RUSSIAN CITIZEN ARMENIAN BY ORIGIN VIOLENTLY BEATEN UP IN KRASNODAR
Krasnodar, August 23. ArmInfo. A group of youngsters attacked an
Armenian in the center of Krasnodar, in the corner of Kommunarov and
Gorky streets, approximately at 10:00 PM on August 21.
Yerkramas, the newspaper of Armenians of Russia, told ArmInfo the group
consisted of about 15 youngsters at the age of 18-22, as witnesses
say. The Armenian was violently beaten up after he tried to protect
a woman from the group that attacked her shop. The man was beaten as
long as he lost consciousness. He was hospitalized with concussion
of the brain and numerous injuries.
Witnesses say the youngsters cried nationalist slogans like “Let’s
clear Kuban from the black” and “Russia is for Russians.” It is
noteworthy that witnesses applied to a nearby guard department,
which, however, made no response to their cries for help, the
newspaper reports.

‘ASTARAK-KAT’ COMPANY ACTIVATES CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PROGRAM
Yerevan, August 23. ArmInfo. At the ‘Caucasian Center of Study
Resources – Armenia’ was held a seminar dedicated to corporate social
responsibility (CSR). Employees of the Center, representatives of
social organizations and Armenian businessmen took part in the
seminar. Methods of CSR application in foreign states and other
important issues were considered. On the event were represented the
terms of CSR application at ‘Ashtarak-Kat’ CJSC.
It should be noted that in July 2006 the Shareholders’ Council of
Ashtarak-Kat approved the principles of corporate management of the
company. According to the adopted document, corporate management
principles provide for the moral and ethical norms of business
behavior. The corporate management principles are based upon the CSR
terms, the 1994 Swiss declaration by the major entrepreneurs of the
world and the UN Global Agreement.

EXPEDITION OF THE ARCHEOLOGY AND ETHNOGRAPHY INSTITUTE OF THE ARMENIAN NATIONAL SCIENCE ACADEMY STARTED EXCAVATIONS IN KARABAKH
Stepanakert, August 23. ArmInfo. By the initiative and financing of
‘Yerkir’ NGO Union, the expedition of the Archeology and Ethnography
Institute of the Armenian National Science Academy August 3-18 held
excavations of a settlement founded by king Tigran II the Great
(95-55 B.C.).
Member of the expedition Vardges Safarian told ArmInfo special
correspondent in Stepanakert that this was the first phase of the
excavations, preceded by preparation works in March 2005. During the
excavation the Acropolis of the ancient town, the terrace walls and a
church of 5-6 centuries A.D. were discovered. Hundreds of minor items
were also found. The expedition is also studying a church complex
on the outskirts of the ancient settlement, delved in a rock. The
preliminary study of the discovered artifacts showed that the town,
named after its founder Tigranakert, existed from the 1-st century
B.C. to 13-14 centuries A.D. In the Middle Ages the settlement became
one of the cradles of the early-Christian civilization. All of the
artifacts found on the site are of worldwide cultural importance and
of absolutely Armenian identity and origin.
This settlement is the most renowned settlement of the Artsakh province
(of which a part is modern Nagorno-Karabakh) of the Greater Armenia
of the pre-Christian period. It was found in the 90’s B.C.
and was the first of a number of settlements found by the great ruler
of Asia and named Tigranakert after the founder.

G. GUDKOV: FLIGHT SAFETY SYSTEM IN RF DOES NOT MEET INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
Moscow, August 23. ArmInfo. The flight safety system in the Russian
Federation does not meet international standards, said Gennady Gudkov,
a member of the State Duma Commission for Security, commenting on the
Tuesday crash of Tu-154, Rosbalt correspondent reports. “It is not a
separate tragedy, it is already a system crisis the Russian aviation
suffers today. We have recently had three large scale air crashes in
Sochi, Irkutsk and Donetsk, which killed over 400 people. Although
the airbus that crashed near Sochi belonged to Armenian airlines, it
was the same Russian catastrophe given the close relations of Russia
and Armenia and common principles of flights,” Gudkov said. European
states and the USA make several times more flights than Russia,
however, there are almost no such large-scale tragedies there. One
can only guess what could happen to a trig plane with a professional
crew at the 11,000 meters height.
“If the reason of the tragedy was the storm, so the crew was not
prepared enough or there were problems with the navigation services.
Why there was no connection with the crew? Even laymen have
many questions which are still without answers,” he said. If the
responsibility for the last tragedy is also laid on human factor,
it would mean that those who are to provide flight safety to the
Russian people just avoid responsibility, Gudkov said.

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY: PLACE AND DATE OF MEETING OF ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIANI FOREIGN MINISTERS NOT KNOWN YET
Yerevan, August 23. ArmInfo. No specific data on the place and date
of the meeting of Armenian and Azerbaiani foreign ministers has
been determined yet. Vladimir Karapetyan, Acting Press Secretary
of Armenian Foreign Ministry, informed ArmInfo commenting on the
statement of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammedyarov that he
is ready to meet with Vardan Oskanyan.
“At present the date and the place of the meeting are discussed,” V.
Karapetyan said. Azerbaijani media report E. Mammedyarov had a meeting
with the French Co- chair of OSCE Minsk Group. “The Co-chairs made
several proposals to us regarding the date and the place of the
meeting. In our turn, we gave our agreement,” E. Mammedyarov said.

DAY OF MOURNING DECLARED IN RUSSIA
ArmRadio.am
24.08.2006 12:20
According to RF President Vladimir Putin’s decree, August 24 has been
declared a day of mourning in Russia.
State flags will be lowered all over the country. All TV and radio
companies, cultural establishments have been instructed to cancel
the entertainment events and broadcasts.
“Armenpress” was told at the Russian Embassy in Armenia that between
14:30 – 17.30 a condolence book will be opened in the Embassy.
To remind, August 22 Russian Tu-154 plane crashed in Donetsk region
of Ukraine killing all 170 people on board including 45 children.

200 FOREIGNERS IN ARMENIA NEED FOOD AND CLOTHES
ArmRadio.am
24.08.2006 13:05
The Norwegian Council of Refugees, the UN High Commissioner on Refugees
and the Migration Agency of RA Ministry of Territorial administration
applied RA Governmental Commission coordinating benevolent programs
with the request to provide food and clothes to about 200 foreigners
residing in Armenia, including those from Lebanon.
Head of the Commission Simon Ter-Simonyan told “Armenpress” that the
issue will be discussed in the upcoming sitting of the Commission.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FILM NIGEL ANDREWS
By Nigel Andrews
FT
August 21 2006
De Niro and Pacino, together at last: at least in two scenes of Heat
(BBC1 10.35pm), Michael Mann’s 160-minute cop opera. The film’s
full-orchestra verismo and strong performances are fun, especially
compared to the tin-whistle impact of Mann’s new Miami Vice. Pacino
mesmerises as the detective needing one last notch on his career
belt, while De Niro is moodily effective as the notch. Pity about
the conjugal psychobabble (Pacino’s walk-out wife wanting emotional
‘closure’) that extend the film to its roadshow length.
Sergei Paradjanov’s The Colour of Pomegranates (Artsworld 4.10pm) is
a modern classic. Notionally the screen biography of an 18th century
Armenian poet, this 1969 Russian film is more a moving mosaic:
a near-abstract homage whose jewelled tableaux honour not just
an artist’s life but the landscapes of his mind. Russia honoured
Paradjanov, a homosexual as well as nonconformist filmmaker, by
shoving him in jail: at least till the world’s pleas won a reprieve.
Frankenstein (Film4 4.55pm) is a classic more honoured in homage and
citation than in the observing. How often do we get to see James
Whale’s peerless film? Here is a chance. Boris Karloff glumps and
glowers, amid the thunder, lightning, shadows and screams, as Mary
Shelley’s great gothic novel births a great gothic movie.

RELATIVES MOURN, SEARCHERS COMB RUSSIAN PLANE CRASH SITE IN UKRAINE
Sergei Venyavsky
AP Writer Irina Titova contributed to this report from St. Petersburg
AP Worldstream
Aug 23, 2006
Investigators on Wednesday combed through the wreckage of a Russian
jet that crashed into a Ukrainian field during a severe thunderstorm,
killing all 170 aboard, while relatives _ their faces swollen by
tears _ struggled to make sense of their loss.
Dressed in black, grieving relatives gathered silently at the
airport in St. Petersburg, Russia, which was the doomed plane’s
destination. Nearly 200 relatives have said they plan to visit the site
where the Pulkovo Airlines’ Tu-154 crashed Tuesday, Vasily Nalyotenko,
deputy head of St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport, said.
Emergency officials working at the scene said parts of 140 bodies
had been found in the wreckage of the plane, which was flying from
the Russian Black Sea resort of Anapa _ a popular family holiday
destination.
Two flight recorders were found amid the blackened debris, said
Transport Minister Mykola Rudkovsky. The recorders appeared to be in
good condition, investigators said, expressing hope they can explain
what caused the third passenger airliner crash this year in the former
Soviet Union.
Officials said preliminary information suggested weather had caused
the crash about 45 kilometers (30 miles) north of Donetsk, a city in
eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials said a storm with heavy winds, driving rain and
lightning was raging through the region at the time of the crash
and a Russian emergency official said the plane was likely hit by
lightning. Rudkovsky suggested it might have ran into a cyclone.
Valentina Risunkova, whose 34-year-old son, Eduard, died, said
he had asked his parents to pick him and his girlfriend up at the
St. Petersburg airport, then called again to thank them in advance. The
couple had taken the train down to Anapa, but “decided to return by
plane because they were tired from the sun,” she said. When Risunkova
heard there had been a crash, “I fainted and fell to the floor.”
Fragments of the plane _ its engines, parts of the landing gear,
the nose and chunks of the fuselage _ were scattered around rolling
fields and a small forest near Sukha Balka, a village about 400 miles
(640 kilometers) east of Kiev.
Oleksandr Livochka, deputy prosecutor from the Donetsk region, said
on Ukraine’s NTN television that DNA testing might be needed to
identify remains.
Alexander Pomov, a doctor working at the scene, said preliminary
information indicated the victims died from the impact.
Of the 170 people on board, 45 were children aged 12 and under,
Pulkovo Airlines deputy director Anatoly Samoshin told reporters at
the St. Petersburg airport. The list of passengers, many of whom were
from St. Petersburg, appeared to include many families.
An elderly man who refused to give his name said he lost three
grandchildren _ age 3, 10, and 11 _ along with his son-in-law and
his son-in-law’s mother.
His daughter _ the children’s mother _ had skipped the family vacation
because she had to work, he said.
Russian officials said a citizen of Netherlands, France, Finland and
two Germans were also on the flight.
Ukraine declared a day of mourning Wednesday, canceling entertainment
and sport events. Black ribbons were attached to national flags
throughout the country. The government also said it would scale back
celebrations Thursday to mark its 15th Independence Day anniversary,
postponing fireworks and a concert in downtown Kiev until the weekend.
Thursday will be a day of mourning in Russia.
The crash was the third major incident involving Russia’s aviation
industry this year.
An Airbus A-310 of the Russian airline S7 skidded off a runway and
burst into flames on July 9 in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, killing
124 people. On May 3, an A-320 of the Armenian airline Armavia crashed
into the Black Sea while trying to land in the Russian resort city
of Sochi in rough weather, killing all 113 people aboard.

DPM COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF 80% INTEREST IN ARMENIAN DENO GOLD
Market Wire Incorporated
Aug 23, 2006
Precious Metals Inc. (TSX: DPM) (“Dundee Precious”, “DPM” or “the
Company”) is pleased to announce that it has completed the transaction
previously announced on August 10, 2006, with Vatrin Investment Limited
(“Vatrin”) with respect to the acquisition of 80% of the Kapan Mining
Project, located in Southern Armenia, for US$22 million, plus an
additional US$10 million investment commitment for mine expansion.
The Kapan Mine is located approximately 1.5km from the town of Kapan
and some 320km south of the Armenian capital of Yerevan. It has annual
production of 300,000 tonnes of ore from its current underground
operations, which DPM intends to expand in order to maximize the
present mine milling capacity of over 1 million tonnes/year. The
concentrate produced at Kapan is readily saleable due to the lack of
impurities or deleterious elements.
Dundee Precious Metals Inc. is a Canadian based, international mining
company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and
mining of precious metals. It currently owns the Chelopech Mine,
a producing gold/copper mine, and the Krumovgrad Gold Project, a
mining development project, both located in Bulgaria, and is engaged
in mineral exploration activities in Serbia. In addition, Dundee
owns a 100% interest in the Back River gold exploration project in
Nunavut, Canada and an 80% interest in the Kapan Mining Project in
Armenia. The Company also holds a significant and strategic portfolio
of investments in the precious metals and mineral related sector.
FORWARD- LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release may contain certain information that constitutes
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently
characterized by words such as “plan,” “expect,” “project,” “intend,”
“believe,” “anticipate” and other similar words, or statements that
certain events or conditions “may” or “will” occur. Forward-looking
statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at
the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of
risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual
events or results to differ materially from those projected in the
forward-looking statements. These factors include the inherent risks
involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties,
the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other
geological data, fluctuating metal prices and other factors described
above and in the Company’s most recent annual information form under
the heading “Risk Factors” which has been filed electronically by
means of the Canadian Securities Administrators’ website located
at _www.sedar.com_ () . The Company disclaims
any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements if
circumstances or management’s estimates or opinions should change. The
reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements.
Contacts: Dundee Precious Metals Inc. Jonathan Goodman President &
Chief Executive Officer (416) 365-2408 [email protected]
Dundee Precious Metals Inc. Gabriela M. Sanchez Vice President Investor
Relations (416) 365-2549 [email protected]