Category: News

El Pais
August 6, 2004
Los datos
Festivales de Navarra. Baluarte de Pamplona, 20.00. Hoy: noche celta
(de 17 a 25 euros). Manana: Arto Tuncboyaciyan y Armenian Navy Band
(de 12 a 20 euros).
From: Baghdasarian

El Pais
August 6, 2004
Sones celtas en Pamplona
IGOR CUBILLO
Los Festivales de Navarra, dedicados este ano a la cultura europea,
celebran esta noche en el Baluarte de Pamplona una velada que
pretende revivir la mistica y la alegria de la musica celta. La tarea
se ha encargado a las cantareiras gallegas Leilia, el grupo sueco
Bazar Bla, el tablista hindu Ravi Naimpally, el gaitero irlandes
Jerry O’Sullivan, el guitarrista Eric Liorzou y la violinista
irlandesa Mairead Nesbitt. Ya manana, la muestra llegara a su fin con
ritmos de Armenia y Anatolia, base del avantgarde folk que interpreta
el vocalista y percusionista Arto Tuncboyaciyan junto a la Armenian
Navy Band, orquesta armenia en la que conviven instrumentos
tradicionales, como duduk, zurna, kemanche y kanun, y contemporaneos.
Las fiestas del barrio getxotarra de Romo son el marco en el que se
ha asentado el Festival Internacional de Ska-Reggae, que manana
celebra su septima edicion con un cartel encabezado por A.S.P.O.
(About Some Precious Oldies). El grupo de Burdeos sera precedido en
escena por varios valedores espanoles de ritmos jamaicanos como el
dub, el rocksteady, el roots reggae y el dancehall: el valenciano
Alberto Tarin, los 14 musicos barceloneses de The Kinky Coo Coo’s,
los bilbainos Bomb Bass Hi-Fi, que subiran al escenario junto al
valenciano Nano Bravo, y los madrilenos Pastizal Sound System, que
compartiran tablas con el cantante Sensey Shafir.
Tampoco podia faltar la musica en las fiestas de Vitoria, que estos
dias permitiran contemplar, en distintos puntos de la ciudad, la
puesta en escena de nueve artistas. Destacan las actuaciones de la
plaza de los Fueros, donde tocaran Orishas, grupo cubano cuya mezcla
de hip hop y rock ha sido nominada a los premios Grammy Latinos;
Dover, rudo cuarteto madrileno de rock, encabezado por las hermanas
Llanos, que alardea de espiritu punk y ha despachado cientos de miles
de ejemplares de sus seis discos; y Los Pecos, almibarado duo de
cancion melodica y pop que, gracias a protagonizar un fenomeno de
fans hace dos decadas, ha vendido mas de cuatro millones de discos.
Mientras, el primer concierto destacado de las fiestas de San
Sebastian lo protagonizaran el domingo en Saguees los sonidos
tradicionales, folkies, del gaitero gallego Carlos Nunez. A la misma
hora arrancara la actuacion de la cantautora donostiarra Ana Pozas en
la plaza de la Trinidad, donde repasara Sin querer (Dro), un disco de
pop rock “mucho mas guitarrero” que su estreno, y en el que colabora
su paisano Alex Ubago.
Teatro en fiestas
En lo que se refiere a la programacion teatral, la cartelera de las
capitales alavesa y guipuzcoana se presenta plagada de comedias que
ya han pasado por otros escenarios vascos: las protagonizadas por
Pepon Nieto (Excusas), Josema Yuste (Nadie es perfecto) y Silvia
Marso. La actriz interpreta junto a Jordi Rebellon y Pedro Casablanc
hasta el domingo en el Teatro Principal de San Sebastian Aqui no paga
nadie, adaptacion de una de las obras mas conocidas de Dario Fo, uno
de los renovadores de la satira dramatica en Europa. La obra cuenta
la rebelion de un grupo de mujeres por los precios imposibles de un
supermercado. “Nos gustaria sacar de la gente una carcajada
liberadora para que reflexione sobre los problemas cotidianos de
nuestra sociedad”, apunta la artista.
Asimismo, el Festival de Teatro Clasico de Olite que, dotado con
403.000 euros de presupuesto, anuncia siete espectaculos y animacion
callejera hasta el 22 de agosto, arrancara hoy con la puesta en
escena de Julio Cesar en la plaza de la Rueda. El barcelones Alex
Rigola dirige para Teatre Lliure la obra de Shakespeare, reflejo
tragico de la irresistible atraccion del poder.
Ya manana y el domingo, la iglesia de San Pedro acogera Cada loco con
su tema, titulo bajo el que la compania Teatro de Camara Chejov
agrupa tres piezas breves (El oso, La peticion de mano y El
aniversario) de Anton Chejov dirigidas por Angel Gutierrez. En ellas
el autor ruso plasmo satira social y criticas al ansia de poder.

MX (Melbourne, Australia)
August 6, 2004 Friday
Don t I know you?
You probably know the face, yet struggle to remember the name.
However, these actors deserve accolades for the off-beat roles they
play.
TILDA SWINTON
Swinton generally appears in independent films, such as Young Adam,
Orlando, The Deep End and Adaptation. The outspoken Scot believes
that the average moviegoer isn’t sure what to do with women whose
looks are unconventional, by Hollywood standards.
She is now filming The Chronicles of Narnia.
EMILY MORTIMER
Mortimer belongs in the women’s role hall of fame for her work in
Lovely and Amazing. In Bright Young Things, she’s a party girl, and
in the musical version of Love’s Labours Lost, she’s fantastic. She
is filming The Pink Panther with Beyonce and Steve Martin.
SARAH POLLEY
Even Dawn of the Dead fans probably aren’t familiar with Polley’s
best work. She’s attracted to personal films by directors with skewed
visions. Not exactly big box office stuff, but this former child star
hasn’t made a false move since The Sweet Hereafter in 1997. She also
starred in Go, with Katie Holmes.
HOPE DAVIS
Davis raised her profile as Jack Nicholson’s annoying daughter in
About Schmidt, but is still relatively unknown.
She will soon be seen in The Weather Man, opposite Nicolas Cage,
playing a wry and down-to-earth character.
ISABELLE HUPPERT
French actor Huppert has made at least 40 films in which her
character usually has a secret.
Whether it’s the homicidal mum in Merci pour le Chocolat or the prim
nag in 8 Women, they’re almost always
upper-class.
She’s drawn to dark stories that explore the extremes of emotional
behaviour.
JUDY GREER
Greer takes the Joan Cusack roles that Cusack doesn’t want.
She has made a nice little career out of playing the ditzy, slightly
pathetic sidekick. She’s made almost 30 movies in the past six years,
playing that part in virtually all of them, most memorably in What
Women Want. She will soon be seen in The Village.
SANDRA OH
Wry, straightforward Oh made a bewitching debut as a young woman
rebelling against the Chinese traditions of her uptight family in
1994’s Double Happiness, and she hasn’t had a well-rounded role
since. It’s a common mistake for actors who make big, early splashes.
Oh has taken what she could find, including small roles in The
Princess Diaries and Under the Tuscan Sun.
ARSINEE KHANJIAN
Canadian-Armenian Khanjian had intriguing roles in the French films
Late August, Early September, Irma Vep and Fat Girl, but her fierce
intelligence is best showcased in films by her husband, director Atom
Egoyan. In Felicia’s Journey she wittily hinted at the dark side of
being a domestic goddess long before Martha Stewart’s downfall. She
also starred in The Sweet Hereafter.

NKR FM responds to Azeri statement on Karabakh military exercises
Arminfo, Yerevan
6 Aug 04
STEPANAKERT
The foreign ministry of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic NKR has issued
a statement in response to the statement of the Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry on the exercises held by the NKR defence army.
Arminfo has learnt from the NKR Foreign Ministry’s press service that
the statement reads: “On 4 August, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry
issued a statement which strongly condemned the staff exercises of the
NKR defence army in the NKR. The NKR Foreign Ministry’s press service
states that the exercises, which are under way at the moment, were
planned beforehand and that according to the established rules, all
the interested parties were informed about them in advance. One should
note that over many years, the armed forces of Nagornyy Karabakh have
been conducting various military exercises which are one of the very
important means of increasing the combat readiness of the Karabakh
army.
“The NKR authorities think that maintaining the high level of the
combat readiness of the NKR troops is an important condition for
guaranteeing the military security of the NKR and its people,
especially in conditions of uninterrupted bellicose calls in
Azerbaijan for a military settlement to the Karabakh problem. While
Azerbaijan is fuelling tension and the conflict zone has no
international peacekeeping forces, the NKR defence army, which is an
important element of preserving regional stability, is actually
playing the role of a factor of restraint. Anyone who has a sincere
interest in preserving stability established in the last 10 years and
in the joint development of the entire South Caucasus region realizes
this unique function of the NKR armed forces which are in fact an army
of peace.
“The NKR Foreign Ministry press service states that adhering
exclusively to a peaceful settlement to the conflict and in order to
avoid a new armed invasion by Azerbaijan, the Karabakh side will
continue in the future to strengthen the NKR’s statehood and its armed
forces as an important body defending the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of the NKR.”
From: Baghdasarian

Tehran Times, Iran
Aug 7 2004
Peace And Security Cannot Be Actualized Through Suspicion, Force,
Threats: Khatami
BAKU (IRNA) — Visiting Iranian President Mohammad Khatami here on
Friday called peace, security, and justice the most basic needs of
humanity, saying that peace cannot be established by suspicion and
lack of confidence and security cannot be maintained by force and
threats.
Speaking at Azeri National Assembly, he added that in today’s world
peace and security are of great importance.
He added that new understandings and close cooperation are required
to promote peace and security.
“However, firm determination to promote peace, security and justice
as well as campaign against war, terrorism and discrimination on the
international, regional and national levels can open new horizons to
the human community,” he added.
Turning to the fact that today the fate of regional and world
countries are interdependent, he noted that dialogues, initiatives
and new measures are required for getting over the concerns inherent
in unilateral politics, economy and culture.
“Today, on the eve of entering the era of information and
communication technology, the world is facing new dilemmas and
limitations. Therefore, democratic methods and logic should be used
to tackle misleading approaches.
Prior to the president’s speech, Speaker of Azerbaijan’s National
Assembly Murtuz Aleskerov welcomed the Iranian chief executive and
hoped that his visit would give momentum to further expansion of
ties. —————- Focusing On Parliament Shows Respect For
Nation—————
Khatami also referred to parliament as the cornerstone of democracy
and symbol of sovereignty and said that placing focus on parliament
indicates respect for the nation.
Speaking in a meeting with the Speaker of Azerbaijan’s National
Assembly, he pointed to the decisive role of the parliaments of both
countries in expansion of mutual ties and urged to implement the
mutually signed agreements, despite bureaucratic problems.
The president noted that security, stability and progress in
Azerbaijan is linked to security in the Islamic Republic of Iran and
hoped that Karabakh clashes will lead to sustainable peace.
Appreciating the steps taken to establish a legal Caspian regime, he
said that Majlis is quite serious on the issue.
The chief executive hoped that a comprehensive plan securing the
interests of the Caspian littoral states will soon be drawn up.
“The convention on the Caspian Sea environment inked by the littoral
states will soon be examined by Majlis. We expect Azerbaijan’s
National Assembly will take a similar step,” he added.
Aleskerov also appreciated Iran’s approach towards Karabakh issue on
the international scene and said, “We believe that Iran will take
measures towards seeking a peaceful solution to the problem.

Iranian leader wants “friendship and security” with Azerbaijan
Azerbaijani TV Channel One, Baku
6 Aug 04

[Presenter] Azerbaijani Speaker Murtuz Alasgarov today met a
delegation led by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. Then the Iranian
president delivered a speech at the Milli Maclis.
[Correspondent, over video of the meeting] Speaker Murtuz Alasgarov
spoke about the development of relations between our countries during
the independence of Azerbaijan. He stressed national leader
[ex-President] Heydar Aliyev’s exceptional services in the creation of
Iranian-Azerbaijani cooperation. He said mutual visits by the [former]
presidents of the two countries, Heydar Aliyev and [Akbar]
Hashemi-Rafsanjani, had laid a good basis for multilateral relations
between our countries. Speaker Alasgarov highly assessed the
interparliamentary ties. He spoke in detail about the Nagornyy
Karabakh problem which democratically developing Azerbaijan has
faced. He said that Azerbaijan also relied on Iran’s support for the
resolution of the problem.
At the meeting, Iranian President Khatami expressed his satisfaction
with the level of interparliamentary relations. He said that the
Caucasus was one of the most important regions in the world and that
Iran was leading a policy to maintain its interests here. He spoke
about the role of our national leader Heydar Aliyev in the development
of Iranian-Azerbaijani relations. He said that a detailed exchange of
views had been held during the meetings with Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev. He stressed that the two sides should make efforts to
ensure the signed documents are carried out. He said that Iran will do
its best to contribute to a solution to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
and reach a lasting peace in the region.
Then a meeting was held at the Milli Maclis. First, Speaker Alasgarov
talked about Iranian President Khatami’s visit to our country, his
life and activities.
Iranian President Khatami delivered a speech at the Azerbaijani
parliament. He highly evaluated the role of parliament in any
country’s life and stressed the importance of the laws adopted to rule
the country. He talked about the relations between civilisations. He
noted the importance of developing dialogue and mutual understanding
in this sphere. He said that the modern world needs peace and
security. He said that one-sidedness, unipolarity and the double
standards applied by many countries are unacceptable to international
policy. Khatami said that knowledge, public information and mutual
ties linked countries in the modern world to each other and that
democracy was an important factor in creating political theories. He
noted that important steps have been taken towards democracy over the
last 200 years. Khatami talked about Azerbaijani-Iranian relations and
stressed the presence of stronger potential for the development of
cooperation between our countries in the economic, political,
cultural, trade and other spheres. He shared his views about the
Caspian Sea’s environmental security and legal status. Iranian
President Khatami said that we support living with Azerbaijan in an
atmosphere of friendship and security.

IT IS EXPECTED THAT THREE LARGE-SCALE INVESTMENT PROGRAMS TO BE
IMPLEMENTED AT “MARS” ENTERPRISE
YEREVAN, August 6 (Noyan Tapan). Investments of a total of 200 mln
drams (about 364,000 dollars) were made in the Yerevan “Mars” CJSC
after its assignation to the Russian government within the framework
of the “Property for Debt” program. The sums are mainly directed at
the marketing researches, the reconstruction of the heating system and
the increase of salaries about two-fold. Radik Vanunts, Director
General of “Mars”, reported during the August 5 press conference that
“Mars” is one of 30 enterprises of the military-industrial sphere of
Russia. According to Radik Vanunts, in the past production depended on
orders, that’s why “Mars” hasn’t turned out basic output up to now. At
present the new owners of the company work in this direction. Three
large-scale investment programs will be implemented at the enterprise
in the future. It was noticed that till the end of this year the
company will prepare five experimental models of radio stations worked
up by the Voronezh Institute of Communications. 2.5 years and the
investments of 4.7 mln dollars are necessary for the implementation of
another investment program. The third investment program concerns the
sphere of high technologies. It was also noticed that it is expected
that the certain funds will be allocated to the enterprise by the 2005
state budget of Russia for the performance of the orders. To recap,
“Mars” is the most expensive entity among the five enterprises given
to Russia against the debt. It is estimated at 56 mln dollars. The
Moscow “Radioexport” state-owned enterprise is appointed by the
Russian government plenipotentiary manager of the Yerevan “Mars” CJSC.

ACCEPTANCE OF GREEN MASS OF TOBACCO BEGINS IN TAVISH
YEREVAN, August 6 (Noyan Tapan). It’s already 5 days that the
“International Masis Tabak” company has begun acceptance of green mass
of tobacco of the “Virginia” sort in Tavush. 1 kg of the mass is
accepted at the price of 55 drams (about $0.1) in the acceptance point
situated 8 km far from Ijevan and the payment for the stored
raw-materials is made within 10 days. The accepted raw-materials are
dried with hot air in 4 rooms with a capacity of 5-6 tons within a
week. This year it’s planned to accept about 200 tons of green mass of
tobacco. To recap, at present 300 hectares of tobacco are processed
in the Tavush region, and tobacco of the “Virginia” sort makes 14
hectares out of them.

SHARE OF SPHERE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN RA GDP MAKES 40% IN
FIRST HALF-YEAR
YEREVAN, August 6 (Noyan Tapan). According to the preliminary data,
the share of the sphere of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in
RA GDP made about 40% in the first half of 2004. Over 4,700 new
entities of SME with about 11,000 jobs were registered during the
indicated period. RA Minister of Trade and Economic Development Karen
Chshmaritian said during the August 6 press conference that a total of
over 70 mln drams of guarantee sums (about 127,000 dollars) were
allocated to 2,500 companies with the purpose of contribution to the
sphere of the small and medium enterprises. 60% of these sums fell on
the regions, which is explained by the fact of the absence of the
subject of security under credit. The RA Minister also said that the
SME Coordination Council was established with the purpose of the
coordination of programs on the improvement and development of the
policies in the indicated sphere. Representatives of the World Bank,
USAID, UNDP, OSCE are within this Council.

RA MINISTER OF NATURE PROTECTION CALLS ON ECOLOGICAL NGOs TO COOPERATE
YEREVAN, August 6 (Noyan Tapan). RA Minister of Nature Protection
Vardan Aivazian during his August 6 meeting with representatives of
the leading ecological NGOs suggested that the Public Council should
be established with the purpose of cooperation of the Ministry and
NGOs. It was mentioned that the Ministry should be notified about the
activities carried out by the NGOs, in particular, on grants given by
the international foundations. According to the RA Minister, NGOs,
dealing with the allocated funds, often replace the state structures
though they don’t have sufficient information and specialists. In
their turn representatives of NGOs agree that the Ministry should be
notified about their activities, but at the same time they mentioned
that the Ministry isn’t always interested in cooperation with
NGOs. They reminded the RA Minister that the issue of the restoration
of the Public Relations Department in the structure of the Ministry
was arisen many times, and the Ministry should provide ecological
information in accordance with the demands of the Orhusk convention,
and wide public should participate in the processes of making
decisions. Vardan Aivazian suggested that participants of the meeting
should assume the discussion as a basis and prepare the draft
Memorandum on cooperation. Gennady Kojoyan is appointed Coordinator of
the draft.