Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

4 dead in ‘blood bath’ at Valley restaurant

At least two other people are injured as gunman opens fire at a mom-and-pop
cafe in Valley Village.

April 03, 2010|By My-Thuan Tran and Andrew Blankstein

A gunman opened fire at a mom-and-pop restaurant in Valley Village on
Saturday afternoon, killing four people and wounding at least two others,
Los Angeles police said.

The Hot Spot Cafe, a Mediterranean restaurant on Riverside Drive, was packed
with customers when a man walked in and opened fire around 4:40 p.m.,
according to police officials.

He remained at large late Saturday.

Police officials said the shootings occurred in a matter of moments.

After shots were fired, the customers ran out of the restaurant and
scattered on foot and in cars, they said.

The killer was a white male in his 30s, said Los Angeles police officer
Rosario Herrera.

Three people were declared dead at the scene, Herrera said. Several more
victims were taken to a hospital, where one later died, she said.

Police officials investigating the incident described the scene as a "blood
bath." They are examining evidence to see whether there was an accomplice,
according to officials.

"At this moment, it is an ongoing investigation," Herrera said. "We are
unsure of the motive and we don’t know exactly how it occurred." Law
enforcement sources, who asked not to be identified because the
investigation is ongoing, said they believe the shooting might have involved
Armenian gangs.But they also said that they have no evidence that the
victims were involved in gangs, noting that the case is in its early stages.

Several hours after the killings, police cordoned off Riverside Drive near
Colfax Avenue.

A large neon sign flashing "Mediterranean Restaurant" lit up as the sun set.
Tall leafy plants in pots sat in front of the windows.

A few hours before the shooting in Valley Village, two men were fatally shot
across town in the 160 block of E. 65th Street, Herrera said. The shooter
was at large Saturday night. Herrera said the two shooting incidents
probably were not related.

The shootings come after a series of killings in the last two weeks that
have diminished gains made this year in reducing the city’s homicide rate.

[email protected]
andrew.blankstein @latimes.com
Times staff writer Ruben Vives contributed to this report.

esctoday.com
April 3 2010

Warm welcome ceremony in Thessaloniki

Armenia: Eva Rivas visits Greece

Eva Rivas, who is going to represent Armenia in the Eurovision Song
Contest 2010, is already in Greece, promoting her song Apricot stone.

Eva Rivas was very warmly accepted by the Thessaloniki municipality
officials. Shortly after the welcome ceremony, the Armenian team
planted apricot trees, symbolizing a part of Armenia in Greece. Eva
was also interviewed by Greek TV channels, to which she said that she
is very happy to visit Greece, because this country is a part of her
motherland too, as far as her grandmother is Greek. Finally, she
performed a small part of her entry Apricot stone.

On the 3rd of April, she will perform in Thessaloniki along with other
Armenian singers. On the 5th of April, Eva will head to Athens.

You can watch Eva Rivas being welcomed in Thessaloniki in the video below.

YURI MERZLYAKOV: ARMENIAN SIDE EXPRESSED DISAGREEMENT WITH SOME POINTS

Noyan Tapan
Apr 2, 2010

MOSCOW, APRIL 2, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The negotiating
process on the Nagorno Karabakh problem settlement is quite serious,
which necessitated a regional trip of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs,
the Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Yuri Merzlyakov said
in Stepanakert on Sunday. Following an hour and a half meeting with
Karabakh leadership, the mediators declared that the discussion
was meaningful.

Y. Merzlyakov said the process of coming to an agreement on the
proposals made by the co-chairs in late 2009 is underway.

According to him, the Armenian side has already expressed its
disagreement with some points. "However, we do not complicate the issue
because exactly two years ago there was a similar situation with the
Madrid Priciples when the Armenian side accepted them, but not fully –
as it turns out now, whereas the Azerbaijani side did not accept so we
did a lot of work to come to a common denominator," Merzlyakov noted.

He said that on the whole, the sides have reached an agreement on
the Madrid Principles, except for 4 points.

The French co-chair Bernard Fassier underlined that the negotiations
over the Madrid Principles are still continuing, and the fact that
from time to time the sides reach an agreement on these principles
is a serious one, so there are some aspects of mutual understanding.

In response to Radio Liberty’s question about what was done by the
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs supportive of peaceful settlement to stop
shots which have recently become frequent along the front line, B.

Fassier replied: "War cannot be an option, and we often say this
everywhere. We continue to believe that it is impossible to solve this
problem by war. If a war starts, neither the history nor geography
will change and the problem will get more complicated."

When asked if there was any progress in organizing a meeting of the
presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Astana – in connection with
the proposal of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Yuri Merzlyakov said
they were aware of that proposal, but it does not mean that they had
made the proposal and participated in it.

In his words, it was his last regional visit as Russian co-chair:
"I will get a new appointment soon, and the name of my successor will
become known in the near future".

ARMENIA MAY BECOME WORLD LEADER BY REPLACEMENT OF OIL AND GAS RESOURCES

ArmInfo
2010-04-01 16:49:00

ArmInfo. Armenia may get an image of a world leader by replacement of
oil and gas resources, i.e. a country with big surplus of electric
power, said Abel Aghanbekyan, a member of the Russian Academy of
Science, during the official presentation of his new book "Economy
of Russia on the Crossroad. Selection of the Post-Crisis Area."

Academician Aghanbekyan believes that there are all the necessary
and quite favorable conditions for power engineering development in
Armenia. The country has significant hydro resources. In addition,
he said that such a leading country as Russia has an opportunity and
desire to build a big power unit in Armenia. The project planning is
underway. The energy resources generated in the country will be in
demand by neighbor Turkey, Iran and even Iraq where electric power
tariff are rather high, he said. The academician recalled that 8
small power stations have already been built in Armenia and another 70
stations will be built in future. "Armenia have favorable conditions
to produce bio-fuel, and first of all, topinambur. In addition,
Armenia has an energy ministry with highly qualified staff," the
academician said. He considers himself among few people who visited
all the big enterprises in the country to get first hand view of
their potential. Thus, he believes that collective work revealed 11
so-called clusters that may become a locomotive for development of
Armenia. The academician believes that these clusters may help the
country progress, increase economic and social level.

Aghanbekyan thinks that Armenia is the only country in the world
where the share of industry in GDP is lower than the share of trade,
agriculture and construction. Export makes up just 13% of GDP, unlike
other countries of the same scale where this indicator is at least 30%
of GDP. Armenia is a very peculiar country. It is a country of one
city – Yerevan, where 80% of housing construction and the greatest
part of retail trade are concentrated. In the meanwhile, only 44% of
the total population resides in Yerevan. Such a gap between the city
and the periphery is inadmissible, the academician said. Therefore,
he said, clusters must be created also in the regions.

ANKARA STANDS BEHIND ITS SIGNATURES: TURKIS DEPUTY PM

Tert.am
15:23 ~U 01.04.10

Turkey backs and is responsible for the signatures it placed on
the Armenia-Turkey agreements and documents, said Turkish Deputy
Prime Minister Cemil Cicek at a press conference after a Council of
Ministers session, according to Turkish daily Zaman.

When asked in the context of statements by Armenia on possibly halting
the process, how will the Protocols process continue, Cicek said,
"If there’s a need to make any statements on any issues, the Foreign
Ministry makes it. Be it an agreement or any other document, Turkey
backs and is responsible for the signature it affixes to them. But
these developments happen beyond our will."

"All the world should see that if the process is being sabotaged,
then not Turkey, but the other side is to blame. One of the main
reasons the process got blocked was the ruling by the Constitutional
Court of Armenia," added Cicek.

ARMENIAN ECONOMY REGISTERS SUSTAINABLE GROWTH RATES

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.04.2010 13:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said that
the anti-crisis measures implemented by the Government in 2009 had
a positive impact on the country’s economy.

"The official data certifies that the country’s GDP has exceeded the
planned one by 2.5%, as a result of monetary-credit and tax-budgetary
policy," Mr. Sargsyan said during a government session, summarizing
the results of the first quarter of 2010.

Besides, according to the PM, positive trends are recorded in tax
collection and compulsory social payments. "The quarter program for
tax proceeds has been exceeded by AMD 9.5 billion, the factual figure
totaling AMD 126 billion against the planned AMD 117 billion," he
said. "As for the compulsory social payments, this figure has been
exceeded by AMD 4 billion, specifically the factual figure reached
AMD 26 billion against the planned AMD 22 billion."

"Salaries increased by 5.8% at the quarter-end," added the PM.

Meanwhile, according to him, this positive dynamics was recorded both
in budgetary and in non-budgetary organizations.

Export increased by 53%, while import reduced by 15%. The export boost
was conditioned 45% growth in the mining industry, 9% increase in
the processing industry, while the construction materials production
increased twice. 39% growth was recorded in diamond cutting, 25% –
in gold production and 16% – in medicines’ production.

33 PERCENT COMPLETED

/eu
04:03 pm | March 30, 2010

Official

Reforms prescribed within the framework of Armenia-EU cooperation
are in 190 directions and include 277 functions.

The inter-ministerial commission coordinating the cooperation between
Armenia’s state bodies and European organizations held a session today.

The session was headed by Secretary of the National Security
Council Artur Baghdasaryan who informed that in 2009, nearly
40 inter-ministerial working groups have been created, while ten
concepts, one strategy and four national projects have been developed
and confirmed in 2009.

"Thirty-three percent of prescribed actions have been completed or are
near completion and the rest of the activities will be implemented
in 2010 and 2011. All projects prescribed within the framework of
Armenia-EU cooperation must be completed according to schedule,"
said Baghdasaryan.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Karine Ghazinyan presented the
activities for signing agreements on association of Armenia and EU,
as well as deep, comprehensive and free trade.

According to Ghazinyan, the goal of the agreements on association to
be signed with the EU within the framework of "Eastern Partnership"
program is to deepen the political association with EU-partner
countries and promote economic integration to ensure markets for
both sides.

The EU Commissioner on Broadening and Neighborhood is scheduled to
visit Armenia and the topic of discussion will be the mandate for
holding talks on the agreement on association which will be granted
to Armenia by April.

UNIQUE NEURO-ARTERIAL SURGERY CENTRE OPENED IN YEREVAN

news.am
March 31 2010
Armenia

March 31, a center of neuro-arterial surgery opened at Yerevan State
Medical University (YSMU). RA President Serzh Sargsyan, state officials
and high-ranking guests attended the ceremony of a unique center in
the region.

"The center provides unique opportunity to diagnose all disturbances in
cerebral arteries and cerebral vessels, reducing the risk of stroke,"
YSMU head Gohar Kyalyan said adding that the center is donored by
benefactor Nazar Nazaryan.

The center will operate in a separate radiological building supplied
with up-to-date equipment, and its experts got training in the best
world clinics, Kyalyan noted.

"One of the best computed tomography units (CT) in the world was
delivered to Armenia," center physician Harutyun Muradyan told
NEWS.am-Innovations. According to him, it will enable avoiding use
of invasive methods while examining the coronary vessels.

"During the coronary angiography the research with probe is carried
out, whereas this device enables doing it by intravenous injection,"
Muradyan said noting that the unit makes possible examination and
get precise information on the state of coronary vessels.

It will also help to fully examine the heart and conduct all types
of checkups with a 64-layer magnetic field, Muradyan emphasized.

RULED ANTI-CONSTITUTIONAL

2010/03/30/sd
06:20 pm | March 30, 2010

Politics

The Constitutional Court recognized the article of the Penal Code that
permitted quashing the criminal case on the grounds of insufficient
evidence as anti-constitutional and invalid.

The Constitutional Court took the decision today by examining the
appeals filed by Armenian National Congress representative Karapet
Rubinyan and "Hanrapetutyun" (Republic) party leader Aram Sargsyan
through a written procedure.

After March 1, 2008, a criminal case had been brought up against
Karapet Rubinyan and Aram Sargsyan under the charges of usurping state
power and organizing mass disturbances, but both were off persecution
in December 2008 on the grounds of insufficient evidence through the
application of Part 2, Article 35 of the Penal Code.

Artak Zeynalyan, representative of Aram Sargsyan and Karapet Rubinyan,
told "A1+" that they are dealing with a hypothesis: If there is
no evidence, there is no guilt and the case must be quashed on the
grounds of innocence.

"We think there is no need for Article 35. It goes against Articles
18 and 21 of the Constitution," said Artak Zeynalyan and informed
that they were going to appeal to the Cassation Court with the demand
to reconsider the appeals by which the grounds for quashing the case
against those persons was still in effect.

MTS AND DEUTSCHE TELEKOM AGREE TO INTER-CONNECT THEIR NETWORKS

ArmInfo
2010-03-30 20:34:00

ArmInfo. MTS and Deutsche Telekom have agreed to inter-connect their
networks, reports the press service of VivaCell-MTS (subsidiary of
MTS in Armenia).

The networks are inter-connected through the Ancotel colocation data
center in Frankfurt.

According to this agreement, MTS will be able to have traffic in all
mobile and fixed networks of Deutsche Telekom, including T-Mobile
networks, in Europe, Asia and America. Deutsche Telekom will get
traffic in Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
(with MTS-Ukraine the German company has an individual agreement).

"Being the leading telecoms operator of Russia and the CIS, we pay
special attention to quality and are sure that direct exchange of
traffics with Deutsche Telekom will help both companies to improve the
quality of their home network and roaming services. This partnership
is one more step towards direct exchange of traffic with the biggest
international operators and owners of mobile networks," says Yevgeny
Moskalev, MTS Group’s operator liaison and broadband access manager.

MTS already has direct inter-connection agreements with TeliaSonera,
Telecom Italia Sparkle, TATA Communications, Telefonica, KPN (iBasis)
and Orange.

VivaCell-MTS (K-Telecom CJCS) is subsidiary of MTS in Armenia. It
provides mobile telephony and broadband internet services and is one
of the country’s biggest tax payers.