Daily Archives: October 24, 2013

Meeting with personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office Andrzej Kasprzyk

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ԵԱՀԿ,Բակո Սահակյան,Անջեյ ԿասպշիկOn 24 October Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan met personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk.

Issues related to the current stage of the Azerbaijani-Karabagh conflict settlement negotiations and its prospects as well as situation along the contact line between the NKR and Azerbaijan armed forces were discussed during the meeting.

 

 

2013-10-24

Boxer Klitschko to Run for Ukraine Presidency

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vitali klitschko,կլիչկո

Vitali Klitschko, a heavyweight boxing champion and top Ukrainian opposition leader, says he will run for the ex-Soviet nation’s presidency in 2015.

The 42-year-old was elected to parliament last fall as the head of his pro-Western party Udar (“Punch” in English). Since then, Klitschko, the reigning WBC heavyweight champion, has campaigned against what he calls authoritarian moves by President Viktor Yanukovych.

He particularly criticized the jailing of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, which was seen as politically motivated by the West.

Klitschko announced his widely expected presidential bid Thursday in response to efforts by pro-government forces to pass a bill that could prevent him from running because he has permanent residency status in Germany.

Klitschko vowed that he “will not be frightened or stopped by this.”

 

Sharon Stone Receives Peace Summit Award in Poland

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Շերոն Սթոուն, Լեհաստան,Խաղաղության գագաթնաժողովի մրցանակով

 

Sharon Stone was honored with 2013 Peace Summit Award on Wednesday, October 23. Wearing a camel-colored coat, Stone attended the official ceremony for the 13th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Warsaw, Poland.
The event, which was held at the Grand Theater and National Opera House, was also attended by Mikhail Gorbachev and Betty Williams. Stone bowed to Dalai Lama and made peace sign before receiving the award from the spiritual leader.
Stone is honored with the prize for her “activities that brought solidarity and new hope to the millions of people who have fought and are fighting against the tragedy of HIV/AIDS,” Daily Mail reports. The “Basic Instinct” actress has been working with U.S. charity amFAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, and has vowed to be their campaign chairman until a safe and effective vaccine is found.
A committee of Nobel Peace laureates names one person from the world of culture and entertainment who is actively involved in bringing awareness about peace and global issues to receive the award every year. Previous honorees include Cat Stevens, Bono, former soccer player Roberto Baggio and Sean Penn.

 

United Nations in Armenia and Partners mark 68th anniversary of UN

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մակ

The UN in Armenia, together with its strategic partners – government officials, representatives of the diplomatic corps, international organizations, private sector, civil society, educational institutions and media, celebrates the 68th anniversary of the UN today.

During the month, the UN organized various outreach events around the country: from the opening of a new UN Corner in the Gyumri Central Library, UN materials distribution through Bibliobus, numerous debates with youth, education outreach in different universities and organization of the Model UN Conference.

The celebration culminated with the UN Journalism Awards Ceremony, where two best journalists received awards for their professional coverage of issues related to the UN work in Armenia. The winner of category “coverage of UN Armenia work in general” was Martha Hahknazaryan from Golos Armenii, who received a tablet and a special certificate. Within category“coverage of UN work in the regions of Armenia” the winner was Lia Khojoyan from Panorama.am and WomenNet.am who also received a tablet and certificate. All other top candidates received certificates and other gifts, which will be useful for their professional work.  The UN expert jury selected the winners based on their in-depth coverage, professionalism, knowledge of the UN mandate, importance of the issue in Armenian context and vision.

The UN Resident Coordinator Bradley Busetto said: “Since the establishment of the UN Office in Armenia to present day, due to the combined efforts of many agencies of the UN family, we can humbly point out that the UN had its tangible input in the advancement of the country and, certainly, is going to have in the coming future. The areas of application of our efforts through diverse programs are pretty much broad, encompassing mostly those in need. Nevertheless, we can express in one word the resolute objective for the entire UN system activities in Armenia – people, with particular focus on the vulnerable segments of the population”.

Other partners, also spoke about the important role the UN has in supporting the country’s efforts to advance sustainable human development and achieve the nationalized Millennium Development Goals.

Bradley Busetto thanked all UN partners, including the government, civil society and media for their cooperation and assistance in the work of different UN institutions operating in Armenia.

On 24 October 1945, sixty-eight years ago, the founding Charter of the UN entered into force. The UN Office in Armenia was opened in December 1992, after Armenia became a member of the United Nations in March 1992.

She just fell into television: Moment worker faceplants in background of live broadcast

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Ջեսիկա Գարեյթ,ԱՄՆ,KRQE

 

 

KRQE news anchor Jessica Garate says ‘I love how my days are unpredictable – that’s why I work in TV’.

 

In a recent show, while she was reporting on same-sex marriages, an unnamed person flew into shot and landed with a thud on the floor.

 

Ever the professional, Mrs Garate, who has been working for Albuquerque-based KRQE since 2004, maintained her composure throughout the incident and didn’t even flinch when the uninvited guest arrived at an alarming velocity.

 
This could be, of course, because she didn’t notice.

 

The person who made the unexpected appearance, a volunteer tasked with answering the phones at the station’s call center, didn’t appear to be hurt. She quickly got up and walked off.

 

Footage of the ‘faceplant’ has gone viral after being posted by Drew J. Lynch on YouTube, amassing over 13,000 views to date.

 

 

 

Are fish having sex keeping part of a city awake? Amorous animals could be behind mystery humming that starts at 10pm and goes on all night

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Amorous fish could be responsible for a mysterious humming noise keeping people awake at night.

Residents in a part of Southampton, Hamsphire, have been struggling to get to sleep because of the puzzling noise, which starts at 10pm and drones on all night.

Some people have even moved away from the affected area around Hythe and are sleeping on friends’ sofas to escape the nightmare.

Now scientists are studying whether the noise could be being caused by fish having sex in an estuary nearby.

Midshipman male fish let out a distinctive drone to let females know they are searching for a mate.

The noise can go on for hours and often increases in volume as competing males attempt to out-hum each other.

Incredibly, scientists say the sound can be amplified by bouncing off buildings and ships.

The National Oceanography Centre in Southampton was unable to shed any light on the mystery.

However, the Scottish Association for Marine Science claimed fish could be responsible for the bizarre buzzing sound.

The din has so far sparked dozens of complaints from residents suffering sleepless nights, who have come up with a number of other theories themselves.

New Forest District Council has now received more than 30 complaints about the irritating hum.

A spokesman said noise monitoring equipment had been installed in several properties in a bid to track down the origin of the sound.

 

 

North Korea to Return 6 Detained South Koreans

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North Korea plans to allow six detained South Koreans to return home, officials in Seoul said Thursday.

Pyongyang’s Red Cross sent a letter to the South saying the South Koreans will cross over the heavily armed border at the so-called truce village of Panmunjom on Friday, according to a short statement from the South’s Unification Ministry, which is responsible for cross-border ties.

The statement says Seoul plans to accept the South Koreans and investigate how they entered North Korea. Seoul provided only scant details, saying they were men ranging in age from 27 to 67.

North Korea said in 2010 that it was investigating four South Koreans for allegedly illegally entering the country; it wasn’t immediately clear whether any of them are among the six people being released Friday. Seoul says it has repeatedly asked Pyongyang to confirm the four citizens’ identities but has received no reply.

South Koreans visiting North Korea without government approval can be punished by up to 10 years in prison under South Korea’s National Security Law.

 

Air Communications To Be Liberalized In Armenia

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A Cabinet sitting was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan.

The government first approved a program to ensure competitive and continued provision of air transport services, established a project implementation task force and endorsed its composition.

After assessing several draft projects, it turned out that the policy of open skies will have the greatest positive impact on the economy, leading to jobs and growth in the number of passengers, as well as to reduced flight tariffs. The meeting set up a task force was set up, headed by the Minister of Economy and approved its composition.

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan reminded that there have been heated discussions over this issue and there were many contradictory approaches, from strict regulation up to the option of maximum liberalization.

“In order to take the best decision over this issue of strategic importance, the President ordered the National Competitiveness Council to sign a contract with one of the world’s most famous companies McKinsey. The latter hired the best professionals in this sector in order to develop a strategy for the Republic of Armenia.

The strategy was twice discussed with the President of the Republic of Armenia. McKinsey presented detailed reports and analyses, their experts visited Armenia several times and the result was a concept which is now submitted to your judgment.

According to the world’s best experts in this field, Armenia should go along the path of liberalization to promote GDP growth, create new jobs and make passenger traffic more comfortable and less expensive.

These are those basic principles reflected in our strategy, which specifies steps, measures and the timing of how these reforms should be carried out in the Republic of Armenia. We still have 5 days to work with the professionals of McKinsey in order to localize this paper to the maximum possible extent and make it feasible for our country. I am therefore asking all the stakeholders to continue working with the Minister of Economy. McKinsey experts will be available to provide all-out assistance, additional explanations and advice.”

The government passed a dozen decisions to amend relevant decrees adopted in 2002-2012 concerning the licensing process, the procedure for free granting of repatriation certificates, the approval of Dilijan International School program and a list of project implementation entities.

The Government approved a set of draft amendments to the Judicial Code of the Republic of Armenia and 8 other laws to create a new independent and self-governing judicial body – the Council of Judges, introduce a more efficient system of distribution of cases among judges, enact the principle of mandatory reporting by courts and judges, as well as to appoint court presidents for a limited period of time.

The meeting agenda comprised some 60 items altogether.

Large Oil Reserves Discovered in Brazil

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Oil Platforms Off The Coast of Brazil

 

Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency says large reserves of oil are located off the coast of the northeastern state of Sergipe, representing a new frontier in petroleum development in Latin America’s biggest country.

Agency director Magda Chambriard said Wednesday that numbers on how much oil is in the reserves would not be announced before 2016.

Most of the country’s oil production is concentrated in southeastern Brazil, where over the past several years billions of barrels of oil have been discovered in offshore reserves, mostly in deep, pre-salt fields.

On Monday, a consortium including Shell, Total, two Chinese firms and Brazil’s state-run petroleum company Petrobras won the right to develop a field off the cost of Rio de Janeiro that could hold up to 12 billion barrels of oil.

 

Farmer set to become a millionaire after two ‘very significant’ DINOSAUR skeletons discovered on his land go up for auction

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Տիրանոզավր

 

A farmer is set to become an overnight millionaire after stumbling across the 70-million-year-old bones of two dinosaurs on his land.

The enormous 38ft long Tyrannosaurus rex was discovered just a few miles from the 26ft Triceratops – and together they are set to fetch more than two million pounds.

Experts have described the incredible finds as ‘very significant, very impressive and very valuable’.

The T-rex skeleton is so significant that it is said to be among the top 20 ever found in the world, as it boasts around 40 per cent of its original bones.

The rest of the skeleton is made up of cast bones from other T-rex finds.

The Triceratops, a herbivore known for having two large horns on its head and a smaller one on its nose, is 70 per cent original.

The bones of the gigantic beasts were found on a 20 square mile ranch in Hell Creek in the U.S. state of Montana before being excavated by dinosaur fossil hunters.

They have since been prepared and mounted ready for sale.

T-rex is tipped to fetch £1.4 million, while the Triceratops could fetch £560,000.

The world record for the most expensive dinosaur fossil was set in 1997 when ‘Sue’, a Tyrannosaurus rex, sold for £5.4 million.

The auction will take place at Bonhams in New York on November 19.

 

The answer of Deputy Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan to the question of News.am agency

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շավարշ քոչարյան

Question: The European Parliament today adopted a resolution of “the Eastern Partnership”, which because of the doubtful efforts of some of the parliamentarians of the European Parliament, contains wording on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. How would you comment that?
Answer: In the EP resolution on “Eastern Partnership” the wording on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is in contradiction to the European Union’s official position, as well as to the positions of internationally mandated format of mediation – the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, USA and France.
Despite the fact that the above mentioned resolution is non-binding, nonetheless independent of the motivations of the authors of that wording, they should understand that they bear responsibility for its possibly negative impact on the negotiation process and undermining of the efforts of the Co-Chairs aimed at the peaceful settlement of the conflict.