Official Kremlin Int’l News Broadcast
August 10, 2006 Thursday
INTERVIEW ON RUSSIAN MILITARY BASES, RUSSIAN NAVY WITH MIKHAIL
BABICH, DEPUTY CHAIR OF THE STATE DUMA COMMITTEE FOR DEFENSE GAZETA
DAILY, P. 5, AUGUST 10, 2006
DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE STATE DUMA DEFENSE COMMITTEE MIKHAIL BABICH:
“IF WE CAN’T USE OUR FLEET AT A TIME OF CRISIS, WHAT’S THE POINT OF
KEEPING IT THERE?” Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Defense
Committee and the head of the State Duma Working Group on Legislative
Support for the Operation, Financial Welfare and Social Guarantees of
Military Servicemen, Civilian Personnel and Their Dependents, Mikhail
Babich, speaks in an interview with Gazeta correspondent Madina
Shavlokhova about how the legislative branch plans to solve the
problems facing the military.
Q: How many military bases does Russia have in the near abroad now?
A: There are three to four bases in Central Asia. There are bases in
Armenia, Belarus and Ukraine. The Russian Black Sea Fleet is
stationed in Sevastopol.
Q: Has the status of our bases outside the country been determined?
A: Yes. There are international agreements ratified by the
parliaments of all countries where we have our military contingents.
Everything is all right with their legal status. But there are some
problems in details.
Q: Where do we have most of all problems?
A: In Ukraine. But politics have nothing to do with this. There are
other reasons that come to the fore. For example, the size of the
lease payment for the use of the Black Sea Fleet’s base.
Q: Wasn’t the size of the lease payment determined in the middle of
the 1990s when the agreement on the division of the Black Sea Fleet
between Russia and Ukraine was signed?
A: It was. We divided the Fleet in accordance with the previously
agreed-upon terms. The size of the lease payment was determined in
1997. But today our Ukrainian colleagues say the economic situation
has changed and the lease payment should be much higher. This is
wrong because Russia, as a legal successor to the Soviet Union,
assumed many obligations and honors them.
Our position is clear: increasing the lease payment for the Black Sea
Fleet’s base is out of the question. One must not forget whose
financial resources have been invested in the development of this
base and who paid Ukraine’s debts to the European Union for the use
of the Black Sea.
Q: Is this where our disagreements with Ukraine end?
A: I wish it were so! There are many disagreements over social
guarantees to military servicemen, the privatization of their
housing, and dual citizenship of our military.
The State Duma Defense Committee, jointly with the Defense Ministry
of Russia, has prepared two bills: “On Social Guarantees for Military
Servicemen Undergoing Military Service in Military Units of the
Russian Federation Stationed in the Territories of the Republic of
Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, and Civilian Personnel of These
Units” and “On the Terms of Mandatory Pension, Social, and Health
Insurance of Civilian Personnel, Members of Military Families within
Military Units of the Russian Federation Deployed in the Territories
of CIS Member States.”
The first bill has gone through all stages approval in the government
and will be submitted to the State Duma this fall. The draft budget
for 2007 already envisages funds for its implementation. The second
bill has not yet been discussed with ministries.
Q: Several years ago our ships stationed in the Sevastopol Bay were
not let out to take part in military exercises. Has anything changed?
A: We no longer have such acute situations. But then, the Fleet is
different and Russia’s policy is tougher. I can hardly imagine any
forces trying to prevent our Fleet from carrying out its missions.
And yet from time to time there emerge different frictions over the
use of military infrastructure, airspace or training ranges.
Q: Can the Russian Fleet be used for psychological pressure in an
international conflict, for example in the Georgian-Abkhazian
conflict?
A: This is one of the disputable issues. For example, there is an
emergency situation where the Fleet has to be used for its direct
purpose. Our Ukrainian colleagues think that if Ukraine assumes a
neutral position in such a conflict, Russia may not use its Black Sea
Fleet. And if Russia does otherwise, Ukraine will press for an early
withdrawal of the Russian Fleet from its territory. A fleet or any
military unit is deployed in a certain place in order to be used in
the interests of the state wherever necessary. There are relevant
international practices. If we cannot use our fleet at a time of
crisis, what’s the point of keeping it there.”

Agence France Presse — English
August 10, 2006 Thursday 11:09 AM GMT
Armenia depends increasingly on cash from abroad
YEREVAN, Aug 10 2006
Armenia’s economy depends more and more on remittances from its
diaspora, which now account for more than 15 percent of Gross
National Product (GNP), the country’s national bank said Thursday.
“These past years the volume of financial transfers to Armenia has
grown significantly,” said bank specialist Karina Karapetian.
“Over the period 2003 to 2005 this indicator grew on average by 37
percent to represent 15 percent of GNP. From January to June 2006 the
volume of financial transfers to Armenia rose again by 34 percent.”
In 2005 private remittances reached 940 million dollars (730 million
euros), most of the money (about 72 percent) coming from
Russian-based expatriates.
Those living in the United States provided some 14 percent while the
communities in Germany, Greece and the Ukraine each provided about
five percent.
Many Armenians depend on remittances from abroad.

TelecomWorldWire
August 10, 2006
Haladjian’s Nabaztag Wi-Fi rabbit targets US consumers
TELECOMWORLDWIRE-10 August 2006-Haladjian’s Nabaztag Wi-Fi rabbit
targets US consumers ©1994-2006 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

The Nabaztag Wi-Fi rabbit has been unveiled by Violet, a French
company 55% owned by French entrepreneur Rafi Haladjian and 30% by
Banexi Ventures, a private equity arm of French bank BNP Paribas.
Nabaztag means ‘rabbit’ in Armenian, which is the first language of
Haladjian, the man who conceived the idea. The rabbit is able to read
out e-mails and mobile phone text messages, provide alerts to stock
news and offer traffic updates through Internet feeds from a wireless
Wi-Fi network.
Basic Internet feeds, such as certain e-mail reading, stock market
performance and weather forecasts are free, while calls and text
messages are charged to the sender, although text messages are free
for premium service subscribers.
The Wi-Fi rabbit, which is made in China, costs EUR115 in France, £80
in the UK and USD150 in the US, has already been sold in Belgium,
France, the UK and Switzerland and is now being targeted at the US.
Nabaztag is expected to prove popular among certain groups of
consumers, and Haladjian said he expects sales to reach 150,000 by
the end of 2006, 400,000 in 2007 and around 2m by the end of 2008.

AssA-Irada, Azerbaijan
August 9, 2006 Wednesday
AZERBAIJAN TO OPEN EMBASSY IN SWEDEN SOON
The embassy of Azerbaijan will open in Sweden by the year-end,
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said in a meeting with his Swedish
counterpart Jan Eliasson on Tuesday. Eliasson, who is also the
president of UN’s General Assembly, voiced concerns over the terrible
arsons committed by Armenians across the occupied Azerbaijani
territories. He vowed to continue closely following the developments.
The two discussed the world communitys efforts to settle the
Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict, prospects for
Azeri-Swedish cooperation, the two countries relations within the
European Union and the EU New Neighborhood Policy, and issues
relating to Azerbaijans role in the region and its relations with
neighboring states. Also on the agenda were reforms in the United
Nations, the developments ongoing in the region, as well as the
Middle East crisis and the Israel-Lebanon stand-off. The ministers
also mulled ways of increasing the role of international
organizations, in particular, the UN, OSCE and the EU in reaching a
solution on Garabagh. Mammadyarov said his country is interested in
establishing legal framework to develop bilateral economic relations,
attracting Swedish investment and businesspeople to Azerbaijan,
conducting joint business forums and setting up an inter-governmental
economic commission. Minister Mammadyarov started his official visit
to Sweden on Monday.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Australian Doctor
August 11, 2006
Risky life at the cutting edge of medicine
IN the Middle Ages reading medical hagiology was as much a part of
treatment as antibiotics are today. Every illness seems to have had
its saint, most of whom met gruesome ends for tending the sick.
Perhaps the most famous are the twins St Cosmas and St Damian, still
the patron saints of surgery. They lived in Cilicia, the ancient name
of southern Turkey, in the 3rd century.
Arabian by birth, Christians by faith and physicians by training,
they travelled extensively, preaching Christianity and curing the
sick. So far so good, but then fantasy takes over with their most
spectacular – some say miraculous – cure.
Allegedly they amputated the cancerous leg of a white man and
replaced it with the limb of a black man who had conveniently died at
the right moment. For centuries the dramatic scene was to fire the
imagination of countless artists and is usually portrayed showing
amazed penitents viewing the one black and one white pair of legs.
However, such altruistic works did not fit with the ethos of the
Roman Emperor Diocletian, so he condemned them to death. Drowning was
the chosen method, but allegedly an angel rescued them, whereupon the
story has it they were burned, stoned, crucified and sawn in half.
They survived the lot, until beheading finally did it. With such
resilience it is little wonder they were made saints and for years
have been part of the heraldic design of barber surgeon companies.
St Blaise was really the patron saint of veterinarians, but the
ancient surgeons used to invoke his name when removing foreign bodies
from the throat. The obstruction had to be first respectfully asked
to come forth “as Lazarus emerged from the grave or Jonah from the
whale”. If this failed, probably most of the time, forceps could be
applied and St Blaise’s help canvassed.
Blaise was an Armenian bishop of the fourth century who opposed the
use of wild animals in the Coliseum. For his squeamishness he was
skinned alive with wool combs and then beheaded.
St Margaret of Antioch is the patron saint of childbirth. It seems
that when out walking she met a dragon who swallowed her whole. As
she entered the stomach, Margaret had the presence of mind to make
the sign of the cross, the sign materialised into a real cross that
expanded until the dragon burst open and out popped Margaret.
St Roche, born in Montpelier in the 14th century during the Black
Death, devoted his life to caring for plague victims. He caught the
disease, but an angel cured him. He was so emaciated he was not
recognised on returning to Montpelier.
Regarded as a spy, he died in prison but not before writing a letter
to those afflicted by plague telling them to use his name, along with
that of St Sebastian, in their prayers. Sebastian had died on the
orders of Diocletian in AD288, first by being unsuccessfully shot by
arrows, as seen in many paintings, and then beaten to death.
Dr Leavesley is president of the WA Medical Museum and a retired GP.
Reference
The Illustrated History of Surgery. Harold Starke, London, 1989.

MX (Australia)
August 11, 2006 Friday
Melbourne Edition
Wi-fi bunny a pet laureate
SPEAK EASY
In the Darwinian evolution of electronic companions, first came the
speaking doll, then the Tamagotchi virtual pet, then Sony’s
short-lived AIBO robot dog.
Now, it could be the dawn of the Wi-fi rabbit era.
The plastic bunny with ears like TV antennae can read out emails and
text messages, tell children to go to bed, announce a stock collapse
and give traffic updates by receiving internet feeds through a
wireless Wi-fi network.
”It gives a visual and vocal representation of what is on the
internet,” explained Paul Jackson, an analyst at US research house
Forrester.
The bunny, which stands 23cm tall and has a white cone-like body that
lights up when it speaks, is called Nabaztag, which means rabbit in
Armenian, its creator’s mother tongue. It can also wiggle its ears
and sing songs.
French entrepreneur Rafi Haladjian, who came up with the idea, says
the rabbit sometimes carries more sway over children than their
parents and can help men win forgiveness from angry partners.
”It is sad, but true,” he said.
Nabaztag, made in Shenzhen, China, costs about $195.
Since its market debut last year, 50,000 Nabaztags have been sold in
France, Britain, Belgium and Switzerland.
Wi-fi technology is the latest must-have in consumer goods, from
mobile phones to personal digital assistants, laptops and TV set-top
boxes.

Sydney MX (Australia)
August 11, 2006 Friday
SYD Edition
Wi-fi toy virtually a reality
RABBIT PROOF
In the Darwinian evolution of electronic companions, first came the
speaking doll, then the Tamagotchi virtual pet, then Sony’s
short-lived AIBO robot dog.
Now, it could be the dawn of the Wi-fi rabbit era.
The plastic bunny with ears like TV antennae can read out emails and
text messages, tell children to go to bed, announce a stock collapse
and give traffic updates by receiving internet feeds through a
wireless Wi-fi network.
”It gives a visual and vocal representation of what is on the
internet,” explained Paul Jackson, an analyst at research house
Forrester.
The bunny, which stands 23cm tall and has a white cone-like body that
lights up when it speaks, is called Nabaztag, which means rabbit in
Armenian, its creator’s mother tongue. It can also wiggle its ears
and sing songs.
French entrepreneur Rafi Haladjian, who came up with the idea, says
the rabbit sometimes carries more sway over children than their
parents and can help men win forgiveness from angry partners.
”It is sad, but true,” he said.
Nabaztag, made in Shenzhen, China, costs about $195.
Since its market debut last year, 50,000 Nabaztags have been sold in
France, Britain, Belgium and Switzerland, and Haladjian hopes to sell
150,000 by the end of this year.
The businessman is now looking to conquer the US, where he has only a
tiny presence, and is gearing up for the December shopping season.
Last December, Haladjian appeared on nationwide US television for
three minutes and received 350,000 online information requests.
”The only problem was that we had zero bunnies, we had sold them all
already and we had not even started selling them in the US yet,” he
said.
Jackson is among several analysts who predict the Nabaztag will find
favour among the well-heeled and technology-savvy as it benefits from
the spread of Wi-fi networks around the globe.
Wi-fi technology is the latest must-have in many mass market consumer
goods, from mobile phones to personal digital assistants, laptops and
TV set-top boxes.

Panorama.am
16:31 10/08/06

YEREVAN SUPPLIED WITH GAS BY 80 PERCENT
Vardan Harutunyan, head of Yerevan branch of
Hayrusgazard, informed reporters today that 80% of
total population in Yerevan has been supplied with
gas. In his words, 7, 8, 9 Nor Nork districts and the
blocks that did not have gas in the past in South West
District and Avan have not been supplied with gas yet.
Harutunyan said 1 billion dram is needed to supply the
mentioned communities with gas. The company expects to
lay gas pipelines to the mentioned blocks by the end
of the running year. /Panorama.am/

Panorama.am
14:52 11/08/06

CONSUMER RIGHTS CENTER SAYS CONSUMERS UNAWARE OF THEIR RIGHTS
In a public opinion poll conducted by Consumer Rights Center,
respondents were asked if water, gas, electricity services are ever
cut off in their buildings. Forty-three percent of respondents
answered `often’ and 51 percent said `seldom’. Only a minor 5,7
percent was content with the utility services.
Abgar Yeghoyan, head of CRC, presented the findings of CRC conducted
surveys in a press conference today. He claimed most of the consumers
do not know their rights. For example, electricity service can cut off
the electricity if the resident has not paid the bill. However, the
electricity authority has to notify about the cut-off three days
before.
CRC engages in active advocacy program for promoting rights of
consumers in public utilities. The organization cooperates with Public
Services Regulatory Committee in its advocacy efforts. Posters on
consumer rights are posted at local self-government units,
condominiums, banks and postal services. /Panorama.am/

Panorama.am
14:59 11/08/06

EMERGENCY SERVICE RECEIVES MORE CALLS
1-03 Emergency Service told Panorama.am that more calls have been
registered at their office lately. The Head of the Service Artiom
Petrossyan said this is partially conditioned by hot weather. The
Service has been receiving calls for heart diseases. However,
Petrossyan said hot weather cannot account for most of the
cases. Anyway, he advised not to drink water from refrigerator and
stand under sun from noon until 4 p.m./Panorama.am/