President Serzh Sargsyan received today the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Popov (Russia), Ian Kelly (US), Jacques Fore (France) and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasperzuk.
The parties discussed the current phase of the NK peace process and issues pertaining to future steps.
Syringa vulgaris (lilac or common lilac) is a species of flowering plant in the olive family Oleaceae, native to the Balkan Peninsula, where it grows on rocky hills.[1][2][3]The specific epithet vulgaris means “common” – not a pejorative reference, but merely indicating that this is the most widespread lilac species.[4]
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DescriptionIt is a large deciduous shrub or multi-stemmed small tree, growing to 6–7 m (20–23 ft) high, producing secondary shoots (“suckers”) from the base or roots, with stem diameters of up to 20 cm (8 in), which in the course of decades may produce a small clonal thicket.The bark is grey to grey-brown, smooth on young stems, longitudinally furrowed and flaking on older stems. The leaves are simple, 4–12 cm (2–5 in) and 3–8 cm broad, light green to glaucous, oval to cordate, with pinnate leaf venation, a mucronate apex and an entire margin. They are arranged in opposite pairs or occasionally in whorls of three. The flowers have a tubular base to thecorolla 6–10 mm long with an open four-lobed apex 5–8 mm across, usually lilac to mauve, occasionally white. They are arranged in dense, terminal panicles 8–18 cm (3–7 in) long. The fruit is a dry, smooth brown capsule, 1–2 cm long, splitting in two to release the two winged seeds.[1][6]
Lilacs — both Syringa vulgaris and S. × persica, the finer, smaller “Persian lilac”, now considered a natural hybrid — were introduced into European gardens at the end of the sixteenth century, from Ottoman gardens, not through botanists exploring the Balkan habitats of S. vulgaris.[7] The Holy Roman Emperor’s ambassador,Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, is generally credited with supplying lilac slips to Carolus Clusius, about 1562. Well-connected botanists, like the great herbalist John Gerard, soon had the rarity in their gardens: Gerard notes that he had lilacs growing “in very great plenty” in 1597, but lilacs were not mentioned by Shakespeare,[8] and John Loudon was of the opinion that the Persian lilac had been introduced into English gardens by John Tradescant the elder.[9] Tradescant’s Continental source for information on the lilac, and perhaps ultimately for the plants, was Pietro Andrea Mattioli, as one can tell from a unique copy of Tradescant’s plant list in his Lambeth garden, an adjunct of his Musaeum Tradescantianum; it was printed, though probably not published, in 1634: it lists Lilac Matthioli. That Tradescant’s “lilac of Mattioli’s” was a white one is shown by Elias Ashmole’s manuscript list, Trees found in Mrs Tredescants Ground when it came into my possession (1662):[10] “Syringa alba”.
In the American colonies lilacs were introduced in the eighteenth century. Peter Collinson, F.R.S., wrote to the Pennsylvania gardener and botanist John Bartram, proposing to send him some, and remarked that John Custis of Virginia had a fine “collection”, which Ann Leighton interpreted as signifying common and Persian lilacs, in both purple and white, “the entire range of lilacs possible” at the time.
The lilac is a very popular ornamental plant in gardens and parks, because of its attractive, sweet-smelling flowers, which appear in early summer just before many of the the roses and other summer flowers come into bloom.
In late summer, lilacs can be attacked by powdery mildew, specifically Erysiphe syringae, one of the Erysiphaceae.There is no fall color and the seed clusters have no aesthetic appeal.
Common lilac tends to flower profusely in alternate years, a habit that can be improved by deadheading the flower clusters after the color has faded and before seeds, few of which are fertile, form. At the same time twiggy growth on shoots that have flowered more than once or twice can be cut to a strong, outward-growing side shoot.
It is widely naturalised in western and northern Europe. In a sign of its complete naturalization in North America, it has been selected as the state flower of the state of New Hampshire, because it “is symbolic of that hardy character of the men and women of the Granite State”.[14] Additional hardiness, for Canadian gardens, was bred for in a series of S. vulgaris hybrids by Isabella Preston, who introduced many of the later-blooming varieties, whose later-developing flower-buds are better protected from late spring frosts; the Syringa x prestoniae hybrids range primarily in the pink and lavender shades.[15]
Most garden plants of S. vulgaris are cultivars, the majority of which do not exceed 4–5 m (13–16 ft) tall. Between 1876 and 1927, the nurseryman Victor Lemoine of Nancy introduced over 153 named cultivars, many of which are considered classics and still in commerce today. Lemoine’s “French lilacs” extended the limited color range to include deeper, more saturated hues, and they also introduced double-flowered “sports”, with the stamens replaced by extra petals.
A Syrian opposition leader urged President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday to hand power to his deputy or his prime minister and then go abroad with 500 members of his entourage, without immunity from prosecution.
Assad is likely to reject or ignore the 16-point peace plan proposed by Moaz Alkhatib, who resigned as head of the Western-backed opposition National Coalition in March, particularly given recent military gains by his forces against rebels.
However, Alkhatib’s proposal shows a willingness to work with people associated with Assad throughout the revolt and will be seen as stretching out a hand to members of the government.
It is unclear if Alkhatib’s proposal will win support from other Syrian opposition figures gathering in Istanbul on Thursday to decide how to respond to a U.S.-Russian proposal to convene peace talks involving Assad’s government next month.
Alkhatib said Assad should respond within 20 days and that he should then be given a month to dissolve parliament. Once Assad had ceded power, his government should stay in office for 100 days and restructure the military before handing over to a transitional government “which should be agreed upon and negotiated within the framework of international assurances”.
US teen births have dropped to a record low, but the country still has one of the highest rates among developed nations, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
“The overall rate declined 25 percent from 41.5 per 1,000 teenagers aged 15-19 in 2007 to 31.3 in 2011 — a record low,” the CDC report said.
The declines “have been attributed to a number of factors, including strong teen pregnancy prevention messages.”
According to the most recent National Survey of Family Growth, teens are increasingly using contraception during their first sexual encounter, and sexually active females and males are using dual measures — mainly condoms and hormonal methods.
For a comparison, the teen pregnancy rate in Britain in 2009 was 25 per 1,000, while in 2008 in France it was 10.2, according to UN figures.
A man impersonating South Korean entertainer Psy — famed for his dance song “Gangnam Style” — ate, drank and partied with the stars in Cannes for two days, The Hollywood Reporter said on Thursday.
Psy “was spotted all over town, attending festival parties and events and posing for photos with festgoers and other celebrities,” the movie trade daily said in its Cannes edition.
“But it turns out that the man was not Psy at all, but rather an imposter using his name and fame to get access to the festival.”
The double was dressed exactly like Psy, with his trademark jackets and round sunglasses. He spent a day at the top-ranked Martinez beach restaurant and partied at night at the A-listers’ Carlton hotel.
Those who fell victim to the con was “Skyfall” actress Naomie Harris, who tweeted an image of herself posing with him at a party thrown by luxury jewellers Chopard.
The original Psy appears to have been unfazed by the identity theft. He tweeted: “Seems like there’s another ME at cannes…say Hi to him.”
North Korea is willing to take China’s advice and enter into talks, Chinese state television cited an envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as saying, following weeks of tension on the Korean peninsula after the North’s latest nuclear test.
However, that prospect seems unlikely as North Korea has repeatedly said it will not abandon nuclear weapons while the United States insists North Korea must take meaningful steps on denuclearization before there can be talks.
The visit to Beijing by Choe Ryong-hae, a top North Korean military officer, is the most high-level contact between North Korea and China in about six months.
Ties have been hurt between the two supposed allies by the North’s third nuclear test in February, despite China’s disapproval, and by China agreeing to U.N. sanctions on the North in response and starting to put a squeeze on North Korean banks.
China was also alarmed by North Korea’s threats this year to wage nuclear war on South Korea and the United States in retaliation for the sanctions, fearing any conflict would inevitable have disastrous consequences for China.
Choe told Liu Yunshan, the Chinese Communist Party’s fifth-ranked leader, that Kim had sent him to China “to improve, consolidate and develop ties between China and North Korea”.