Daily Archives: September 9, 2013

Official: at Least 30 Dead in Guatemala Bus Crash

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guatemalaA rescue worker says at least 30 people died when a bus plunged into a deep canyon in northwest Guatemala Monday morning.

Volunteer firefighter Juan Pablo Ucla tells The Associated Press that the bus fell into a river at the bottom of the 600-foot (200-meter) canyon around 8:15 a.m. He says rescuers have pulled at least 40 injured people from the bus, and expect the death toll to grow.

The area around the municipality of San Martín Jilotepeque has mostly dirt roads that wind through steep mountains without guardrails or other safety measures.

 

Tokyo to host 2020 Olympic Games

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olympics-rogge-announcementTokyo has been chosen by the International Olympic Committee to host the 2020 Summer Games.

In voting Saturday in Buenos Aires, the committee picked Tokyo over the two other contenders, Madrid and Istanbul.

Tokyo previously hosted the Summer Games in 1964.

Japan’s bid for 2020 billed the city as the safe choice — despite radiation leaking from the Fukushima nuclear plant. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe personally made a presentation to the committee and promised an effective cleanup.

“A safe and secure Olympic Games will be staged by us — I think that was another hope for their support. I would like to pledge that we will be discharging this responsibility.”

Abe said Tokyo would try to stage a successful Games to thank the world for its support after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated parts of Japan.

Tokyo’s bid came in at $5 billion to $6 billion, compared to $19 billion pledged by Istanbul, said Ed Hula, editor and founder of aroundtherings.com, which covers the business and politics of the Olympic movement.

Turkey would have been the first Muslim country to host the Games, and with a median age of less than 30 years, one of the youngest. However, it missed out for the fifth time.

On Sunday, the three sports competing to be added to the 2020 roster will know their fate.

Squash is hoping to be included for the first time, but is up against a combined baseball/softball bid and wrestling — which is seeking to be reinstated.

The 2016 Summer Olympics will be in Brazil. The Winter Olympics will be held in Russia in 2014 and South Korea in 2018.

 

CHRIS BOHJALIAN TO RECEIVE FREEDOM AWARD AT 7TH ANNUAL ANCA EASTERN REGION BANQUET

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Bohjalian_FreedomPhiladelphia, PA — The Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region will be honoring best-selling author Chris Bohjalian with its highest honor, the prestigious ANCA Freedom Award, at the 7th Annual ANCA Eastern Region Banquet on Saturday, October 12, 2013 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Philadelphia.

“Really, I am deeply and profoundly honored,” stated Bohjalian upon learning he will be presented with the award.

Since 2007, the ANCA Freedom Award has been presented to former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John M. Evans, Pulitzer Prize winning author Dr. Samantha Power, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, the late U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, former U.S. Senator Robert Dole, former U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole, and Baroness Caroline Cox.

Bohjalian is the critically acclaimed author of 16 books, including nine New York Times bestsellers. His work has been translated into more than 25 languages and three times became movies.

“We’re honored to present Chris Bohjalian the Freedom Award for his continuous efforts to raise the public’s consciousness on the atrocities of the Armenian Genocide,” said ANCA Eastern Region Board chairperson Nora Kzirian. The Freedom Award is presented to an individual who has made tremendous contributions toward recognition of the Genocide and who has pursued other issues of importance to the Armenian American community.

His new novel, “The Light in the Ruins,” debuted as a New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and national Indiebound bestseller. The book is a re-imagining of Romeo and Juliet set in Tuscany at the end of World War II.

His epic novel of the Armenian Genocide – “The Sandcastle Girls” – was published in paperback in April. His books have been chosen as Best Books of the Year by the Washington Post, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Hartford Courant, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Bookpage, and Salon.

His awards include the ANCA Arts and Letters Award for “The Sandcastle Girls,” presented at the 2012 ANCA Western Region Banquet, as well as the Saint Mesrob Mashdots Medal; the New England Book Award for “The Night Strangers”; the New England Book Award; a Boston Public Library Literary Light; a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award; and the Anahid Literary Award. His novel “Midwives” was a number one New York Times bestseller, a selection of Oprah’s Book Club, and a New England Booksellers Association Discovery pick.

Bohjalian has written for a wide variety of magazines and newspapers, including the Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, Reader’s Digest, and the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine. He has been a weekly columnist in Vermont for the Burlington Free Press since February 1992.

Bohjalian graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from Amherst College, and lives in Vermont with his wife, the photographer Victoria Blewer, and their daughter Grace. They are passionate supporters of Homeward Bound (the Addison County Humane Society), Burlington’s Committee on Temporary Shelter, Concord Academy, the United Church of Lincoln, and a small elementary school in rural Armenia, where this year they are funding a new fresh water and plumbing system.

Banquet co-chairs James Kzirian and Lorig Baronian, both active members of the Philadelphia Armenian American community and members of the ANC of Pennsylvania, are working diligently to ensure the success of this annual fundraising event.  “This is a fantastic event that truly showcases the activities and support throughout the Eastern Region. We are looking forward to a spectacular turnout to honor Chris Bohjalian for his many contributions to Armenian Americans and the general public,” James Kzirian commented.

The banquet will begin with an elegant cocktail reception and silent auction at 6:30 pm, followed by dinner and awards ceremony at 8:00 pm. To purchase tickets or to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit www.anca.org/erbanquet. For more information, please contact James Kzirian at (267) 767-0453.

The ANCA Eastern Region Endowment Fund is a 501(c)(3) charitable and educational organization that supports the Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region in outreach to Armenian American communities.

 

Putin: Foreign Nations Try to Destabilize Caucasus

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putinPresident Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian security agencies to act more harshly to fend off foreign attempts to destabilize the restive North Caucasus region ahead of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

Addressing Monday’s meeting of the presidential Security Council, Putin said unspecified “foreign countries and public and international organizations under their control keep seeing the North Caucasus as a foothold for destabilizing Russia as a whole.”

Putin added that “neutralizing the terrorist and criminal threats is particularly important in connection with the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.”

The North Caucasus region has been engulfed by an Islamist insurgency following two separatist wars in Chechnya.

 

World’s happiest nations are…

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Those looking for greater happiness and satisfaction in life should head to northern Europe, but steer clear of Egypt and countries worst hit by the eurozone crisis, according to the 2013 World Happiness Report released Monday by Columbia University’s Earth Institute.

Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden are the world’s happiest countries, according to the survey of 156 countries. Rwanda, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Benin and Togo — all nations in Sub-Saharan Africa — are the least satisfied with their lives, the report said.

The United States came in at number 17 in the world in terms of overall happiness, but it still lags behind Canada (6), Australia (10), Israel (11) the United Arab Emirates (14) and Mexico (16), according to the Earth Institute.

The report ranks the United Kingdom as the 22nd happiest country in the world. Other major nations included Germany (26), Japan (43), Russia (68) and China (93).

Governments seeking to improve the happiness of their populations should spend a higher proportion of their health budgets on mental illness, which is the single biggest “determinant of misery” in countries assessed, the study authors said.

“If we want a happier world, we need a completely new deal on mental health.”