Author: Nadirian Emma

EX-BOND STAR’S CAR SOLD AT AUCTION

Press Association
Monday 23rd June 2008

A classic car that once belonged to James Bond star Sir Sean Connery
has been sold for more than £17,000, auctioneers Bonhams have said.

The 1961 Bentley was one of 33 cars sold at a Rolls-Royce and Bentley
sale at Kelmarsh Hall, Northamptonshire, at the weekend.

The Bentley S2 Saloon, with an estimated price of £12,000-15,000,
was eventually sold for £17,825 at the event.

The Bentley’s logbook shows Sir Sean – famed for his role in seven
James Bond films including From Russia With Love and Goldfinger –
owned it from July 5 1974 for five years.

The auction also included an array of unusual cars and "automobilia". A
1919/20 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Alpine Eagle sold for £170,900,
having been estimated to have a value of £140,000 to £160,000.

Another surprise sell was a Louis Vuitton trunk, formerly owned by
Armenian playboy Nubar Sarkis Gulbenkian.

Mr Gulbenkian, who died in 1972 aged 75, made his money in oil and
was famed for his eccentric lifestyle and love of cars – driving a
custom-built gold and black car designed to look like a London taxi
and powered by a Rolls-Royce engine.

His trunk was estimated to sell for between £300 and £500, but sold
for £4,600.

James Knight, head of the international car department at Bonhams, and
auctioneer of the sale, said: "The sale realised close to £1,000,000,
with 88% of all lots selling. All of the more valuable cars sold well
– the strong prices achieved reflect the good depth of bidding and
interest in the top end of the market."

All sale prices included buyer’s premium.

–Boundary_(ID_1KD3IS4kqSgM0bd0rArhEg)–

Bogosian could help shore up weak defense
17-year-old ‘plays with a mean streak’

By MIKE KNOBLER
< shers/stories/2008/06/20/mailto:[email protected]&g t;
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/20/08

Thrashers fans gasped Friday night when NHL commissioner Gary Bettman
stepped to the microphone and said, "We have a trade to announce."

Their team was scheduled to pick next. Surely general manager Don
Waddell hadn’t traded away the defenseman of the future.

The trade, it turned out, involved other teams. Waddell chose Zach
Bogosian with the third overall pick. And the fans at the Thrashers’
draft party cheered. Maybe, just maybe, their team’s run of bad moves
and bad luck was at an end.

The hiring of John Anderson announced Friday afternoon gave them a coach
with a championship background, albeit at the minor-league level. And
the selection of Bogosian on Friday night gave them a player who might
immediately boost a defense that allowed more shots last season than any
other NHL team and tied for last in the league at 3.24 goals allowed per
game.

Could Thrashers fans dare to be optimistic?

"I’d like to try to be," said Barry Silsbee of Conyers, who applauded
both the hiring and the draft choice.

"It’s a new day, a new era for our franchise," Waddell said.

Bogosian, a 6-foot-2, 197-pounder who turns 18 next month, hopes to play
for the Thrashers right away. Waddell said he might.

"He’s a man," Waddell said. "He’s a very physical guy. When you shake
his hand, you know."

Bogosian led the Ontario Hockey League’s Peterborough Petes in scoring
last season but describes himself as a two-way player who takes care of
defense first.

Some scouts compare him to Rob Blake. Others see the influence of Hall
of Famer Ray Bourque, an assistant coach on the Cushing Academy team
Bogosian played for in 2004-05 and 2005-06.

"I like to compare myself to Chris Chelios, the way he competes,"
Bogosian said. "He plays with a mean streak, and I do, too."

The NHL’s Central Scouting Service ranked Bogosian the No. 2 North
American skater in the draft, but he went one pick behind defenseman
Drew Doughty, who was chosen by the Los Angeles Kings. Everyone knew
Tampa Bay was going to choose center Steven Stamkos with the top pick,
but the order of the next two picks was a secret.

Bogosian said he was happy to go to the Thrashers, with whom he had met
three times before the draft. He looks forward to playing on the same
team with Ilya Kovalchuk and reconnecting with veteran forward Todd
White. Bogosian was 6 when he met White, who was playing for Clarkson
University, not far from Bogosian’s hometown of Massena, N.Y., which is
on the Canadian border.

With the 29th pick of the first round the Thrashers chose center Daultan
Leveille, a Canadian Junior B player who is headed for Michigan State
this fall. They have picks in rounds 3-7 today. But Bogosian was the
headliner, the player who could offer the team immediate help and fill
one of its biggest needs.

His selection, and the hiring of Anderson, were popular moves, though
fans said it will take more to turn around a team that finished second
to last in the Eastern Conference.

"As far as initial steps, I think it’s in the right direction," Chris
Bennett of Atlanta said. "Now, it’s all going to come down to free agency."

Hundreds of miles away in Ottawa, Waddell agreed.

"This is No. 1," he said on the draft telecast. "We’ve got free agency
coming up."

Waddell is known for draft-day trades, and fans at the Thrashers’ party
weren’t the only ones wondering if Bogosian might be headed elsewhere
when Bettman stepped to the microphone.

"It was kind of in the back of my mind," Bogosian said. "Atlanta kept
their pick, and I’m pretty happy."

RUSSIA, ARMENIA TO STEP UP COOPERATION IN COMBATING TERRORISM, CRIME

Rossiya TV
June 20 2008
Russia

[Presenter] In Yerevan today, Russian Interior Minister Rashid
Nurgaliyev and the chief of the Armenian police, Alik Sargsyan,
have signed a cooperation agreement. The main task is to coordinate
law-enforcement agencies in their joint search of missing people and
to counter terrorism, corruption and organized crime.

[Nurgaliyev, addressing a meeting] The emerging situation dictates a
need to analyse once again the results of measures being taken and,
already taking into account today’s challenges and threats, to draw
up additional measures to strengthen cooperation, improve an exchange
of information, as well as to increase the effectiveness of joint
operational and search operations.

IN OPINION OF LEVON TER-PETROSIAN, ROBERT KOCHARIAN SHOULD STAND TRIAL OF ICJ, AND TITLES OF NATIONAL HEROES SHOULD BE CONFERRED ON VICTIMS OF MARCH 1 EVENTS

Noyan Tapan

Ju ne 20, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 20, NOYAN TAPAN. At the beginning of his speech at the
June 20 rally, the first Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosian asked
those present to observe a moment’s silence in memory of 10 citizens
killed during the March 1 events. Speaking about those events, he said
the the postelection situation in Armenia cannot be considered as an
ordinary postelection one because "the Mongol-Tatar regime opened
fire on its own people". "Be sure, sooner or later these criminals
will be held responsible to the people," L. Ter-Petrosian stated. In
his words, the second president of the RA Robert Kocharian must stand
a trial of the International Court of Justice in the Hague for what
happened on March 1. This statement of the leader of the National
Movement was followed by the crowd’s chanting: "Now!" L. Ter-Petrosian
noted that if it had been within his jurisdiction, it would have been
possible to punish R. Kocharian now – without delay.

L. Ter-Petrosian proposed that those killed during March 1 events
should be given titles of national heroes. He reminded that Russian
president Boris Yeltsin conferred such titles on the four people
who died during the 1991 Putch, and said that Armenia should take a
similar step.

PRIMATE OF DIOCESE OF IRAQ TO VISIT WERSTERN DIOCESE OF ARMENIAN CHURCH OF NORTH AMERICA

NOYAN TAPAN

Ju ne 19

ARMENIANS TODAY

His Eminence Archbishop Avak Assadourian, the Primate of the Diocese
of Iraq, will visit the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of
North America.

The high ranking guest clergy will celebrate the Divine Liturgy and
deliver the sermon according to the following schedule: St. Andrews
Armenian Church, Santa Clara Valley, on June 22, 2008, St. Gregory
the Illuminator Armenian Church, Pasadena, on June 29, 2008, St. James
Armenian Church, Los Angeles, on July 6, 2008.

The Primate of Iraq has previously visited the Western Diocese and
on several occasions celebrated the Divine Liturgy and delivered the
sermon to the faithful in a number of parishes.

It should also be mentioned that His Eminence was one of the
high-ranking clergymen accompanying His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme
Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, during the Pontiff’s May
2008 visit to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

‘KING’ ARTHUR READY TO CONQUER AMERICA
By Thomas Gerbasi

Maxboxing
p
June 18 2008

The blood was seemingly everywhere, turning Arthur Abraham’s light
blue trunks crimson. Every time he moved or was hit, more spewed from
his mouth, the product of a jaw broken in two places, the first crack
coming in the fourth round. To continue was a decision far and above
the call of duty when it comes to sport. This was simply a fight –
against Edison Miranda, against pain, against common sense.

"My coach (Ulli Wegner) and me have a motto," explained Abraham
to MaxBoxing through translator Heiko Mallwitz. "’Dead or alive,
but never on the knees.’ I’m a guy who never gives up, and it was
a question on honor for me. I never thought about giving up in the
fight; it was never a decision for me because I wanted to win, and
I will never give up."

Abraham fought on for eight more rounds at the Rittal Arena in Wetzlar,
Germany, spitting and swallowing copious amounts of blood en route to
winning a comfortable 12 round unanimous decision over Miranda. And
though the post-fight talk centered on some questionable officiating
from referee Randy Neumann, who deducted five points from Miranda,
there was no questions about the courageous performance of the IBF
middleweight champion, who chooses not to look back at his trial by
fire, but at the future, which for now means a Saturday rematch with
Miranda at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida (Showtime 9pm ET
/ PT).

"I’ve nearly forgotten the first fight with Miranda," he said. "I
fought four times after that and you have to look into the future
and show what you can do, so I’ve forgotten the old stories."

The 28-year old may feel that way now, but there will be no forgetting
that fall night in 2006, because to many fans, that was the night
that Abraham became real to them. No longer was the Armenian-born but
Germany-based fighter just another faceless alphabet titlist from
Europe. He had gone deep into the well against a highly-regarded
puncher, and still showed the skill and stones to get the job done
against the most imposing of odds.

Now people outside of Germany wanted to see what Abraham was about, and
though some fighters would never recover from a twice broken jaw and a
week in the hospital, if anything, ‘King’ Arthur has become even more
aggressive since the Miranda bout, knocking out his last four title
challengers after going the distance in his first three title defenses.

"In the Miranda fight I became much harder than before," he
admits. "With that fight I showed myself and I showed the world that
I was a tough guy, and it was a good experience for me."

Abraham’s unbeaten (26-0, 21 KOs) record and growing reputation
even saw his name thrown in the mix earlier this year for a
possible unification bout against Kelly Pavlik, but that fight
never materialized. Instead, Abraham and his promoter, Sauerland
Event, opted for a rematch with Miranda, Colombia’s free-swinging
trash talker. To add more intrigue to the bout, Abraham agreed to a
catchweight of 166 pounds and opted to fly to America to make his US
debut in Miranda’s adopted backyard of Florida. To most, it’s a risky
deal all around for Abraham, who didn’t need to take the rematch,
but he’s not bothered by it at all.

"The US is the number one market in boxing and all the legends have
boxed here, so it’s always been my wish to fight in America," said
Abraham. "Now with Miranda, it’s my first step to show the American
fans how good I am."

Is this a permanent move to super middleweight though?

"This is a special situation with Miranda and after this fight I will
go back to the middleweights, make a defense in Germany, and then my
big aim is to fight Kelly Pavlik," he said. "After that I will go up
to super middleweight for good."

Abraham hopes that a deal can be struck with Pavlik for a bout at
the end of 2008 or in the early part of 2009. It’s the biggest fight
for both men at this point, with Joe Calzaghe now expected to pass
up Pavlik in search of Roy Jones Jr, and with Abraham’s long hoped
for dream match against Oscar De La Hoya just that – a dream. But for
more than boxing purists to get excited about a Abraham vs Pavlik bout,
the Yerevan native must be impressive on Saturday – that means putting
all the entertaining trash talk aside and picking apart his foe in
a dominant fashion on national US television. No problem, says the
‘King’.

"I expect Miranda to be the same way he was the first fight," said
Abraham. "He’s not a nice guy and not a fair fighter. He’s a guy with a
big mouth but nothing behind it, and I will show him this on Saturday."

As for the even more important task of building a US fan base willing
to follow him and pay to watch him fight this country’s big names,
Arthur Abraham is confident that after the final bell on Saturday,
stateside fight fans will be firmly in his corner.

"I’m here to conquer America," he said. "Of course my aim is to beat
Miranda, that’s the most important thing, but if I do this and show
a good fight, I’m sure the American fans will like me."

ARMENIAN FM MEETS WITH JAVIER SOLANA

ArmInfo
2008-06-18 19:37:00

Today Foreign Minister of Armenia Eduard Nalbandyan met with EU High
Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana.

The Information and Press Department of the Foreign Ministry of
Armenia reports that Nalbandyan and Solana discussed the prospects
for developing Armenia-EU cooperation, the implementation of European
Neighborhood Policy, post-election processes in Armenia, the current
stage of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, the results of the
meeting of the Armenian and Azeri presidents in St.Petersburg.

EVERYBODY IS EQUAL BEFORE LAW, AND NO ONE CAN INFLUENCE MAYOR’S OFFICE ANY LONGER, YEREVAN DEPUTY MAYOR STATES

Noyan Tapan

Ju ne 16, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, NOYAN TAPAN. Today Yerevan Mayor’s Office is
concerned with the problem of construction, unauthorized constructions,
and land seizures in Yerevan. As Kamo Areyan, the First Deputy Yerevan
Mayor, said at the June 16 press conference, in the past months of
2008, 95 protocols on seizure of lands being state ownership and
starting unauthorized construction on them were made up, Mayor’s
Office pulled down 102 constructions, which exceeds the index of
the same period of the previous year four-fold. At the same time it
was mentioned that all 12 Prefectures of Yerevan in total made up 25
protocols on unauthorized construction.

According to K. Areyan, Mayor’s Office also imposed administrative
fines on trespassers. 79 cases were filed in the above mentioned
period, as a result of which administrative fine of 11m 660 thousand
drams (nearly 38.2 thousand USD) was collected, while only 5m drams was
collected in the same period of the previous year. This year in many
cases the fines were collected in accordance with court judgements:
10m 380 thousand drams has been already transferred to the state
budget on 45 cases. According to the Deputy Mayor, 59 cases are still
underway, and in case of a judgement in favor of Mayor’s Office,
21m 270 thousand drams will be transferred to the state budget.

According to K. Areyan, the only way of making trespassers execute
the requirements of the law is administration. "We have very serious
problems, and one thing is established exactly by the country’s
supreme power and Mayor: everybody is equal before the requirements
of the law. No one will be able to influence Mayor’s Office and town
authorities with his title, position, capital, influential relatives
any longer," K. Areyan said.

At the same time it was mentioned that local self-government bodies are
responsible for prevention, suspension of unauthorized constructions
and liquidation of their consequences, the Urban Developmet department
is responsible for current checkings of documents and construction
quality, and the general checking is carried out by Yerevan Mayor.

GREAT BRITAIN HAS ALWAYS STOOD OUT WITH THE EXCESSIVE LOYALTY TO THE OIL-PRODUCING COUNTRIES

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.06.2008 GMT+04:00

Azerbaijan indeed wants war not for the economic rise, but for the
poor socio-economic situation, in which the largest part of the
population has fallen.

The Azeri propaganda is becoming more and more fierce.

Baku turns for help to highly paid journalists and political analysts
of the West, who create the image of "prosperous and democratic"
Azerbaijan. On June 7 the British magazine The Guardian published
an article by Alexander Peterson about Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict,
where the author states Azerbaijan’s viewpoint without having taken
into consideration the truthfulness.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The article by Peterson is indeed an insult for
Armenia, NKR, as well as for the member countries of the OSCE Minsk
Group on the regulation of Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict. The article
says that "though Nagorno-Karabakh is considered independent, without
Armenia’s help it would never be able to exist and all the occupied
territories are recognized by the international community as belonging
to Azerbaijan".

According to Peterson, the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh has become
"a source of many transnational threats". "This is threatening
not only for the region, but also for the citizens of the European
countries. Besides, this situation creates chances for illegal drug
use, human trade, money-laundering, propagation of organized crime. In
this connection both the ANTO forces, which fight in Afghanistan
against transnational threats, and the European Union must make
serious efforts to eliminate such threatens in the regions close to
it," he says.

The author reminds that France, being one of the co-chairs of the OSCE
Minsk Group, must prepare the communication map of Europe for peaceful
regulation of the conflict, since France will be the next co-chair of
the EU. In this connection the official Paris must include the issue of
the conflict regulation in the agenda of the EU. "Europe must learn a
lesson from the Balkan conflict and prevent from having anything like
that again. Along with this, the uncertain and dangerous status quo
regarding Nagorno-Karabakh must not be allowed. Europe must realize
that the indifferent attitude towards the conflict in the neighboring
region will promote transnational threats," emphasizes the British
journalist. The appearance of such article in particular in British
magazine is not an accident. Great Britain has always stood out with
the excessive loyalty to the oil-producing countries, be it Azerbaijan,
or Iraq.

The huge oil reserves in Iraq became the stimulating factor in the
establishment of the Independent Iraq after the breakdown of the
Ottoman Empire exactly with the help of the same British reconnaissance
with the head of Lawrence of Arabia. So there is nothing new in
the article, only instead of Iraq, this time it is Azerbaijan. This
also concerns the USA, where the oil lobby acts rather successfully,
shutting the eyes to the violation of humane rights and democracy.

The response to the article did not come from Yerevan at all, as it
was expected, but from the Baroness Caroline Cox.. In the letter to
the editor of The Guardian, she writes: "I was in Nagorno-Karabakh
last week and I can personally reply to the accusations, according
to which Karabakh is nothing but a black hole, where drugs, weapons,
people are traded and where there is organized crime." So as it shows
the heroin trade on the streets of London, the trade of weapon in
Paris, and the underage prostitutes on the streets of Berlin come
from such conflicting zones as Karabakh. Such accusations are simply
insulting. The Armenians from Karabakh protected their country
from ethnic offense from Azerbaijan throughout the entire war,
which lasted from 1991 to 1994 and it is reflected in well-known
documents. During the war in Karabakh the Islamic terrorists fought
for Azerbaijan against the Armenians, who are now reconstructing the
destroyed country within the frames of all democratic principles. "My
letter is addressed to reject the insulting and absurd accusations
published in your magazine," says the letter of the Baroness Cox.

It is quite understandable that Armenia can never have these financial
resources, which Azerbaijan has for the propaganda. But ignoring such
articles which are becoming more and more frequent will be unwise.

Armenia has already come to the point to follow "the advice", according
to which, "it is time to give up the policy of creating the image
of the enemy in person of the Azerbaijani and Turks." "The partners
of Armenia may in the first place be Azerbaijan and Georgia and in
future Turkey. That is why I have called the Armenian party to pay more
attention to the prospective development of the region. Taking into
consideration the development of Azerbaijan in the military aspect,
Yerevan has no prospective," says the Deputy and the Leader of the
Democratic Reforms Party Acim Moladze.

Unfortunately the Armenian party does not have a response to this yet,
and it is very unlikely that there will. It is quite possible that
the official Yerevan makes certain announcements, but for some reason
these announcements do not reach the press. Is it the unwillingness
of saying own opinion, or is it simply a neglect; let them speak what
they want, the truth is anyway at our side. This is a rather weak
consolation, since Azerbaijan indeed wants war not for the economic
rise, but for the poor socio-economic situation, in which the largest
part of the population has fallen. Naturally, for poor people, the
war is the best method of surviving and the Azeri authorities take
advantage of it. Nobody knows for sure yet how they are going to act,
but one thing is sure – Armenia has almost lost the informational war.

COMMENTARY OF VICE-PREMIER, NKR MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE ARMO TSATRIAN

Azat Artsakh Daily,
16 June 08
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]

The Azerbaijani side has again brought up to date the issue of arsons,
which supposedly take place on the Karabakhi territory. How would you
comment on it? Answer: In recent years, at the beginning of summer,
the Azerbaijani side has made it a rule to accuse the Karabakhi
side of the frontier territory arsons, as a result of which the
fires allegedly spread over to the Azerbaijani side. In reality
everything is to the contrary. One of the main reasons of early fires
is the burning of the harvest remains by Azerbaijani farmers. On the
Azerbaijani side the harvest ripens two weeks earlier than in the NKR,
which is conditioned by the climatic zone. In dry and hot weather the
anabatic wind prevailing in our zone quickly spreads the fire from the
Azerbaijani territory to the territory of the NKR. It is no coincidence
that every year the fires start when the harvest of the grain crops in
Azerbaijan’s flat regions bordering the NKR is over. The fuss made by
the Azerbaijani side over the fires is exclusively of propagandistic
character. If Azerbaijan was really anxious about the early fires,
it wouldn’t have rejected the recommendations worked out as a result
of the visit to the region of the OSCE-led Environmental Assessment
Mission to fire-affected territories in 2006. The mission refuted
all the accusations of the Azerbaijani side suggesting the parties a
number of recommendations on prevention of fires and joint struggle
against them.

However, by Azerbaijan’s fault neither of them was implemented.

Moreover, the official Baku even refused to participate in the
meeting to discuss the results of the mission and the report prepared
by it. Such a stance of the official Baku convincingly demonstrates
Baku’s real motives in initiating the discussion of fires in political
organizations.