made the list, it looks
like Forbes may be using an overly conservative estimate.
Mars is a private company (and not a very public one at that); so,
it’s nearly impossible to estimate the value of the company with any
accuracy.
However, based solely on the estimated sales number and the brands the
company owns, I would say it is considerably more likely that Mars
would have a public market value in the $45 – $60 billion range than
in the $30 – $35 billion range.
So, the members of the Mars family may actually be a lot closer to the
top five or ten names on the list than their twenty-first place
ranking suggests.
24 – Carl Icahn ($9.7 billion)
Today, Icahn is probably best known for his investment in Time Warner
(TWX).
But, during the past year, he’s actually been involved in several
major dust-ups that aren’t as high-profile as the Time Warner
saga. His investments in Korean cigarette maker KT&G and biotech
company ImClone (IMCL) have made headlines. Icahn also makes
investments (particularly in smaller companies) that get little or no
attention. For example, during the last year, Icahn purchased shares
of Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) and BJ’s Wholesale Club (BJ) among
others.
Whether he’s called a “shareholder activist” or a “corporate raider”,
the implication is clear. Carl Icahn is rarely friendly to the
existing management at the companies he invests in. In fact, he’s
often unabashedly hostile =80` as he was in his Sepetember 20 th
letter to ImClone Chairman David Kies. Thisis how Icahn concluded that
letter:
You should recognize that your leadership of ImClone should come to an
immediate end. The time has come for you to peacefully pass the baton
to a successor who will be able to bring strong leadership back to
ImClone. If you fail to do so, you will have thrown down the gauntlet
and we will have to react accordingly.
Not exactly poetry – but, it gets the point across.
26 – Kirk Kerkorian ($9.0 billion)
There’s been more than enough written about General Motors (GM) over
the past year; so, I won’t add anything here. I will, however, mention
that one point made by some blogs (and even some “mainstream” media
sources) is nonsensical. It’s been written (presumably with a straight
face) that Kerkorian can’t possibly be making a long-term investment
in GM, because (at 89) he simply doesn’t have enough time left to see
such an investment through.
The strongest argument against this line of reasoning is that making
investment decisions based on your anticipation of imminent death is
akin to making life choices based on the belief that you don’t have
free will and all future events are predestined. In both cases, if
your assumption is correct, you gain little or nothing. If your
assumption is incorrect, you lose a lot.
Besides, all of this assumes you have no interest in leaving greater
wealth behind (whether to charity or your family), which seems rather
absurd.
Kerkorian isn’t exactly forgoing his own enjoyment; he already has far
more money than he could ever spend on himself (that would be true
even if he were 29 instead of 89).
Also, it’s worth noting that Phil Carret lived to be 101. I don’t mean
to suggest Kerkorian may live just as long; rather, I mean to suggest
even at 89, you could be hanging up your cleats twelve years too
early. To put that in perspective, if the average American male
expected to die twelve years before he actually did, he would be
planning to die around the time he would start collecting Social
Security.
As a rule, investors who are as passionate as Kerkorian usually die
long before they retire.
30 – Philip H. Knight ($7.9 billion)
Phil Knight, chairman of athletic footwear and apparel giant Nike
(NKE), no longer serves as CEO of the company he founded; but, as the
departure of Bill Perez demonstrated, Knight still runs the show.
Former SC Johnson executive Bill Perez only lasted a little over a
year in the top job, before being replaced by long-time Nike employee
Mark Parker. Mr.
Parker has spent most of his career at Nike. The fifty year-old CEO
has been with Nike for more than a quarter century. He was given the
CEO job (and a directorship) in January of this year.
31 – Philip F. Anschutz ($7.8 billion)
Phil Anschutz keeps appearing in the strangest places. His Walden
Media production company produced the mega-hit movie The Lion, The
Witch, and The Wardrobe, an adaptation of the first of C.S. Lewis’
seven Chronicles of Narnia books.
Lately, most of what has been written about Anschutz has focused on
his politics – which is unfortunate, because the man is one of the
mostfascinating investors around. Anschutz has made several
interesting (and often contrarian) investments in his lifetime. His
past investments in publicly traded Union Pacific (UNP) and Qwest (Q)
are well-known (Anschutz is Qwest’s founder).
Through his private holding company, Anschutz has made investments in
energy, media, professional sports, and real estate. Lately, he has
been withdrawing from his role in these investments to focus on his
entertainment ventures (including Walden Media).
32 – Keith Rupert Murdoch ($7.7 billion)
The past year has been an unusual one for News Corp (NWS) chairman
Rupert Murdoch in that much of what was written about him didn’t focus
on his politics (or his personal life). MySpace is now the favorite
subject for those writing about Murdoch.
News Corp’s $580 million acquisition of online social network MySpace
has been written about extensively. MySpace seems to come up in nearly
every discussion of large media companies. For example, the firing of
Tom Freston, CEO of Viacom (VIA), was perceived as being due in part
to his failure to acquire MySpace.
News Corp’s stock price has risen considerably over the past
year. Right now, the biggest story surrounding the stock is continued
speculation that Murdoch and Malone will work out a deal involving the
disposition of Liberty Media’s 16% stake in News Corp.
34 – Charles Ergen ($7.6 billion)
Charles Ergen, founder of satellite TV company EchoStar (_DISH_
( bol=3DDISH) ) is generally
well respected on Wall Street. However, the Street’s view of his
company has dimmed considerably over the last year.
The problem isn’t specific to his company. The outlook is simply a lot
more pessimistic for both of the big satellite TV operators, DirecTV
(_DTV_ ( V) ) and
EchoStar. The “triple play” threat from cable companies who can bundle
phone, internet, and television services at a reduced monthly rate has
slowed subscriber growth at EchoStar and DirectTV. There’s also some
fear that phone companies will be able to compete effectively with the
other television service providers.
Fairholme, a highly concentrated mutual fund, currently has about 10%
of its assets invested in EchoStar, making it one of the fund’s big
positions along with Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) and Canadian Natural
Resources (CNQ).
Fairholme’s manager, _Bruce Berkowitz_
( GuruName=3DBruce+Berkowitz) ,
gave his opinion of Charles Ergen in an interview with Value Investor
Insight:
“We think Charlie Ergen is a great jockey who has done an unbelievable
job, who clearly has skin in the game=80¦”
35 – Sumner M. Redstone ($7.5 billion)
The 83 year-old Redstone now serves as chairman of two separate public
companies, CBS (CBS) and Viacom (VIA). Of the two, Viacom was supposed
tobe the fast grower; CBS was the stodgy old media stock. Since the
split: CBS is up, Viacom is down, and Freston is out. Sumner Redstone
fired Tom Freston, CEOof Viacom, earlier this month.
38 – Donald Edward Newhouse ($7.3 billion)
Donald Newhouse runs privately held media company Advance Publications
with his brother, Samuel Newhouse. Donald and Samuel’s father (also
named Samuel) began purchasing stakes in newspapers during the 1920s.
Many of those early investments were forgettable. For instance,
Samuel’s first purchase, The Fitchburg Daily News, went out of
business within a year of his investment. Two of Samuel’s purchases
proved to be critical to the company’s success. In 1934, Newhouse
purchased a majority stake in the Newark Ledger. Five years later, he
bought the Newark Star-Eagle and combined histwo Newark properties to
create The Star-Ledger.
Today, The Star-Ledger is New Jersey’s largest daily newspaper by
far. In fact, it has a daily circulation greater than that of its next
three New Jersey competitors combined. The Star-Ledger is one of the
top twelve American dailies by circulation, with a weekday circulation
of approximately 400,000 and a Sunday circulation of over 600,000. The
paper has one of America’s lowest staff to circulation ratios and
manages to generate more advertising revenue than some other papers
with slightly higher circulation numbers.
Advance Publications (named for the Staten Island Advance, a paper
acquired by Newhouse in 1922) probably has annual sales of over $6
billion. The company is the second largest magazine publisher in the
U.S. – onlyTime Warner (TWX) is larger. The company’s magazine
properties include such high-profile names as The New Yorker, Vanity
Fair, and Vogue. However, the company’s low-profile newspaper
properties are responsible for much of the value Forbes sees in the
media company.
Advance also has stakes in cable properties and has substantial online
operations.
49 – Steven Paul Jobs ($4.9 billion)
Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer (AAPL), actually has most of his
wealth in Disney (DIS). As a result of the merger between Disney and
Pixar, Jobs has a 15% stake in Disney, making him that company’s
largest shareholder.
Approximately $4 billion of Jobs’ estimated $4.9 billion net worth is
attributable to his stake in Disney.His ego may be invested in Apple;
but, his wealth is invested in Disney

PRESS RELEASE
Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) – Yerevan Office
53-55 Pavstos Byuzand Street, 375010
Yerevan, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Inessa Grigoryan
Tel: (+374 10) 522076; 562068
Fax: (+374 10) 522076
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
Children of Armenia Fund – New York Office
630 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2100,
New York, NY 10111, USA
Contact: Anna Sargsyan
Tel: 212 – 994 – 8201
Fax: 212 – 994 – 8299
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
UNICEF’s Armenia Office Representative Leads the Grand Opening of
COAF’s Psycho-Social Center
Dalarik, Republic of Armenia, September 26, 2006 ¾ Today, the United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF)
jointly held the grand opening of the Dalarik Psycho-Social Center. The
Center was initiated in June 2006 through a co-sponsorship between COAF
and UNICEF-Armenia. By making psycho-social services available to the
six communities of COAF’s Model Cluster ¾ Argina, Dalarik, Karakert,
Lernagog, Myasnikyan, and Shenik ¾ the partners aim to secure the
integration of children with special needs and their families in the
larger society.
The event host, Dr. Naira Gharakhanyan, COAF Community Development
Program Manager, introduced the guests, including the mayors and deputy
mayors of COAF’s Model Cluster villages, the Psycho-Social Center staff,
and other key members of the community. Also present at the event were
the student-journalists of the newly established Cluster Press Club and
a dozen beneficiaries of the Psycho-Social Center.
Mr. Sheldon Yett, the Representative of UNICEF-Armenia, led the
ribbon-cutting ceremony. In his address, Mr. Yett articulated the
significance of the program for children with special needs and
acknowledged the exceptional cooperation demonstrated by the local
municipality in the creation of the Center. Mr. Yett congratulated the
project staff, stressing the importance of teamwork among teachers,
parents, doctors and the community for achieving the shared vision and
project goal.
In turn, Dr. Naira Avetisyan, UNICEF-Armenia Child Protection Officer,
emphasized the positive impact of multi-level cooperation on the success
and sustained functioning of the Center. As an integral part of
UNICEF’s larger program in this domain, she highlighted the principal
aim of the Center in defending the rights of children, to give them the
opportunity to live and grow in a safe and supportive environment. Most
importantly, “we must raise public awareness of child’s rights,” by
training parents and educators on the rights of socially disadvantaged
or disabled children.
Dr. Arpie G. Balian, COAF’s Resident Country Director, spoke of the
importance of this partnership between COAF and UNICEF, “organizations
that have children at the center of every project they realize.” She
emphasized the importance of this partnership as part of COAF’s
Integrated Rural Development program and hoped for continued
cooperation. Dr. Balian also provided an overview of the initial data
gathered in the initial period of four-months since implementation of
the project. “These initial numbers show that such endeavors are
critically important, not only in the capital, but also for rural
Armenia.”
# # # # #

ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION HAS NO BOUNDERIES
A1+
[12:00 pm] 26 September, 2006
A number of Armenian, Azeri and Georgian journalists met in the
Georgian city of Shindis to discuss the issues of environment
protection and to find common ways of cooperation.
The Armenian and Azeri journalists focused on the issue of
mingling environment problems with political ones. They debated
on the rivers bordering the two countries. As we know the Azeri
side is constantly complaining that Armenia deliberately pollutes
the rivers flowing through Azerbaijan, whereas Armenia claims that
there is no evidence to prove it. The point is that the monitoring
is not perfect in either country, and the water quality of the
neighboring country is unknown. “Environment issues are often made
political. These issues often become the theme of such seminars but
they always remain insolvable,” noted Arevhat Grigoryan, an Armenian
specialist. Lilit Haroutyunyan, program coordinator of the environment
issues of the Caucasian region, added that the matter will find its
practical solution lest the countries shift the matter to political
sphere. “There is no political dialogue between the two countries,
and environment is beyond politics,” she said.
The Caucasian countries have got similar environmental problems –
the main concerns in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan are wood cutting,
wastes, and common utilization of the water pool.
The two-day seminar entitled “Assistance of political community,
state and mass media into the ecologic dialogue” and initiated by the
environmental protection centre of the Caucasian region was aimed at
revealing the common problems of the countries under question as well
as at finding ways for journalists to render assistance to countries,
NGOs and business sector. The journalists came to the conclusion
that the faults and shortcomings of the sphere are the same in the
three countries; the state bodies violate the laws regulating the
environment sphere, there are not willing to provide information and
sometimes we come across people in the sphere who are unaware of the
environment sphere and its problems.
“The state bodies, mass media and NGOs are on the way of development
and such debates will contribute to all sides,” noted Souren Deheyan,
representative of “Armenian Now” electoral weekly. By the way, the
journalists confessed that sometimes the journalist turns out to be
unaware of the problems of the sphere himself; he doesn’t understand
the information of the source properly or delivers it to the audience
in wrong way. “Eco-journalism is not so authoritative. In fact there
is an urgent need of serious and literate journalists. Journalists
can prevent new ecological calamities,” said manager of the program
Lela Janashia.

POPE BLESSES BROADCASTING OF ARMENIAN PROGRAMS IN VATICAN
ARMINFO News Agency
September 25, 2006 Monday
In Oct the Telepace Catholic TV channel in Vatican will start regular
broadcasting of Armenian programs, Abbot of Armenian Mkhitarian
Congregation, Archimandrite Haroutuyun Bezdikyan told ArmInfo.
Pope Benedict XVI will attend the opening of the program. Armenian
opera singer Magda Lazarian will sing Armenian sharakans.
The programs will be about the history and culture of the Armenian
Church, Armenians, Armenia, Armenian monuments.
To remind, Telepace broadcasts in 27 countries.