Author: Kajoyan Gevork

WIM WENDERS’ NEXT PROJECT WILL FEATURE AN OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHER PINA BAUSCH

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
19.05.2009 19:50 GMT+04:00

Director Wim Wenders’ next project is "Pina," a collaboration with
avant-garde choreographer Pina Bausch on what is being called the
first 3-D dance feature.

Shooting is set to begin in September, with digital film enthusiast
Wenders’ Neue Road Movies shingle producing in collaboration with
Bausch’s dance theater in Wuppertal, Germany.

"Only mainstream 3-D films have been available so far," Neue Road
producer Gian-Piero Ringel said. "With ‘Pina,’ we will offer the
first highly artistic 3-D film. We will set a new benchmark for 3-D."

Bausch, whose choreography is credited with revolutionizing the
language of modern dance, will act as choreographer for the dance
performance Wenders plans to capture on film.

French cinematographer Alain Derobe will lens the film.

Wenders, who won the Cannes festival’s Palme d’Or for "Paris, Texas,"
premiered his last feature, "Palermo Shooting," in 2008 in competition
at Cannes, Reuters reported.

ARMENIA PLACES TENTH IN EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

-places-tenth-in-eurovision-song-contest/

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)-Armenia’s representatives to the Eurovision
2009 song contest, sisters Inga and Anush Arshakyan, finished in
tenth place in the final round of the 25-nation contest held in the
Russian capital Moscow Saturday night.

Norway’s Alexander Rybak won first place, while Yohanna from Iceland
came in second and AySel & Arash from Azerbaijan placed in third. The
Armenian duo finished last, receiving only 92 points compared to the
387 points scored by Rybak.

Wearing traditional Armenian dance outfits, Anush and Inga performed
"Jan-Jan," a song combining English and Armenian lyrics with a mix of
traditional motifs and modern rhythms. The sisters Inga (27) and Anush
(28) are graduates of the jazz-vocal department of the Komitas State
Conservatory in Yerevan.

Last year Armenia’s Sirusho finished in fourth place, while Andre
(2006) and Hayko (2007) finished in eighth place.

Besides having placed last in this year’s competition, Eurovision
fans in Armenia were also disappointed that an image from Karabakh had
been removed from the Armenian performers’ final video. The video had
shown Karabakh’s 1967 "Tatik and Papik" ("Grandmother and Grandfather")
monument, which has become a symbol for the Republic.

Eurovision’s Russian hosts opted to have the image removed from the
Armenian video after Azerbaijani officials protested. Prior to the
decision, Azerbaijani media outlets lambasted the monument’s inclusion
in the video.

One outlet, the news website Day.az, said in a commentary that "the
Armenians and their friends from the Eurovision steering committee
used this monument [for] provocative political purposes."

The decision to remove the controversial video segment naturally
caused consternation in Yerevan. Armenia, however, found a way to
air its protest. As vote tallies were called in from Eurovision’s
42 participating countries, a live-broadcast on Yerevan’s Republic
Square featured a large screen with the Nagorno-Karabakh statue. The
presenter, Sirusho, raised a clipboard as she spoke which also included
an image of the monument.

In previous years, winners in the song contest were determined by
national televoting, with the total votes cast by viewers in each
country determining the country’s vote. This year, however, half the
total votes that would determine a winner came from televoting. The
other 50 percent was determined by national juries consisting of
five music-industry professionals in each country helped determine
the vote for each of the 42 countries allowed to vote.

Armenia has historically benefited from its large diaspora, as many
countries with large Armenian communities such as France and Russia
tended to vote for Armenia.

This year, Turkey’s voters gave 12 points (the highest score possible)
to ally Azerbaijan, while Azerbaijan returned the favor. The maximum
of 12 votes from Armenia went to Russia, while another Four went to
Turkey. Turkey gave six votes to Armenia. Armenia also gave one vote
to Azerbaijan. But Azerbaijan gave no votes to Armenia.

According to PanArmenian.net, Armenian Public Television has submitted
a complaint to Eurovision 2009, alleging Azeri contest officials of
gross violations of Eurovision rules, the Russian RIA Novosti news
agency reported on Monday.

According to a group of Azeri Internet users, PanArmenian said,
the portion of the screen with the phone number to call and vote for
Armenia was hidden in the Azeri broadcast of the contest.

AREN’T YOU TIRED OF MOBS?

A1+
08:54 pm | May 19, 2009

Today’s ARF campaign event was special not only for its female
audience.

ARF Bureau member Vahan Hovhannisyan started his speech with the
etymology of mobs and underscored that their party excludes this
working style because they are organized, follow the rules of the
game and don’t change leaders.

Underlining the ARF’s adherence to principles, the ARF Bureau member
informed that nobody left the party when the ARF dropped out of
the coalition.

In his speech, Vahan Hovhannisyan asked those present if they were
tired of the mobs and called on them to elect those who are not as
renowned as the other "authorities" on the lists.

"Today’s authorities are the mobs we are talking about," said member
of the ARF Bureau who promised that the party would prove that they
are the opposition.

Vahan Hovhannisyan also talked about women’s issues. "The ones who
are under pressure the most today are women. They are the easiest
target for all negative phenomena, including the social conditions,
trafficking, family violence and more."

"Yerevan has been kidnapped by a group of people," stated member of
the ARF Bureau, vice-president of "Socintern" Maria Titizian, who says
that she did not find the Homeland of her dreams after returning from
Canada. Maria Titizian is currently running in the Council of Elders
elections and as a woman, she understands the issues facing Armenian
women and wants to change the city.

The pivot of ARF top candidate Artsvik Minasyan’s speech were women
and he assured that if elected, men and women would work equally at
the Yerevan city council.

KOREAN SCIENTISTS CLAIM DISCOVERY OF H1N1 VACCINE

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
19.05.2009 13:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Researchers at a South Korean university say they
have discovered a candidate strain for an H1N1 vaccine, though it has
not yet been approved by health authorities in the United States or
the World Health Organization.

The strain is a genetically modified version of a live virus, and
could lead to a vaccine against H1N1 – commonly known as swine flu,
said Seo Sang-heui, a professor at Chungnam National University’s
College of Veterinary Medicine in South Korea.

"We created a candidate strain," Seo said Wednesday. The strain would
still have to undergo additional testing and tweaking, but Seo believes
it could be the right one to develop a vaccine.

He said the university is sending eight vials of the strain to the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Seo added that the CDC
had sent the university an original strain of the virus for testing.

CDC spokesman Dave Daigle said the agency has sent H1N1 strains to
roughly 10 labs around the world, but he had no information on South
Korea’s claims. He said the CDC would check out the university’s
research.

Researchers around the world are racing to come up with a vaccine
for the widespread virus, but the CDC and the WHO have said it could
take up to six months between the time a virus appears to the time
the vaccine is available to the public.

Earlier this month, WHO officials said candidate vaccine strains
would undergo quality-control measures and be evaluated in clinical
trials. If it meets certain criteria, a candidate vaccine would still
have to be approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration before
being available to patients in the United States, CNN reported.

Output is expected in September, after experiments are completed.

GREAT POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ARMENIA-MOROCCO RELATIONS

armradio.am
19.05.2009 16:49

On May 19 the Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia, Hovik
Abrahamyan, received the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of the Kingdom of Morocco to Armenia, Abdeljalil Saubry (seat in Kiev).

The Armenian Parliament Speaker suggested to promote the parliamentary
contacts between the two countries, which would give new impetus to
the development of cooperation between Armenia and Morocco.

The interlocutors agreed that a great potential existed for the
development of bilateral relations and discussed the perspectives
of cooperation.

During the conversation Ambassador Saubry introduced Mr. Abrahamyan
to the political and economic situation in Morocco.

ANC CONDUCTS MEETING IN YEREVAN

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
15.05.2009 19:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Around 3-5 thousand opposition cu-thinkers
are currently conducting meeting near the Institute of Ancient
Manuscripts. Police does not interfere with opposition leaders’
speeches. Meeting participants hold flags with slogans calling for
opposition leaders’ release. Activists switched on the record of Nikol
Pashinyan’s address. Editor-in-Chief of "Haykakan Zhamanak" daily calls
on meeting participants to follow their conscience and vote for ANC in
upcoming elections of Mayor and Aldermen’s Council of Yerevan. Levon
Ter-Petrosyan is also expected to deliver speech during the meeting.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE ARMENIAN DEATHS DURING WWI

The Associated Press State & Local Wire
May 15, 2009 Friday 12:11 AM GMT

Here’s a look at the dispute arising from the killings of up to 1.5
million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I:

Many history scholars, as well as Armenians, have referred to the
killings as a genocide.

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland recognized the killings as genocide in 2007,
and former President Ronald Reagan did so in 1981.

The Turkish government has argued that the killings were not a result
of genocide, but were caused by civil war. It also says many Muslims
were killed by Armenian Christians.

President Obama in April referred to the killings as one of the
greatest "atrocities" during the 20th Century, but did not use the term
"genocide."

He said during his campaign that the killings constituted genocide. The
Bush administration also did not use the term "genocide."

U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt alleges that congressional challenger David
Krikorian made false campaign statements when he said that Schmidt
received campaign donations from Turkish interests in return for
helping them deny that a genocide took place.

RUSSIA WELCOMES REGULAR MEETINGS BY ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS: RUSSIAN SECURITY COUNCIL DEPUTY HEAD

Today.Az
2321.html
May 15 2009
Azerbaijan

"Russia welcomes the regular meetings on the resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents,
ITAR-TASS quoted Russian Security Council Deputy Secretary Yuri Zubakov
as saying at an international conference "Security and Cooperation
in the Caucasus and around it" held upon Armenian Security Council
initiative in Yerevan.

"The recent bilateral summit in Prague was fourth for the last
11 months," Zubakov said pointing to visit between Azerbaijani and
Armenian presidents in Prague. "Though some important issues regarding
major principles of the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
have not been solved yet, the evolving trend gives ground for careful
optimism," he said.

"Russia opposes imposing recipes on conflicting sides from outside,"
Zubakov said. He said "the conflicting sides must make a final
choice."The proposals which will contribute to peace and stability
in the South Caucasus and that will not turn the region to arena of
international political and military rivalry will be vital," he said.

"The important is not to prepare abstract and unrealistic global
plans which take into consideration interests of only one side,
but which seeks real resolution," Zubakov said.

ARMENIA’S ARMAVIA MAY PAY UP TO $50 MLN FOR 2 SUPERJET PLANES

Prime-Tass English-language Business Newswire
May 13, 2009 Wednesday 6:02 PM EET

Armenian airline Armavia may pay $40 million to $50 million for two
Sukhoi Superjet 100 planes, Mikhail Bagdasarov, president of Armenia’s
Mika Limited holding, which owns Armavia, said Wednesday.

Armavia plans to acquire the first aircraft in October-November,
and the second aircraft during 2010.

The final cost depends on the price of the second aircraft, which
has not been set yet.

The cost of a SuperJet 100 plane amounts to U.S. $28 million,
but Russia’s Sukhoi Civil Aircraft negotiates the price for each
particular aircraft order, a spokesperson for Sukhoi said recently.

At present, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft has 98 firm orders for SuperJet
100 planes.

The SuperJet 100 regional passenger plane is Russia’s first all-new
passenger aircraft since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

BAKU FEARS LEST ARMENIA AND TURKEY SHOULD REACH AGREEMENT

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
13.05.2009 18:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey always seeked to satisfy Azerbaijan, and PM
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent statement in Baku fully fits the logic
of such policy, Turkologist Artak Shakaryan told a PanARMENIAN.Net
correspondent. "Turkey’s stance on Karabakh is not so tough as premier
Erdogan thought in Baku. Only because the statement was made in Baku it
sounded so tough," Mr. Shakarayan noted. According to the Turkologist,
Azrbaijan perfectly realizes that Armenian-Turkish talks continue,
considering Washington and Moscow’s interest in the process. Baku fears
lest American scenario should work, leading to Armenian-Turkish ties
normalization. Not to be left alone in such situation, Baku needs
Moscow’s support," Mr. Shakaryan stressed.

After meeting with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev in Baku, Erdogan
declared Turkey’s determination of not opening border unless Karabakh
issue is settled. "The current situation in Nagorno Karabak cannot
and will not ever be accepted. Border was closed because of Karabakh
conflict," Turkish premier told a news conference in Baku.