Author: Virabian Jhanna

SUMGAYIT ONE OF THE MOST POLLUTED CITIES OF THE WORLD

Today.Az
06 June 2007 [12:00]

Blacksmith Institute non-commercial scientific research made a list
of the most polluted industrial centers of the planet.

The city of Chernobyl, Ukraine leads the list. The city of Dzerjinsk,
Russia (Nijegorod province) comes the second.

It is followed by Haina (Dominican Republic), Kabwe (Zambia), La-Oroya
(Peru), Linfen (China) and Mailuu-Suu (Kyrgyzstan). Norilsk and
Rudnaya Pristan (Russia) and several cities of CIS countries are in
the top ten.

Komi and Magnitogorsk cities of Russia, Garachay island in Chelyabinsk
province, Kola peninsula and Volgograd were announced ecologically
dangerous cities.

The proximity of poisoned zones to big settlements was the main factor
during choosing. The main source of pollution is connected with the
production of heavy metals.

The list includes 35 industrial centers of the world. One of the
industrial centers of Azerbaijan, Sumgayit is also in this list.

HHK HOLDS FINAL DISCUSSIONS

Panorama.am
16:28 05/06/2007

The Armenian Republican Party (HHK) is holding final discussions on
forming a government with other political forces, Galust Sahakyan,
HHK board member, said today. "At this moment I mean only cooperation.

After the discussions, there will be a statement," he said.

Sahakyan said talks are conducted mainly with two, Prosperous Armenia
(BHK) and Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashkansutiun). He also
said cooperation with other parties may be "partial and deep." Partial
cooperation is possible in fields like, social or foreign policy. By
"deep cooperation" Sahakyan means sharing responsibility for the fate
of the country.

KARABAKH UNABLE TO POPULATE TERRITORIES ON ITS OWN – SEPARATIST LEADER

Arminfo
5 Jun 07

Yerevan, 5 June: Nagornyy Karabakh cannot handle the problem of
settling the territories under its control on its own, Nagornyy
Karabakh republic [NKR] president Arkadi Ghukasyan told a news
conference in Yerevan today.

He said that the process of resettlement requires a lot of money,
not just more than the NKR budget but more than the combined budgets
of Karabakh and Armenia. He said the question is whether to channel
the existing funds into the development of Karabakh villages harmed
during the war or to use them for populating the territories. As an
option, Ghukasyan suggested that each of Armenian "oligarchs" build
a village on those territories. He said this option would help avoid
the politicization of the issue.

[Passage omitted: Ghukasyan criticized Yerevan officials for
instructing Karabakh from their "warm offices" without offering
real help]

Thomas de Waal: If war breaks out over Karabakh, both sides will lose

armradio.am
04.06.2007 12:38

`I strongly believe that the Karabakh conflict can only be resolved if
there is an extremely creative approach to the problem of security and
sovereignty of Karabakh itself which lies at the centre of it,’
well-known British journalist, the leader of Caucasus program of
Institute of interpretation of problems of war and peace (IWRP), the
author of the book `Black Garden’ Thomas de Waal declared in response
to the questions of Analitika.az.

`The Karabakh Armenians will not accept simple `return’ to Azerbaijan `
remember that the last time they had friendly contact with Azerbaijan
was almost twenty years ago. And Azerbaijan will not accept the
separation of Karabakh or it joining Armenia. So some kind of special
status must be the solution,’ Thomas de Waal noted. He expressed
concern that that the dispute will drag out for a long time, because
there is very little original discussion about in on either side and
the majority of people are still focused on the idea of victory rather
than peace.

`Unfortunately the Karabakh dispute is still in a phase of `verbal war’
where both sides are trying to secure a complete victory over one
another. But that will never happen. A peaceful settlement means both
sides lose ` and in the end everyone wins,’ Thomas de Waal stated.

Turning to the issue of resumption of military action, Mr. Thomas de
Waal said he is against war. `I know that if war broke out over
Karabakh, both sides would lose ` Karabakh itself would be destroyed,
thousands of young Azerbaijani men would die in the minefields of
Aghdam and Fizuli and thousands of Armenians would die in the bombing
of the towns and villages of Karabakh. And reconciliation would be set
back by another couple of generations. That is why to my mind, peace is
the only option.

At the same time the British journalist said he does not see much
evidence that the ruling elite of either country cares passionately
about a quick resolution of the conflict. `It is not they are who are
suffering from the non-resolution of the conflict ` and in some ways it
directly benefits them. They certainly understand the long-term benefit
of a resolution of the conflict ` but they fear the short-term pain
that trying to reach a compromise would give them. Why make life
difficult for themselves? I believe that most international outside
powers (and I include Russia, whose position on Karabakh is much more
constructive than its position on Abkhazia and South Ossetia) want to
be rid of the headache of Karabakh and see the conflict resolved.
However, they are not so worried about it that ` in contrast to places
like Lebanon or Afghanistan ` they are prepared to send tens of
thousands of peacekeeping troops there.

Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918
Fax: 818.246.7353
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS RELEASE
June 4, 2007

Contact: Haig Hovsepian
Tel: (818) 500-1918

POWER Initative – 5th edition: Over 195 members of the house of
representatives have cosponsored GENOCIDE BILL

— Momentum builds as House Resolution nears 200 cosponsors

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Armenian National Committee of America – Western
Region (ANCA-WR) is pleased to announce that the POWER Initiative has
continued to build and increase support for the Armenian Genocide
Resolutions in both the House and Senate (H. Res. 106 and S. Res. 106).
Dubbed "Project Outreach Western Region – POWER", the ANCA-WR office has
been mobilizing ANC chapters throughout the western United States in
educating Armenian Americans on the status of the genocide resolutions
pending in both the House and Senate.

To date, Members of Congress from 11 states in the Western Region have
cosponsored H. Res. 106. Those cosponsoring the human rights legislation
include Members from California, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas,
South Dakota, Colorado, Oregon, Utah and Washington. According to an ANCA
study, 55% of the Western Region’s House Members have cosponsored H.Res.106.

In recent weeks, the ANCA-WR has worked with local activists to continue
securing meetings all across the country with congressional district
offices. The ANCA-WR recently met with Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA-29)
and Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-CA-31) to discuss the Armenian Genocide
resolution and other issues of concern to the Armenian American community.

"196 cosponsors demonstrates the strong bipartisan support that H. Res. 106
enjoys," remarked Andrew Kzirian, ANCA-WR Executive Director. "We are now
seeing a strong surge as the resolution pushes closer to 200 cosponsors,"
added Kzirian.

The Armenian National Committee of America is the largest and most
influential Armenian American grassroots political organization. Working in
coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout
the United States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA
actively advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad
range of issues.

24 FINALISTS IN GIFT 2007

KarabakhOpen
30-05-2007 10:25:12

The annual pan-Armenian song contest and festival Gift 2007 starts
June 1.

The organizers say its stile differs from the previous festivals. The
director of the contest Arthur Grigoryan, who is the director of
Yerevan Theater of Song, told the KarabakhOpen about the program of
the festival which focuses on activities outside the contest.

"We are preparing a meeting of finalists with the pastor of the Artsakh
Diocese Archbishop Pargev who will bless the contest. We also plan
to perform in one of the military units. We want to visit some sights
in Karabakh," Arthur Grigoryan said.

He also said after each day of contest the judges will hold a closed
meeting, and each participant may directly state their observation
to the judges.

24 singers from Armenia and Diaspora will take part in the
contest. Artsakh is represented by 4 participants who live in Yerevan.

MANAGERS IN INDIA AND ARGENTINA WORK THE MOST

Javno.hr, Croatia
May 29 2007

Business managers in India and Argentina work the most, as many as
57 hours a week, while those in Italy have the shortest week, 47 hours.

Business managers in India and Argentina work the most, as many as
57 hours a week, while those in Italy have the shortest working week,
47 hours, shows a research published on Tuesday.

London accounting company Grant Thornton International’s research
shows that a significantly greater number of business people in China,
Taiwan and India complained about greater stress at work this year
than the last.

Globalization and the growing technology development have increased
the pressure on business managers to always be available, says Kon
Yin Tong, one of the partners at Foo Kon Tan Grant Thornton, the
group’s Singapore affiliate.

The current challenge for business bosses is how to advance the
modern business practices in order to unplug from the pressure of
the increasingly demanding business lifestyle without losing their
competitive value at the same time, he adds.

The top ten countries on the list of those with the longest working
week are India and Argentina, with 57 hours each, Armenia, Australia
and Botswana with 56, Turkey, USA and the South African Republic with
55, and Singapore and Hong Kong with 54 hours each.

Furthermore, following the strong economic growth in Asia, a growing
number of business people in the region are complaining about stress
levels at work and China is in the first place in that respect.

CONSTRUCTION OF YOUTH CENTER OF CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIES TO BE COMPLETED IN YEREVAN BY LATE 2007

Noyan Tapan
May 29 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 29, NOYAN TAPAN. The construction of the Youth Center of
Creative Technologies will be completed in Yerevan by late 2007. Sem
Simonian, founder of Apygy Labs company, stated this during the May
29 meeting with the Armenian president.

He also infrormed the president about programs to be iplemented at
the center.

According to a press release submitted to NT by the RA president’s
press service, Robert Kocharian welcomed the idea of establishing
such a center and said that it may play a great role in forming the
culture of IT use in Armenia.

PanARMENIAN.Net

18-year-old Moscow resident confessed to killing 37 people
28.05.2007 13:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Moscow law enforcement is investigating a case
on crimes through national hatred. A 18-year-old student, Artur Ryno,
who was detained in mid-April as a suspect in the murder of an
Armenian, unexpectedly confessed to killing of several dozens of
people together with his friend, Pavel Skachevsky, a student of the
Russian State University, who is also kept in custody.

The youth told the police how he `punished’ and `cleaned the city’. At
first the details of his story seemed unbelievable to the
investigators, however later his evidence proved true.

If the evidence of the other crimes is found it will stir up a sharp
public reaction, since the matter will concern mass murders of
representatives of national minorities.

Ryno and Skachevsky were detained after the assassination of Karen
Abrahamyan near his house in Kedrov street April 17. The young people
plunged the businessman with a knife some 20 times and then
escaped. However, they were found and detained later.

It was cleared up that since August 2006 Ryno had killed 37 people. At
that 20 murders he committed with his accomplice Skachevsky. The
skinhead confessed to hatred towards Caucasians, who `come to Moscow,
unite and suppress Russians,’ Vremya Novostey newspaper reports.

MAY 12 PUT AN END TO QUASI-POLITICAL LEGENDS

Lragir.am
25-05-2007 14:56:22

The leader of the Christian Democratic Party Khosrov Harutiunyan
stated May 25 at the Pastark Club that their political team is
satisfied with the configuration of the parliament set on May 12. `I
wish Shavarsh Kocharyan’s National Democratic Party were also elected
to parliament, for instance. Although with only some exceptions there
is no pity for any of the forces that were not elected to parliament,
and thereby affected the quality of this political organization.’
Khosrov Harutiunyan suggests viewing the past election in this
light. Is the National Assembly able to justify the expectations of
the society, and are the political organizations that will be formed
able to meet challenges?

Khosrov Harutiunyan also commends the fact that May 12 `put an end to
quasi-political legends’, as well as the two new forces in the
National Assembly, the Bargavach Hayastan Party and the Heritage
Party. `The logic of the political struggle has shifted from political
confrontation to political pluralism. There is a chance to turn these
political achievements into tangible results for the society.’ And
according to him, the positive evaluation of the international
observers is a chance to rehabilitate the international reputation of
Armenia and its importance in the region. It should be cherished,
Khosrov Harutiunyan believes.

Nevertheless, it does not mean that the parliamentary corps will be
able to meet the expectations of the society, thinks the leader of the
Christian Democratic Party. He believes that it should be followed by
appointment of people with spotless biography whom people trust to
government posts. And the first thing that this government should do
is to battle arbitrariness, corruption, protectionism. Otherwise, the
presidential election will not be the logical continuation of the
parliamentary election, Khosrov Harutiunyan thinks.

The Republican Party which is ready to set up a coalition government
has not offered a proposal on collaboration to the Christian
Democratic Party; if there is any proposal, the party will consider
it. The Republican Party is now busy settling relations with the
forces which were elected to the National Assembly, the leader of the
CDP thinks. If the coalition should be formed after the model of 2003
`when they made backstage arrangements, it makes no difference the
government will be Republican or coalition. Coalition means a
discussion, which is open, visible, clear for the society, during
which the political force whose program is the best for that sphere
appoints to the given post.’ Khosrov Harutiunyan does not rule out
that the situation of 1999 repeats when representatives of other
parties were appointed to the government of Prime Minister Vazgen
Sargsyan who held majority in the parliament.