Chess: Saleh forces GM Tahir to a draw

Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates
Aug 18 2004

Saleh forces GM Tahir to a draw
By A Correspondent

DUBAI – UAE’s Jasim A.R. Saleh hogged the limelight by drawing with
Grandmaster Vakhidov Tahir of Uzbekistan in 36 moves in a Dutch
defence. It was a pulsating match which ended after a razor sharp
battle in the endgame.

The queens were exchanged early in the opening and Jasim matched wits
with the Grandmaster with counter blows. In the end a draw was agreed
despite Vakhidov having passed a pawn on the 6th rank.

Seeded players tumbled on the third day of the 14th Abu Dhabi Chess
Festival. Grandmasters had a tough time in proving their superiority
over untitled players and conceded draws.

Gleizerov Evgeny and Anastasian Ashot shared the lead with 3 points
in masters at the end of the third round of the Abu Dhabi Chess
Festival held at Cultural Foundation.

Kobalia Mikhail, Dzhumaev Marat, Ghaem Maghami Ehsan, Harikrishna
Pentala, Minasian Artashes, Bocharov Dmitry are in the second place
with 2.5 points.

On the top board, Bocharov Dmitry drew with Kobalia Mikhail in 22
moves from a Slav defence classical variation. Bocharov played a
solid game. Kobalia with a series of good moves maintained the
balance and split the point in the 22nd move.

Gleizerov Evgeny played a brilliant game and defeated Kotsur Pavel in
34 moves from a Catalan opening.

Gleizerov breached the centre on the 13th move with e5 advance.
Kotsur was caught off guard and attempted to stir up things by giving
up his queen. Gleizerov’s immaculate technique led to an emphatic
victory.

Anastasian Ashot defeated Sundarajan Kidambi in 49 moves from a Slav
defence. The unusual approach on the 4th move unsettled Kidambi.
Kidambi hastened the end by exchanging rooks and allowing the
Armenian to clinch an easy victory.

Among UAE players, Mohamed Hossein and Suhail Tayeb won their
respective games against Illijin Neboisa and Khalil Ibrahim. Taleb
Moussa, Jasim A.R. Saleh, Nabil Saleh and Hassan Abdullah drew their
games.

In the children’s section, six players shared the lead with 3 points.
Bajarani Ulvi, Abdulaziz Karmostaji, Abdulaziz Ibrahim, Zayed Ali,
Azemati Amir and Abdullah Karmostaji are on top with 3 successive
wins.

The Next Films For Mel Gibson

American Daily, OH
Aug 16 2004

The Next Films For Mel Gibson
By Bruce Walker (03/05/2004)

‘The Passion of Christ’ is well on its way to becoming the greatest
film in history, and this victory is despite all the agitprop of the
Left. Mel Gibson, like Rush Limbaugh and like President Bush, is
carrying a battle flag for all conservatives and other normal people.
Now – finally! – that Silent Majority seems to have grasped the
importance of those point men.

The defeat of the Left began when the various barbarian hordes who
constitute Leftism discovered that all their threats, all their
mocking, all their venom, and all their enticements could not sway
Rush Limbaugh or separate him from his tens of millions of listeners.
Although others will doubtless move into foxholes he has held, his
steely determination not to yield was critical.

The full weight of Leftism against President Bush will lead either to
the destruction of a great president or to the complete
demoralization of these hungry, rapacious barbarians. If the Left
cannot defeat President Bush in 2004, then it will never be able to
win an American presidential election.

Now, in the very heart of Leftism, Hollywood, Mel Gibson is proving
that he is stronger and braver than they are. Perhaps `Braveheart,’
which described a Scotsman who stood against all odds for his right
and the right of others to live free was the turning point. Although
a critically acclaimed film, the message was subtly anti-Leftist.

Certainly `The Patriot’ also had the same theme. These two films,
however, could also be explained away as defiance against colonial
oppressors, one of the mythical monsters of Leftism fantasy. The next
film, however, left less ambiguity.

Signs is profoundly religious and profoundly terrifying. It is also
profoundly Christian. Viewers and critics may have missed the symbols
– water, small communities in the Middle East, denial and then
acceptance – but astute Christians should not doubt that this was a
film very much in the tradition of `Out of the Silent Planet.’

What films should Mel Gibson make next? Here are some suggestions.
The only advice I would deign to offer beyond these suggestions is
this: Be bold! Be bold! Be bold! The staid, dull, dreary plots and
dialogue of Leftist culture is both craven and empty. Gibson can do
much more than that with films like these:

‘Venona and Hollywood.’ America now knows what Ronald Reagan knew
when he was in Hollywood. Communist infiltration was very real and
very dangerous. Mel Gibson should make a film – erring on the side of
caution in his conclusions – which historically describes the role of
communists in American culture.

We no longer have to speculate about whether or not the Soviet Union
actively manipulated the film industry. We have names, code names,
directions, actions – some through decryption, some through the
actual archives of the KGB and GRU, some through reports of agents
like Morris Childs (the second highest ranking member of the
Communist Party USA, who was an FBI agent) and some from the
intelligence services of other communist countries.

An honest telling of this tale would also show why a Hollywood which
once was largely run by patriotic Jewish Americans produced films
both gentle and sympathetic toward Christianity and why a Hollywood
with a much smaller Jewish involvement is so hysterical about `The
Passion of Christ.’ Jewishness and Judaism are not the villains;
communism is the villain.

`Tibet.’ The genocide of the Tibetan people was a direct consequence
of the triumphant of communism in China. The Tibetan Holocaust was
not discovered by Leftist prima donnas like Richard Gere; it was
first exposed by anti-communists in America during the 1950s and
1960s. I first recall eyewitness, horrific accounts in Dr. Schwartz’s
Christian Anti-Communist Crusade.

Why were people like Gere carrying about copies of Mao’s Little Red
Book (aka `Mein Kampf’) by the Tibetan people were being tortured,
imprisoned and exterminated? It was not chic to be anti-communist in
1965, and much more important than trifles like holocausts and
`cultural revolutions’ Leftists were concerned about always being
chic.

`Armenia.’ The first holocaust. The forgotten holocaust. The
un-holocaust. While the world watched – even worse, after the
Himmler, the Heydrich, the Hitler of Turkey had lost the war – at
least one million Armenians were exterminated for their Christian
faith and their misfortune of being a nation conquered by the Moslem
Turks.

This was the laboratory for what was later used in the Gulag by the
Soviets, then used in eastern Poland by the Soviets, then used
against Jews by the Nazis. Moreover, this was a war on Christianity
itself. Churches, priests, crosses all were the first objects of
Turkish atrocities. Nothing ever happened after this holocaust. No
Nuremberg Trials. No `Schindler’s List.’ No `Diary of Anne Frank.’

There cannot be too many descriptions of the very genuine moral and
physical horror of the Holocaust, but each dead soul murdered in the
Killing Fields or the barren fields of the Ukraine or in cattle cars
leaving Poland and crammed with Polish families deserve equal memory
to mankind and to God.

Why not start with the first holocaust? Why not begin with that
calculated sadism which was the First Holocaust, the extermination in
the Twentieth Century of millions of Christians – primarily
Armenians, but also Greeks and others – while the world watched, then
forgot, then pretended never happened? That, Mr. Gibson, would be my
next film, if I were you.


Bruce Walker has been a dyed in the wool conservative since, as a
sixth grader, he campaigned door to door for Barry Goldwater. Bruce
has had almost two hundred published articles have appeared several
professional and political periodicals.

47.5% Polled in Armenia Think Main Threat is Resumption of War

47.5% OF RESPONDENTS IN ARMENIA THINK THAT MAIN THREAT FOR REPUBLIC
WITHIN NEXT 5 YEARS IS RESUMPTION OF WAR WITH AZERBAIJAN

YEREVAN, AUGUST 6. ARMINFO. 47.5% of the participants of the public
poll, held in Armenia, think that the main military threat for the
republic within the next 5 years, is the resumption of war with
Azerbaijan. Results of the public poll, held by Armenian Center for
National and International Studies, on the topic “Armenia in the
context of 5-10 years national and international security”,
testify. The survey has been held among 2,021 citizens of
Armenia. 55.5% of the respondents are representatives of female, 44.5%
– male. 42.2% of the respondents have higher education, 20.9% –
secondary-special, 24.6% – secondary education.

According to the resource, 3.1% consider the main threat the presence
of Russian military bases, withdrawal of Russian bases – 11.2%, 1.7%
think that the possible military conflict with Georgia may become a
threat, 2.8% think that it is the membership of Armenia in NATO,
military intrusion of Turkey – 7%, civil war – 11.7%, 13.6% think that
there will be no threat of military nature. 12.7% of the respondents
equated the national security with the own security, 17% – with the
security of the acting state system, 10.5% think that the national
security fully depends on the army and its efficiency, 58.4% are sure
in correlation of all the aforementioned factors. 45.1% of the
respondents think that the national security of Armenia is partially
safeguarded, 27.5% think that it is not safeguarded at all. Answering
the question what will strengthen Armenia within the next 5 years,
27.2% of the respondents said that is the efficiency of the army,
43.5% – economic potential, 26.8% – democratic potential.

In the opinion of 20.7% of the citizens the main political threat for
Armenia may be falsification of the results of the elections, 21.8% –
conflict of the authorities with the society, 9.8% – sharp restriction
of political and civil rights, 4% – increase of the economic and
political dependence on any other country. Speaking about main
economic threats of the next 5 years, 41% of the respondents mentioned
the corruption, 11.2% 0 foreign debt, economic and financial crisis –
19.8%, Azerbaijan’s and Turkey’s keeping the economic blockade of
Armenia – 5.5%. 7.1% think that the activity or inactivity of the
Armenian strategic facilities which belong to foreign companies
(telecommunications company ArmenTel (Greece), airport Zvartnots
(Argentina), Power Distributing Networks (England), rubber plant
“Nairit” (Russia)) may have a threat.

BAKU: Azerbaijan adheres expansion on all-round coop with Kuwait

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
Aug 5 2004

AZERBAIJAN ADHERES EXPANSION OF ALL-ROUND CO-OP WITH KUWAIT
[August 05, 2004, 21:01:28]

Foreign minister of Azerbaijan Republic Elmar Mammadyarov on 5 August
met the delegation by the Minister of Religious Endowments And
Islamic Affairs of Kuwait Dr. Abdullah Maatouq Al-Maatouq.

As was stated by AzerTAj, greeting the guest, Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov stated that the current visit would be useful for
strengthening of friendly relations and religious affairs between
Kuwait and Azerbaijan and opening late current year of the embassy of
Azerbaijan in Kuwait would give a new impetus to development of
bilateral relations.

Dr. Abdullah Maatouq Al-Maatouq said the goal of the visit is to have
exchange of views on cooperation in numerous fields, including
relations with the Caucasus Clerical Office.

Minister Elmar Mammadyarov emphasized the importance of expansion of
all-round cooperation between Azerbaijan and Kuwait.

Touching upon the terror acts over the world, Mr. Mammadyarov stated
that Azerbaijan has subjected to 32 terror acts by Armenia. Noting
that terrorism is jeopardy for the entire humanity, the Minister said
that connection of terrorism with any religion is not expedient and
that Azerbaijan stands ready to render any assistance in combat
against terrorism together with the international community.

Dr. Abdullah Maatouq Al-Maatouq underlined that in the meetings with
believers of other religions he always supports necessity of
inter-religious dialogue, peace, establishments of friendship among
the peoples, organizes numerous conferences to contribute
coordination of efforts of the international communities in this
direction. Another conference is to be arranged shortly, he said.

Minister Elmar Mammadyarov updated the guests on Armenia-Azerbaijan,
Nagorny Karabakh conflict as a result of which over one million of
Azerbaijani have become refugees and IDPs and are living in hard
conditions. Minister Mammadyarov gratefully reminded that the State
of Kuwait has many times rendered humanitarian assistance, as well as
Kuwait holds unchangeable position in the question of settlement of
the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh problem, especially noting
that the State of Kuwait supports territorial integrity and
sovereignty on the international organizations and in the frame of
Organization of Islamic Conference expressed gratitude to he
leadership of the friendly country.

In the meeting, also were discussed other questions of mutual
interest.

Basketball: Malta wins Bronze Medal

di-ve.com, Malta
Aug 3 2004

Malta wins Bronze Medal
by di-ve.com

The Women’s National team made history once again by winning the
first ever medal at senior level at a Promotion Cup.

The team won the bronze medal in the 9th edition of the Promotion Cup
in Andorra after beating Armenia 69-61. The result does not show the
superiority that Malta had throughout the match as it was only in the
last session were the team was administrating the game that the
Armenians managed to make the result more respectable.

This win means that Malta won four out of its five games played in
Andorra, and has by far got the best ever result in a Promotion Cup.
The team arrived back in Malta on Monday morning.

MALTA 69
ARMENIA 61

Session Scores: (Malta First) 1st qtr: 17-14 2nd qtr: 18-16 3rd qtr:
26-14 4th qtr: 8-17.

Top Scorers: Lucienne Bezzina 25, Irene Farrugia 20, Dorianne Galea
9.

New School Built in Village of Turtskh of Akhalkalak

NEW SCHOOL BUILT IN VILLAGE OF TURTSKH OF AKHALKALAK

AKHALKALAK, August 2 (Noyan Tapan). The pupils of the village of
Turtskh of the Akhalkalak region may go to a new school on September
1. In 2003 September the school building of the village crumbled and
the pupils had lessons in small houses. From 2004 spring the
construction of the new 3-storeyed school building began with the
funds of Mkrtich Okroyan, a wealthy resident of Turtskh living in
Moscow. At present the construction of the school building in is
process and it will be finished by September 1. According to the
A-Info agency, the newly-built secondary school of Turtskh will be
named after poet and pedagogue Okro Okroyan, Mkrtich Okroyan’s father.

Soccer: Frenchman Casoni Named As Armenia’s New Coach

Agence France Presse
Aug 1 2004

Frenchman Casoni Named As Armenia’s New Coach
AFP: 8/1/2004
MARSEILLE, France, Aug 1 (AFP) – Former French international defender
Bernard Casoni has been named as coach of Armenia.

Casoni, 43, said he had signed a one-year contract with the Armenian
football federation with the “aim of helping to structure Armenian
football, currently on the rise.”

Casoni, who has previously coached Marseille from 1999-2000,
Tunisia’s Etoile du Sahel and Cannes, will be assisted by fellow
former international and close friend Bernard Pardo.

Casoni heads to Armenia on Thursday for preparations for the national
team’s first qualifying match for the 2006 World Cup, a game against
Macedonia on August 18. Armenia is currently ranked 118th in FIFA’s
world rankings.

130-135,000 Tons of Grapes Harvest Expected in Armenia in 2004

130-135,000 TONS OF GRAPES HARVEST EXPECTED IN ARMENIA IN 2004

YEREVAN, JULY 29. ARMINFO. Some 130-135,000 tons of grapes are
expected to be gathered in Armenia in 2004 as against 80,000 tons in
2003, Head of the Department for Plants, the Ministry of Agriculture
of Armenia, Garnik Petrosyan, told ARMINFO.

He said that the share of Ararat and Armavir regions is the main. Some
60-70% of last year’s harvest was damaged by frosts. He said that
14.000 ha were allotted for vineyards in the current year, as against
12.9 thous. in 2003.

BAKU: Azeri minister, Slovenian delegation discuss NK settlement

Azeri minister, Slovenian delegation discuss Karabakh settlement

MPA news agency, Baku
30 Jul 04

Baku, 30 July: Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov today
received a delegation from the Slovenian Foreign Ministry led by
Slovenia’s permanent representative to the OSCE, Janez Lenarcic.

The ministry’s press service told MPA that the meeting discussed a
number of issues of mutual interest. The sides examined Slovenia’s
election as chairman of the OSCE in 2005. In this connection,
Mammadyarov pointed out that the OSCE has taken the role of a mediator
in settling the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, however, it has not
managed this task yet. The foreign minister expressed the hope that
during its chairmanship, Slovenia will make efforts to solve the
problem.

Armenian-Azerbaijani trade must continue, says Yerevan paper

Armenian-Azerbaijani trade must continue, says Yerevan paper

Iravunk web site, Yerevan
20 Jul 04

No amount of threats or blockades can settle disputes in trade and
business relations, an Armenian paper has said, accusing Azerbaijan of
malice and “fascist-revanchist ravings”. Despite the various
embargoes, annual trade turnover between the countries has been
estimated at 40m US dollars. Both sides must learn to live together
and develop relations “in a European way”, the paper concludes. The
following is an excerpt from Leonid Nersesyan’s report posted on
Armenian newspaper Iravunk’s web site on 20 July, headlined “Armenian
brandy to Baku; Azerbaijani petrol to Yerevan”, subheadings inserted
editorially:

There was a scandalous press conference of the workers of Azerbaijani
Railways in Baku the other day, where direct accusations were made
against Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov. The leaders of the
communications industry protested from the platform at the smuggling
out of the country of millions of tonnes of Azerbaijani petroleum
products to Armenia. Passage omitted

Trade yields 40m US dollars

This incident and others like it (more about them later) speak for
themselves: no embargoes and blockades can totally prevent the
development of Armenian-Azerbaijani trade and economic relations,
whose annual turnover, according to some reports, is approaching 40m
US dollars. This is making the powers-that-be on the Abseron peninsula
nervous, as they believe that only Armenia and the unrecognized
Nagornyy Karabakh Republic are suffering from their tough refusal to
cooperate in the business and economic field with the Armenians. In
the opinion of international experts, the South Caucasus, in
conditions of a growing process of globalization, is being seen as a
single, economically indivisible region, whose general development is
directly linked with the integration of all the states here. So
business relations between their compatriots and Armenian businessmen,
regardless of the will of the Azeri leaders, must sooner or later be
made official. But for the moment a veil is being drawn over these
relations – at different levels and in various forms. At the same
time, trade between the Azerbaijanis and the Armenians carries on
smoothly, yet again confirming the simple truth that money talks and
has no nationality. One could give the example of the visit to Yerevan
by a whole detachment of dealers from the Iranian province of South
Azerbaijan who are moving freely without hindrance. They are having a
perfectly good time and, apart from dealing in buying and selling,
some of the “guests” also have time for recreation.

Incidentally, one should not be surprised that things are peaceful at
the moment, but it is hard to believe what happened at the beginning
of the ’90s, when guns were rumbling on the fronts of Karabakh and all
over was a smell of burning. According to unofficial sources, even
during this tense period in Yerevan Azerbaijani businessmen were
arriving incognito and, reliably protected by stern Armenian partners,
they bought up wholesale from local supply depots and exported to
Baku, Ganca and Naxcivan whatever took their fancy – especially high
quality Armenian footwear, which was highly regarded at the time in
the USSR and relatively cheap.

Without focusing too much attention on the moral aspect of these
contacts and deals during war time, which became forerunners of the
current business plans of the sides divided by the conflict, we will
name just some of them. For example, on the trade counters of Armenian
towns then and now one could buy all kinds of goods from the former
international republic: Beta and Azerbaijan tea, caviar of a doubtful
quality, balyk cured fillet of sturgeon , nar sarab pomegranate sauce
, petrol and diesel fuel (you could get the latter even at the height
of the fighting!) and. washing powder with the deadly name of
Sumqayit.

In turn, in Baku, as before, the local elite still partakes of
Armenian brandy, mineral water, fruit juices and the people still
cadge Armenian cigarettes and wear Armenian-made shoes. When
diplomatic relations are established between the neighbouring
countries, the volume and range of trade exchange will considerably
increase, and that means the dividends of the two sides will increase
100 per cent from this mutually advantageous business cooperation. It
is now up to Azerbaijan, which is at the moment opposed to the
development of economic partnership with Armenia, to ensure that this
issue is solved positively. Instead, the neighbouring leaders from
time to time try to “intimidate” the peoples of Armenia and Nagornyy
Karabakh with astronomical figures of their own oil deposits. The fact
that this is just bluff is backed up by international experts, who
estimate that supplies of “black gold” in the world will generally run
dry by 2030 – 2040. Thus, the age of oil as a lever in the hands of
politicians is coming to an end.

Threats and blockades cannot settle disputes

So, the Azerbaijani side must finally realize that, it is easier to
settle disputes through the development of world trade and many-sided
business partnership than by setting up blockades, making
“threatening” statements, sabre-rattling and breeding cut-throats like
Azeri officer jailed in Budapest, charged with killing Armenian
officer Ramil Safarov. Alas, up till now such a realistic approach has
not been taken on board by official Baku. Armenia, on the other hand,
looks at things in a more sober manner and believes that common sense
will prevail.

One way or another Armenia and Azerbaijan have to live together and
develop relations, including economic. Our countries are members of
the Council of Europe and, consequently, it is time we started
thinking in a European way and not indulging in caveman-like malice,
perpetual retribution and fascist-revanchist ravings. We must take out
some conclusions from our own recent history, when the attempt by the
Azerbaijanis to solve the Karabakh problem by military means and the
Turkish method of genocide of the Armenians backfired on
Azerbaijan. Currently Armenia and Azerbaijan have already become
involved in international multilateral economic projects within the
framework of the CIS, Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization and
TRACECA Silk Road transport corridor . A common “Caucasian home” may
be “erected” if not today, then tomorrow, and what will those
gentlemen on the Abseron peninsula with their anti-Armenian idee-fixe
be saying then?