Daily Archives: December 3, 2013

It’s what he would have wanted: The bizarre craze for all-female funeral marching bands sweeping Taiwan

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Թայվան, հյուղարկավորություն, կանանց նվագախումբ,մահացած

 

In Taiwan families are taking a different approach to saying goodbye to their loved ones – by hiring all-female marching bands to perform during the service.

Complete with white Go-go boots and matching uniforms, the women twirl batons and play instruments while marching around the dead body.

The service, which lasts two to three hours, has been set up by Yuan-Rong Life which has a popular marching troupe called ‘Xiu Juan Female Music Band’.

 

Թայվան, հյուղարկավորություն, կանանց նվագախումբ,մահացած

For small services Yuan-Rong recommends less than eight band members – costing £27 each – but for larger memorials more.

 

It is not the first time Taiwan has raised a few eyebrows with their taste of funeral ceremonies.

 

Strippers are sometimes hired who dance for the deceased.

 

The Taiwanese phenomenon is labelled by some as scandalous, but many hail it as an important part of the grieving process – and the perfect way of sending off their loved ones with a smile.

 

 

 

Elton John’s tour of Russia on verge of collapse after singer makes 50 pages of demands and pledges to show solidarity with persecuted gay community

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Էլթոն Ջոն, ռուսաստանյան տուր, նույնասեռականներ

 

Elton John is due to perform in Russia this Friday and Saturday – but the concerts could be called off by local officials if they believe his performances will break their ‘gay propaganda’ laws.

Despite Sir Elton being one of the most famous performers in the world, having sold more than 250 million records worldwide, if officials suspect he’s going to use his appearances to rail against Russia’s new rulings, they will pull the plug, according to The Times.

Quoting Russian paper Your Day, it reports that preparations for the concerts – in Moscow’s Crocus City Hall and Kazan – have already been a considerable expense.

The rider – a list of requests – apparently runs to 50 pages and includes his hotel dressing room in Moscow being turned into a ‘paradise garden’ populated by ‘decorative birds’ and trees.

 
Sir Elton said he wanted to perform in Russia to support the gay community.

This summer, anti-gay campaigners warned Elton not to wear ‘flamboyant’ clothes at his planned concert in Krasnodar in July.  The concert was later cancelled when the singer fell ill.

 

“Suffering” in Bulgaria and Armenia Highest Worldwide

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— For the third year in a row, Bulgaria in 2012 once again had the negative distinction of leading the global suffering list, with 39% of Bulgarians rating their lives poorly enough to be considered “suffering.” However, this time, Bulgaria is not alone at the top. Thirty-seven percent of Armenians were suffering, and Cambodians, Haitians, Hungarians, Malagasy, Macedonians, and Iranians followed closely behind.

Gallup classifies respondents as “thriving,” “struggling,” or “suffering” according to how they rate their current and future lives on a ladder scale with steps numbered from zero to 10 based on the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale. Gallup considers people to be suffering if they rate their current lives a 4 or lower and their lives in five years a 4 or lower. The respondents do not label themselves as suffering.

In 20 out of 143 countries and areas surveyed in 2012, at least a quarter of the adult population rated their lives poorly enough to be considered suffering.

Suffering was 2% or less in 17 countries and areas — most of them wealthier and more developed countries. Some developing countries also made this list: Thailand, Venezuela, Nigeria, the Somaliland region, and Libya.

Results are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews with approximately 1,000 adults, aged 15 and older, per country.

The winners of the EU Centre online quiz announced

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ԵՄ-Հայաստան

The Head of the EU Delegation, Ambassador Traian Hristea drew the winners of  an European Union themed online quiz of the EU Centre on 3 December.

The grand prize, a new laptop went to Anush Torosyan from Vanadzor. The second prize, a netbook, went to a translator Ninel Miqayelyan from Yerevan and the third prize, a Kindle eBook, went to the student Verjine Minasyan.

Ambassador Traian Hristea expressed hope that everyone who took the quiz learned something new about the European Union and its activities in Armenia. “The next quiz will be online in April next year,” he informed and encouraged meanwhile everyone to follow the website of the EU Centre and stay updated with useful information and interesting facts about EU-Armenia cooperation.

The online quiz was taken 1,570 times altogether and 316 people got all the answers right. The quiz in Armenian was taken 1,205 times and 206 people answered all questions correctly. The quiz in English was taken 365 times with 110 people getting all answers right. All main prizes will be drawn from those entries where all 16 questions were answered correctly.

The quiz consisted of 16 multiple choice questions with the links for further information embedded in the website. The quiz was open to Armenian residents only and was available online from 16 September to 1 December 2013.

In addition to the main prizes that will be handed out in January 2014, the EU Centre will give out EU Centre goody bags and organise a day full of activities at the EU Centre in Yerevan inviting everyone who participated in the quiz and got all the answers right. The event will focus on three important issues: EU and Armenia relations, EU development cooperation in Armenia and introduce EU funded projects.

The EU Centre is the main feature of the EU funded project “Support to the EU communication on reforms in Armenia”. Its goal is to raise awareness on EU development cooperation in Armenia and support education on the European Union. The Centre’s website is a gateway to EU cooperation with Armenia. The duration of the project is two years and it is implemented by GOPA-Cartermill S.A in consortium with Altair Asesores and Fainberg LLC.

Who runs the web? Not Kim! Beyonce dethrones Kardashian as Bing’s most-searched for person in 2013

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բեյոնսե

Singer Beyonce was named the most-searched person in 2013 on Bing, the online search engine said on Monday, edging out 2012’s list-topper reality television star Kim Kardashian, who came in second.

Women continued to dominate the most-searched list for a second year running, as singers Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Madonna rounded out the top five. Canadian pop star Justin Bieber, who ranked second place in 2012, dropped to sixth place this year.

Rapper Nicki Minaj and pop singer Miley Cyrus, who both made the list in 2012, also were in the top ten this year, joined by troubled actress Amanda Bynes, who came in at No. 8.

Pop culture continued to lead web searches, but Obama cracked the list at No. 10 as the only politician in the top ten, faring better than last year, when he was ranked 46th on the list.

 

 

Քիմ Քարդաշյան

Search engine Bing annually releases list of its most-searched terms and phrases, breaking it down across topics such as entertainment, sports, technology and news.

The birth of Prince William’s and Kate Middleton’s first child in July topped the most searched news stories of 2013, followed by the Boston Marathon bombings in April.

Facebook led the most-searched social media sites, while online video streaming site Netflix topped the most-searched streaming sites.

Man rings 999 after getting toilet roll holder stuck up his bottom

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Toilet roll holder designed by Ana Mir, the magazine / loo roll

A man was forced to call the emergency services after a toilet roll holder got stuck up his bottom at his house in Newport, South Wales.

The unidentified man was reportedly unable to move and decided to dial 999 from his mobile phone.

Firemen then removed the object, with paramedics providing medical attention at the scene.

The Fire Brigades Union in Wales is quoted by the Mirror as saying: ”We do have to deal with wacky things.

‘Sometimes someone will tell you a story and you just think: “I can’t top that”.

‘To be honest, if I managed to get myself into one of these sorts of scrapes, the last thing I would want would be a whole crew of firefighters coming to see me.’

At the invitation of President Serzh Sargsyan, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin has arrived to Armenia on a state visit

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4863

 

At the invitation of President Serzh Sargsyan, today the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin has arrived to Armenia on a state visit.

The delegation of the RF President comprises Ministers, high-level officials from the Presidential Administration, governors, and heads of the leading Russian companies representing different areas. Among those who have arrived to Yerevan are, in particular, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov, First Deputy of the Chairman of the Government Igor Shuvalov, Minister of Education and Science Dmitri Livanov, Minister of Energy Alexander Novak, Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov, Minister of Regional Development Igor Slyunyev, Minister of Transportation and the Russian Co-Chair of the Armenian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation Maxim Sokolov, Minister of Agriculture Nikolay Fyodorov, First Deputy Minister of Defense Arkadi Bakhin, Deputy Minister for Economic Development Alexei Likhachev, Head of the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation Alexander Fomin, Director General of Rosatom Company Sergei Kirienko, Head of the Federal Tourism Agency Alexander Radkov, President of Rosneft Company Igor Sechin, President of VTB Bank Andrei Kostin, Chairman of the Gazprom Board of Directors Alexei Miller, member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Co-Chair of the Armenian-Russian Parliamentary Cooperation Commission Nikolai Ryzhkov, Senior Vice-Chair of the Russian Railways Company Valeri Reshyetnikov and other officials.

At the Shirak airport of Gyumri, after the official ceremony of welcoming the President of the Russian Federation, Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Vladimir Putin at the V. Ajemian State Drama Theater participated at the opening of the Third Interregional Forum “Russia. Armenia. Customs Union.” At the plenary session of the Forum, which is conducted with the participation of the representatives of the central and regional state bodies, representatives of non-governmental sector and numerous businessmen (over five hundred) the two Presidents made welcoming remarks.

Before that the Presidents of the two countries visited the exhibition presenting marzes of Armenia and regions of Russia which is aimed at the development of cooperation between the regions of the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation and at revealing Armenia’s potential and new opportunities for cooperation from the perspective of Armenia’s membership in the Customs Union.

At the Gyumri State Drama Theater Serzh Sargsyan and Vladimir Putin through the direct television space bridge observed the ceremony of full commissioning of the 5th energy unit of Hrazdan hydro-power station. Since January 2013, the hydro-power station has been working in the probationary-productive regime.

At the Forum venue, the Presidents of Armenia and Russia participated also at the stamp cancelling ceremony dedicated to the XXII Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. The two stamps issued on the occasion, show sports in which the Armenian team will participate at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi: the first depicts skiing, while the second is dedicated to downhill skiing. The left corner of the stamps depicts the Sochi hills.

After the opening of the Third Armenian-Russian Interregional Forum, Serzh Sargsyan and Vladimir Putin in Gyumri, on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the 1988 earthquake in Spitak will place a wreath at the Memorial dedicated to the victims of the earthquake and will pay tribute to their memory. Later, they will visit the military base n. 102 dislocated in Gyumri.