Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

DEZINFORMATSIYA ALIVE BUT TRANSPARENT

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

By Vladimir Socor

Two forgeries now circulating in Europe and North America bear the
classic imprint of Soviet disinformation, presented, however, in
modern-looking packaging developed by Modest Kolerov’s department of
the presidential administration in the Kremlin.

One of these forgeries attempts to portray Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili as suffering from "psychiatric disturbances." Handed out
discretely to Western journalists in recent weeks, this "study" is
attributed to mental health institutes with prestigious-looking titles
in six West European countries. However, the document is written in
awkward English and with occasional telltale Russianisms ("convinced
in," "diceased.") It purports to "diagnose" Saakashvili with various
psychiatric "syndromes" and "dysfunctions" without substantiating these
in any way, resorting instead to simple assertions and occasionally
innuendo. Significantly, no direct claim is made that any of those
six institutes ever examined or interviewed the Georgian president;
instead, their "contribution to the study" is acknowledged.

The "study’s" political goals are also apparent in the forecasts it
derives from that "diagnosis." It warns that the Georgian president
may provoke social and military conflicts and that he tends to situate
himself in opposition to the Georgian public.

To lend credence to such predictions it clearly misrepresents
Saakashvili as an insecure, "paranoid" personality; and his
public speaking style as reflecting those alleged traits as well
as difficulties of expression while under pressure. In reality,
however, this Georgian president’s defining message is one of
optimism and confidence in the nation, while his speaking style
in English and Russian makes him undoubtedly one of the most
effective political orators in today’s international arena (albeit
one in which oratorical talent is in short supply). Even as this
"study" was being circulated, the June meeting of Saakashvili with
Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg saw a relaxed
and articulate Georgian president easily dominating his stilted
Russian counterpart throughout their lengthy joint news conference
(see EDM, June 16). Economist correspondent Edward Lucas has
wittily debunked the psychological "study" on his widely read blog
().

Concurrently with the anti-Georgian "study," a report on Transnistria
was released apparently by the same workshop or a related one, with
false attribution to seven highly reputed academics from leading U.S.
and British universities. This report backs Transnistria’s "right" to
secede from Moldova and to be granted international recognition. The
document describes Transnistria as a "democratic" polity meeting
the criteria of state sovereignty under international law. It passes
over in silence Russia’s military and economic support that enabled
Transnistria’s secession from Moldova.

Some parts of this report are easily recognized as having been lifted
from an earlier report about Karabakh. Other parts are written in
awkward English. The news agency Regnum, a Kolerov outlet (he was
its founder and chief executive prior to his move into the Kremlin)
first publicized this report.

The seven purported co-authors have, in the meantime, denied any
involvement in the preparation of the report on Transnistria and
asked that their names be removed from the authors’ roster. Some
other scholars, whose work is referenced in the report’s footnotes
in distorted or misleading ways, have similarly asked for removal of
those references. Indeed, most of those names have in the meantime
disappeared the website of the organization that sponsors this report.

The sponsoring organization, the "International Council for Democratic
Institutions and State Sovereignty," at , was found
to share an IP address with when it posted the
report. The reference to democratic institutions and state sovereignty
reflects this Council’s function to advocate for recognition of the
post-Soviet secessionist enclaves. Meanwhile, that same "Council,"
along with something called the "United Euro-Atlantic Forum," has
released a report criticizing Ukraine’s cooperation with the European
Union in enforcing customs regulations against Transnistria’s "external
trade." Names of disinformation outlets that use misleading references
to Western values (the "Free Europe Foundation," also propagandizing
for recognition of the secessionist enclaves, is another case) are
typical of Kolerov’s growing network of such organizations.

Armenia’s Tennis Champion wins fourth title in 2006

Press release for circulation – Monday 17 July, 2006

VICTORY IN SCOTLAND !

(Gibrahayer Monday July 17) Armenia’s hope in world tennis, Zaruhi
Harutyunyan of Armenia, bagged her fourth title of 2006 in Scotland,
demolishing in the Edinbrugh final, Anastasia Nebojanko 6-1, 6-2, who
in the semi finals had eliminated tournament number one Alexa Guarachi
of the United States. However, Hatutyunyan’s true determination and
champion characteristics in the Scottish Championships, emerged in the
semi finals – when she fought off all odds against her – and defeated
Caitlin Smith, 7-6(4), 6-7(6),7-5. A position in the top 200 is now
well in her grasp and if she continues this winning tempo her chase
for a Grand Slam participation may come much sooner than her global
entourge anticipate.

For Zaruhi Harutyunyan’s activity in 2006 – click here CONTRIBUTE TO
ZARUHI’S WORLD TOUR Laiki Bank Strovolos Industrial Area, Stavrou 96 I,
2034, Strovolos: Account Number 101-08-037631 for Zaruhi Harutyunyan
International transfers at: IBAN CY30 0030 0101 0000 0101 0803 7631
Swift Code address: LIKICY2N

Zaruhi Harutyunyan’s Promotion Team: Dickran Bedrossian – London
Simon Aynedjian – Nicosia

Interns see vital role for newspapers

Portland Press Herald (Maine)
July 16, 2006 Sunday
FINAL Edition

by Jeannine Guttman Editor

For most people, summer is the season of vacation, travel and
leisure. Unless, of course, you are a college student studying
journalism.

In that case, summer is not a time to slow down and relax, but a time
to accelerate the pace and grow. It is the time of the internship,
where students work in professional newsrooms. They learn the deman-
ding rigors of daily journalism, practiced on deadline, under the
scrutiny of crusty editors and demanding readers.

This summer, we are hosting two students in our paid summer minority
internship program. Both are working as news reporters and I’m sure
you’ve seen their bylines over the past few weeks. Today I’d like to
tell you a bit about them.

Karoun Demirjian, 25, is pursuing a master’s degree in international
relations at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
in Medford, Mass. She has also had internships at The Christian
Science Monitor and National Public Radio. Her ethnic heritage is
Arab and Armenian.

Cristina Bautista, 20, is a junior with a double major in
mass communications and political science at the University of
California at Berkeley. She is an editor at the university’s Daily
Californian newspaper and has worked with a campus Latina scholarship
organization. She’s fluent in Spanish.

Bautista started working here June 5; Demirjian began a week later.

"Each year, we receive dozens of applications for our internship
program," said Eric Blom, acting features editor and coordinator
of our summer internship program. "College students from around the
country send in examples of their best work and ask for a chance to
spend the summer in Maine, learning the journalism craft.

"Many have sparkling resumes, with lots of experience at college
newspapers, previous internships and great life experiences, not to
mention their academic achievements. So, it’s a real challenge to
select two participants."

Still, he said, the work of our two interns "really stood out from
the others."

Both have enthusiasm and a sense of mission, he said.

"They’ve been interviewing people, traveling to different locations and
writing stories – exactly the kind of experience, under professional
guidance and editing, that they need to succeed in a field that
is vital to the democracy in which we live. They’re also getting
experience at living in Maine, a corner of the country that has a
culture all its own."

The newspaper’s summer mi- nority internship program began in 1999.
"Including this year’s group, we’ve hosted 15 college students,"
said. Blom. "We get as much from their being here as I hope that we
offer them."

I interviewed the two women last week, curious about their career
interest in newspapers.

"I enjoy writing for newspapers, more so than other forms of media,"
Demirjian said. "There’s room to explore a story at greater depth."

Despite that attraction, Demirjian knows the media world is a very
challenging place right now. Newspaper circulations are down, Web
hits are up and news is a commodity. At the same time, the global
landscape is changing, economies are shifting, terrorism is a force
and political and public policy issues are intertwined. Which makes
some folks believe that the need for independent public service
journalism has never been greater in our democracy.

And yet, this is not a career for the faint of heart.

"It weighs on my parents more than me," Demirjian said. "They say I
should be rational and go to law school. But I don’t see newspapers
as fizzling up and dying in the next 10 years or so. Newspapers that
have survived this first wave of panic are pretty good at understanding
multi-media, at knowing how to use their Web sites to engage readers.

"There’s something that’s not complete enough about the local TV news
at 5:30 p.m. that will leave a demand for local newspapers."

Bautista’s perception is that fellow journalism students are a bit
rattled by the unsettled media world they want to enter. "People are
scared, I think. In our major, they are very concerned because we
have a passion to want to do journalism and to continue it.

"It’s hard but it’s something that we’re all committed to because
journalism is a public service, I feel. And it’s a service that needs
to be upheld and continued."

So far, their internships have been rewarding experiences, they said.

"It’s been a lot of fun," said Bautista. "It’s a very nice way to
spend my summer; completely different from California and I really
like that. . . . Going into small towns in Maine, it’s been a very
positive change. People here want to have their name in the paper;
they want to speak to you; they’ll call you back . . .

"I miss the nightlife, though," she said. "That life usually starts
for me at 9 p.m. and night dies here at about 9 p.m."

Demirjian said she appreciates the ability to do reporting that
originates with her and is not picked up from another medium.

"At a newspaper, reporters do real reporting," she said. "That’s why
I decided to leave the world of radio or television and do this."

Bautista said she enjoys the process of reporting and writing. "I
like being able to talk to people, and being some sort of mini-expert
for a day. You accumulate a lot of knowledge; I like the process
of reporting.

"I did a story about the hay shortage and I didn’t even know what hay
was, to be honest, be- fore I did that story. I may never use that
knowledge in San Francisco or Berkeley, but I enjoy the process of
reporting. In terms of writing, I feel much more confident expressing
myself through prose versus verbally. I like the general style of
journalism – it is consistent, neat, concise."

Demirjian had another view: "I think that if I had to choose to
express myself through the rest of time, it would be verbally over
writing. Even when I read, I hear sentences and I hear rhythms
of words and things like that. To me, journalism is about making
something comprehensible. And that’s the thing I like about journalism.

"My first story here was about the environment, then groundfishing
and now refugees." As a journalist, she has an obligation to report
accurately and completely, she said. It’s a lot of re- sponsibility.
"Making things understandable, accessible to everybody," that’s what
good journalists and newspapers do, she said.

I asked them about the popularity of blogs, especially with their
generation. How can that be explained?

A lot of people their age don’t trust newspapers, they said, and
see newspapers as an extension of the government. "We only talk to
government officials, that’s why," Bautista said. "So people go into
blogs to get information and hear other points of view. But most
people supplement blogs with newspapers."

The authors of some blogs were rebuffed by mainstream press, said
Demirjian. "You can’t get on the editorial pages, but you can start a
blog," she said. "You can get your voice heard that way. The opinion
pages of most newspapers are already established with their sets of
writers and you can’t get into that. So blogs are an alternative."

No matter how the media evolve, readers have an obligation to stay
informed, especially as members of this democracy, they said.

"I think people should really be active readers," Bautista said.
"Read the Press Herald, read other things as well, be informed,
understand current events. Once you stop doing that, things get
really lost. And there are a lot of people who don’t have any
connection. Being uninformed is being disenfranchised, I feel."

Readers need to know about their community, Demirjian said. But
community is many things. "Your community is the front page of the
newspaper, too. It’s Maine, but it’s also Somalia and Beirut. It’s
broad."

Columns

Turkish Daily News
Jul 13, 2006

Article 301 should be changed

Radikal’s Ismet Berkan yesterday talks about the infamous Article 301
of the Turkish Penal Code, responsible for many court cases against
writers and journalists. Berkan says Hrant Dink, editor in chief of
Armenian-language daily Agos, was the most recent victim of 301,
having been given a suspended sentence of six years in prison for
"denigrating Turkishness." Berkan quickly notes that this was the
first jail sentence in a case of "denigrating Turkishness."

Berkan recalls earlier discussions on Article 301 in his column when
Berkan himself, along with a number of other journalists, was tried
for having denigrated Turkishness under Article 301, citing a statement
by Justice Minister Cemil Cicek in those days: "We should see how the
Supreme Court of Appeals will interpret the article. We’ll change it
if the law happens to limit the right to freedom of expression." Berkan
contends that now how the law is being applied has become apparent.

Berkan compares Article 301 of the new penal code to Article 159 of the
old code and emphasizes that while the old version of 301 criminalized
"openly insulting" Turkish identity, "denigrating" is enough to be
considered a crime under the new article. Berkan says, insulting or
denigrating Turkish identity should be removed altogether from the
penal law. Although the justice minister assures that many countries
in Europe have the same crime in their penal codes, Berkan wonders
how many people have been tried for this crime in these countries
versus the number of those taken before the court in Turkey.

Another point Berkan makes is that the institutions being protected
>From insult under Article 301 can go to court and defend themselves
without this article. "Why threaten with a jail sentence?" asks
Berkan. If the article should remain in the penal code at least its
wording should be changed back to "openly insulting" as it was in
the previous version, Berkan suggests.

Another problem Berkan sees with the article is the definition of
"Turkishness" as mentioned in this law. The word is dangerous in a
multi-ethnic society, Berkan asserts, and concludes by reiterating
his suggestion that Parliament should move to change Article 301.

Let them talk:

Yeni Safak’s Fehmi Koru yesterday in his column wrote about Turkey’s
decades-old problem with the Islamic headscarf. Wearing the headscarf
is banned on university campuses, which forces certain female religious
believers to choose between going to school and dressing as dictated
by their beliefs.

We will be seeing coverage of news regarding the headscarf for a long
time, says Koru, who recalls the justice minister’s complaint about
members of the judiciary making political statements on the headscarf.

Koru argues that the principle of separation of powers does not mean
a thing in Turkey. The executive branch and the legislative branch
intersect, he asserts, adding that the judicial branch has become
obsessed with separating itself as far as possible from these two
powers. The media, or the so-called fourth power, on the other hand,
is struggling to leave its mark on the country’s political agenda,
purposefully keeping the "headscarf" issue hot in an attempt to debase
the government.

Koru then refers to "an institution that should remain outside
of politics," implying the military, and argues that the judiciary
should refrain from giving the impression that its actions are under
the influence of the army. Koru says recent political statements from
top judges do not give that impression, and if the distance between
the three powers can be maintained in this manner, the media will
also be forced to act within its own sphere of activity. The habit of
newspapers and TV channels to turn every issue into an instrument of
political-bashing is a "disease" that can only be cured if all powers
act within their own boundaries.

Koru says the media uses the "headscarf" issue in order to create
tension in society. The government simply has to tolerate the media
getting its hand on the headscarf issue at every opportunity and
political statements from the judiciary. The wisest course of action
would be to turn a deaf ear to news reports on the headscarf, which
the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has nothing to do with, and
listen to objections of the judiciary with utmost respect without
grieving too much for when politics overstates the importance of an
issue, when tension in society rises unnecessarily. The government
should simply "let them talk" and not react.

Koru concludes by asserting that if politicians act wisely, the
principle of separation of powers could be fully established in
the system.

AKP forgot about promises to change the election law:

Prime Minister Erdogan said his government would work to lower the
age of being eligible to be elected to Parliament to 25 before the
next general elections. Asik notes that, according to Turkish law,
amendments made to the election law need to go into force at least one
year before the next elections to be applicable for that election. In
other words, if the change on the age for being elected is not made
before October, it won’t be applicable in the next elections.

Asik criticizes the AKP for having forgotten about other promises
such as changing the law on political parties, making changes to the
election system, making the public declaration of property and assets
a law for those in power and abolishing political immunities.

These were promises for changing a faulty election system that brought
to power a party receiving votes from only 25 percent of registered
voters, says Asik, and concludes: "In our tradition, democracy is a
tool used to bring a political party to power. And parties usually
try to figure out ways to stay in power."

San Jose Mercury News, USA
July 12 2006

Quick fix: Pizza gets Armenian spin
Recipe: Lahmajoun

A stop at a Middle Eastern bakery and a stack of freshly baked pitas
rekindled my appetite for lahmajoun, a dish I learned to make from
Armenian-American friends in Detroit. It’s a terrific solution for
the dinner rush. I’m told that lahmajoun (la-ma-ZHOON) translates
from Arabic to “meat dough,” but if you think of it as individual
pizzas, you would be closer to the mark. If you can find za’atar
(sometimes spelled zahtar), the Middle Eastern blend of sumac,
oregano and sesame seeds, use that instead of the oregano. If you
wish, substitute ground beef or turkey for the lamb. Serve lahmajoun
with a salad of chopped cucumbers, onions and tomatoes.

— Robin Mather Jenkins, Chicago Tribune

The greenway is play space
By Brian McGrory, Globe Columnist | July 11, 2006

The Boston Globe, MA
July 11 2006

Why hasn’t anyone thought of this already? Right next to the Armenian
genocide memorial park that Big Dig officials plan to build on the
new Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, we can locate a massive exhibit
about the Irish Potato Famine.

And next to that, a memorial park for Serbian genocide victims. Why
not be contemporary and throw in a monument to the Darfur genocide?

And perhaps something nearby to remember all the Kurds who were gassed
to death in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.

Then we’ll need to set aside a block or two in memory of the tsunami
victims. And don’t forget all the Americans who died in Hurricane
Katrina.

I mean, hey, we have this new, big, open space in downtown Boston, so
we might as well use it to address past world travesties and current
inequities, and amid it all demonstrate the tragic vagaries of the
human condition. Right?

Wrong, very wrong, and here’s why.

Because this wasn’t what our new park was supposed to be. It wasn’t
supposed to recall tragedy. It wasn’t supposed to add to our famous
civic guilt. It wasn’t supposed to clutter our psyche, pit one group
against another, and force us to ponder so many universal wrongs that
we’re sadly unable to change.

In other words, this park isn’t supposed to be our collective
conscience, but our civic playground, not so much a sanctuary of
quiet contemplation as an inviting front lawn designed for urban
celebration. It’s a place to go for a takeout sandwich on a wooden
bench or a glass of cold lemonade on plush grass or a mere moment of
tree-lined sanity on the edges of a concrete forest.

This park isn’t meant to be profound, but uplifting, not so much the
National Mall in Washington as Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. It’s
not a site for whispers but for laughter.

Why?

Because we need it, that’s why. Because we deserve it. Because
for 15 years we’ve dealt with construction dust, traffic gridlock,
Jersey barriers setting off ever-changing detours involving illogical
one-way streets. Because we were promised a sunny, upbeat park, an
easy path to the North End and the waterfront, a little refuge from
the concrete strains of urban life. And we ought to get it.

Can’t we just once build something nice in this town without one
group battling another, without someone claiming discrimination,
without everyone holding out their hands demanding what they believe
is rightfully theirs? Can’t we just open a good park?

I have nothing against the Armenians, just as I would have nothing
against any other ethnic group that will inevitably insist on building
a memorial on this very public place. In fact, the Armenian group,
to its considerable credit, has raised millions of dollars to fund
and maintain their park. They’ve developed a beautiful design.

They’ve worked within the process that’s been presented to them.

The Turnpike Authority, worried over how all the parcels on the
greenway will be funded, is leaping at the idea that someone, anyone,
is promising to pay for and keep up one of the most critical sections
of the park. For Matt Amorello, it’s an item to cross off the list.

But no group — not the Armenians, not anybody else — should be able
to buy their way onto hard-earned public ground.

Yes, their cause is a good one. Yes, they’ve done things the right
way. Yes, their heart-wrenching and fascinating history is worthy of a
truly remarkable memorial. So now let’s find a place where it belongs.

For starters, everyone might look toward the South Boston waterfront,
to the Fan Pier development being planned by Boston’s Joe Fallon.

Under law, he’s required to include a certain amount of green space
in his sprawling project. Being a good businessman, not to mention
a friend of the mayor, he may well be appreciative of a fully-funded
park.

And leave the greenway to the people, all the people, as a place to
celebrate life, not to ponder death.

RUSSIANS DID NOT WARN US

Lragir.am
11 July 06

Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan told news reporters July 11
that Armenia is in constant contact with the Russian party to
settle the problem of closing the checkpoint of Verin Lars on the
Russian-Georgian border. By the way, the Russian party closed the
checkpoint for repairs. Vardan Oskanyan declined to say whether the
Russian party had warned its strategic partner that the checkpoint
would be closed and repaired within a period. He mentioned instead
that 17 of the Armenian trucks crowded in Verin Lars crossed the
border in the territory of South Ossetia, however the Georgian side
emphasized that it is an exception and will not repeat. As for the
actions of Armenia, the minister declined to say anything.

By the way, Vardan Oskanyan announced that Robert Kocharyan did not
discuss the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline with the president of Iran.

Disappearing History Doc Raises Questions
By Anne Becker

Broadcasting & Cable
7/10/2006

Did the History Channel pull a documentary because of political
pressure?

History Channel says no, but that hasn’t mooted the question after
Ottoman Empire: The War Machine mysteriously vanished from the
network’s schedule June 22, the day it was to premiere.

The program recounts the six-century reign of the Ottomans, the
precursors to the modern republic of Turkey.

When the special did not premiere-even after History had run promos
just days before and pre-sold DVDs on its Web site-message boards at
HistoryChannel.com and Armenian-American blogs erupted with allegations
the network caved to pressure from the Turkish government or other
groups.

Although none have seen the documentary, the critics suspect it likely
covers the death of more than a million Armenians at the hands of
Ottoman Turks from 1915 to 1923. Armenians regard the killings as
genocide, but the Turkish government disputes the characterization
and is notoriously strident in advocating its version of history.

The History Channel says that it pulled the program because it was
"incomplete and did not meet our broadcast standards," and that it
received no calls from any political groups regarding the special
before its scheduled run date. "The History Channel never bows to
political pressure from any interest group," a network representative
says. But critics of the Turkish government aren’t convinced.

"This has been a pattern of this government’s behavior in countries
outside of its own," says Peter Balakian, Chair in the Humanities
at Colgate University and author of The Burning Tigris: The Armenian
Genocide and America’s Response.

Balakian says the Turkish government’s efforts to stop media coverage
of the Armenian issue dates back to 1935, when it pressured the
U.S. State Department to shut down a Hollywood movie about the
killings. "They have a history of working at intimidation, and I
would hate to think this happened in this case," he says.

Doris V. Cross, a vice president at Media Watch Armenia, a
clearinghouse for historical and scholarly documentation on the
killings, says she had not heard of any pressure from the Armenian
side, but notes that complaints from Turkish officials to what they
consider unfavorable media coverage are "not uncommon."

"The title-Ottoman Empire: The War Machine-that could’ve been enough"
to prompt protests, Cross says. "The official government policy is
that there was no Armenian genocide. This could be one of those cases
where it stays on the shelf."

The situation echoes the controversy last April over The Armenian
Genocide, a PBS documentary about the killings. In that instance,
Armenian groups and members of Congress protested a planned follow-up
program that featured panelists who deny the genocide occurred. Several
PBS stations declined to air it.

Producers from Digital Ranch, the production company behind Ottoman
Empire, did not return repeated calls for comment.

For their part, representatives of the Turkish-American community
deny that they seek to censor content about the Armenian killings.

"The Turkish-American community doesn’t believe in viewpoint
suppression at all-quite the opposite, it wants multiple viewpoints
represented," says David Saltzman, a Washington-based attorney
who represents the Turkish Embassy as well as the Assembly of
Turkish-American Associations. "To suppress viewpoints, especially
under pressure from politicians and lobby groups, is incorrect and
not the American way."

The History Channel says it has rescheduled the program for an
unspecified date in the fall.

WRESTLERS OF ARMENIA GAIN THREE MEDALS IN THE EUROPE YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP

ZOMBATELI, JULY 10, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian wrestlers of Greco-Roman
wrestling gained one silver and two bronze medals in the Europe
Youth Championship held in the city of Zombateli, Hungary on July
6-9. Meanwhile, 5 of the 6 wrestlers of the national team of Armenia
were among the medal winners (including gold) of the previous year’s
tournament of the same name. This time armyman Artur Shahinian (84
kilograms) who won the silver prize was the best one.

Khosrov Melikian (60 kilograms) from Gyumri and Arsen Julfakian
(74 kilograms) from Yerevan stood on the third stair of the pedestal.

Tennis star donates $10,000 to Poochigian

Fresno Bee
Bee Staff
July 8, 2006

State Sen. Chuck Poochigian, R-Fresno, shares at least one thing
with Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Al Gore: All received campaign
contributions from Andre Agassi.

The tennis great gave $10,000 to Poochigian’s campaign for attorney
general.

Agassi won’t give his reasons for supporting a Republican’s campaign
after years of contributing to Democratic candidates.

Poochigian credits a common friend whom he will not name.

"A strong supporter of mine said he would try to raise some funds,
and among the people he knows, apparently well, is Andre Agassi,"
Poochigian said.

Poochigian is running against Democrat Jerry Brown for attorney general

Agassi is gearing up for competition as well. The winner of eight Grand
Slam titles, he announced the U.S. Open will be his last tournament.

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