MGM rises on talk of dividend
By Holly Yeager in New York

Financial Times
Mar 17, 2004

Shares of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer were up sharply yesterday on word that
the Hollywood studio was considering a one-off dividend for
shareholders.

MGM officials would not discuss the timing or size of the
dividend. But people familiar with the situation said a distribution
of $6-$9 was under consideration, and a decision could come as early
as next month.

In a statement late Monday, Alex Yemenidjian, MGM chairman and chief
executive, said the studio is “committed to sharing the company’s
wealth with our shareholders”. He noted MGM’s recent tender offer and
a share buyback programme, and said the company is exploring other
alternatives, including the dividend.

The dividend distribution would bring $1bn-$1.5bn to financier Kirk
Kerkorian, who, with his Tracinda Corp investment firm, owns 74 per
cent of MGM’s shares.

MGM is prized for its film library, which includes classics such as
The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind. Mr Yemenidjian has in the
past indicated that he would like to see the company become part of a
larger group, either through a merger or acquisitions. Last year, the
company bid $11.5bn to buy the US entertainment assets of Vivendi
Universal but NBC television ultimately struck a deal to merge with
the Vivendi assets.

But some analysts reacted cautiously to the possibility of a
dividend. MGM has no debt and was expected to borrow the $1.4bn-$2.1bn
to pay the dividend, should it decide to make it.

Jessica Reif Cohen, a Merrill Lynch analyst, questioned the company’s
“strategic direction”, saying the borrowing would mark “a potential
re-leveraging of the business”.

“The dividend does little, if anything, to enhance MGM’s strategic
position and we question if this dividend implies a lack of investment
opportunities for MGM,” she wrote.

MGM shares were up 8.46 per cent at $17.57 in midday trading
yesterday.

Russian Itanium slayer samples first 130nm processor
By Tony Smith

Posted: 16/03/2004 at 10:41 GMT

Elbrus, the would-be Itanium slayer, has begun sampling its 64-bit
processor, the Russian company has announced.

Long-time Register readers will recall Elbrus’ claims made back in
February 1999 that it was hard at work on a “post-Risc” 64-bit CPU that
would run four to five times faster than Intel’s first-generation Itanium,
then known by its codename, ‘Merced’.

At the time, Elbrus was seeking $40m worth of funding to back the
development of the chip, dubbed the E2K. It was to be fabbed at 180nm and
clock at 1.2GHz. It was to offer both IA-32 and IA-64 compatibility.

By May of that year, the company had narrowed its goals to a 600MHz
processor fabbed using 350nm technology.

Little was heard of the company – whose founders long claimed to have
developed Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) computing before HP pursued
it, and to have figured out much of the stuff Transmeta put into its
Crusoe CPUs well ahead of the US company’s efforts – until May 2002 when
Boris Babayan, Elbrus’ co-founder and CTO, claimed it would have an E2K
prototype out by the end of the year.

Elbrus’ latest statement centres on a different chip, the MCST R-500,
which the company suggests is the first Russian-made 130nm microprocessor,
and who are we to argue? The R-500 is Sparc-compatible and is clocked at
450-500MHz. It consumes less than 1W of power, Elbrus said. It began
punching out samples in late February, and the company has already run
Solaris and Linux successfully on machines based on the processor.

Elbrus – now known as Elbrus MCST (Moscow Centre of Sparc Technologies) –
said it will ship its Elbrus 90 Micro system, which uses the R-500, during
the second half of the year.

What of E2K. According to the company’s web site, the spec. is back to
1.2GHz based on a 130nm process. It will apparently ship sometime this
year.

Kars Treaty on protecting Ajaria expired long ago – ambassador

Interfax News Agency
16.03.2004

Moscow. (Interfax, 15.03.2004) – Ajaria cannot count on protection from
Turkey under the Treaty of Kars, Georgian Ambassador to Russia
Konstantin Kemularia said at a Monday press conference at the Interfax
main office.

“It is senseless to make any comments on the treaty. Its validity
expired long ago. Things are completely different nowadays.
International relations are based on the realities of the 21st century.
Relations between Russia and Turkey, Georgia and Turkey, Georgia and
Russia have changed,” he said.

“Those who want to reanimate the past and pin hopes on problems in
international relations between our ancestors stand no chance,”
Kemularia said.

“Russia simply must protect Ajaria,” Ajarian leader Aslan Abashidze told
Interfax earlier. “There is the Treaty of Kars, which stipulates that
Turkey will protect the Ajarian autonomous republic. There is also the
Moscow Treaty, which entails the same commitments. Russia must [protect
Ajaria] under those treaties,” Abashidze said.

Kevorkian suggests using death row inmates for medical research
/Wednesday, March 17, 2004/

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAPEER — Imprisoned assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian has asked
state legislators who advocate lifting Michigan’s 158-year ban on
capital punishment to permit the condemned to undergo medical
experimentation before death.

In a two-page “Open Letter to Michigan Legislators” written from his
prison cell, Kevorkian detailed his opposition to the death penalty, but
explained that the practice of lethal injection could provide scientific
benefits to researchers allowed to experiment with inmates immediately
before they die.

Kevorkian detailed a similar plan in a 1960 booklet he wrote, “Medical
Research and the Death Penalty.”

The 75-year-old retired pathologist is being held at the Thumb
Correctional Facility in Lapeer, while serving 10 to 25 years for
second-degree murder in the 1998 videotaped poisoning of Thomas Youk of
Oakland County’s Waterford Township. Youk had Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Kevorkian’s letter was faxed to state legislators this week, his lawyer,
Mayer Morganroth, told The Daily Oakland Press.

Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca described Kevorkian’s proposal
as “ghoulish.”

“It’s mad, and it’s morbid,” Gorcyca said.

State Rep. Larry Julian, R-Lennon, who is sponsoring death penalty
legislation, said he did not expect Kevorkian’s suggestions to become a
part of any bill.

“I think it’s ridiculous,” Julian said. “I think people have the ability
now to donate their bodies to science. But that would be a slippery
slope for us.”

The state House was expected this week to take up the proposal to allow
capital punishment.

Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918 Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PRESS RELEASE +++ PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: March 17, 2004

Contact: Ardashes Kassakhian 818.500.1918

EAST SAN FERNANDO VALLEY ANC URGES CONGRESSMAN HOWARD BERMAN TO CHALLENGE
GENOCIDE DENIERS IN CONGRESS

Van Nuys, CA– Members of the East San Fernando Valley Armenian
National Committee and the ANCA-Western Region met with United States
Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA) to discuss issues of concern to the
Armenian-American community and to urge the Congressman to challenge
Genocide deniers in Washington, D.C.

The meeting took place in Congressman Berman’s district office and
included the participation of East San Fernando Valley (ESFV) ANC
members Alice Chalian, Aram Kaloustian, Avo Ovayan and local ANC
chairman Garbis Hindoyan. ANCA-WR Chairman Raffi Hamparian, ANCA-WR
staff Ardashes Kassakhian and Kris Demirjian also participated in the
meeting.

`We were pleased to share with Congressman Berman the concerns of the
tens of thousands of Armenian-Americans who live in his Congressional
District,” commented ESFV-ANC Chair Garbis Hindoyan. `I am also
pleased that the Congressman understands that we are a major and
growing political presence in the San Fernando Valley,’ he added.

The ANC activists thanked Congressman Berman for his support of
Armenian issues. ANCA-WR Chairman Raffi Hamparian briefed Congressman
Berman on current legislation that would permanently normalize
U.S. trade relations with the Republic of Armenia and discussed the
importance of challenging Turkish denial of the Armenian Genocide.
During the meeting, Hamparian voiced the ANC’s concerns about the
influence and access that the Republic of Turkey has through hired
lobbyists in Washington, DC. The Congressman acknowledged this fact
and assured the ANCactivists that he would stand up to lobbyists who
denied the Armenian Genocide.

The Congressman accepted an invitation to visit the Ferrahian Holy
Martyrs Armenian School, which is located in the Congressman’s
District, for a breakfast with community leaders.

ESFV-ANC Chair Garbis Hindoyan presented Congressman Berman with a
copy of Peter Balakian’s best selling book `The Burning Tigris:
TheArmenian Genocide and America’s Response.’ The book chronicles the
greatest humanitarian aid effort by the United States, during which
millions of dollars were raised to help the victims of the Turkish
massacres of Christian Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

In addition to receiving the book, Congressman Berman added his name
to the growing list of elected officials who are participating in the
ANCA Nationwide Genocide Prevention Postcard Campaign.

Congressman Berman represents California’s 28th Congressional
District, which spreads from the northern San Fernando Valley, where
it takes in the small city of San Fernando and includes the
communities of Pacoima, Arleta, Panorama City, Van Nuys, and North
Hollywood.

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the largest and
most influential Armenian American grassroots political
organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices,
chapters, and supporters throughoutthe United States and affiliated
organizations around the world, the ANCA actively advances the
concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of
issues.

Editor’s Note: Photo Available Upon Request
Photo Caption: (From Left to Right: Avo Ovayan, Kris Demirjian, Raffi
Hamparian, Garbis Hindoyan, Rep. Howard Berman, Aram Kaloustian, Alice
Chalian and Ardashes Kassakhian)

Tennis: Henman crushes Corretja while Hewitt tumbles out

The Independent – United Kingdom
Mar 16, 2004

Matthew Cronin in Indian Wells

TIM HENMAN looked full of confidence as he won his Pacific Life Open
third-round match with Alex Corretja 6-4, 6-4 here yesterday.

Corretja lost his serve in the second game, at the end of which his
trainer was called on to treat what looked like a graze on the
knee. The Spaniard played on, and broke back in the seventh game with
a backhand passing shot down the line. Henman, however, broke back in
the 10th game to claim the first set as Corretja was wayward with
three forehands.

At deuce in Corretja’s first service game in the second set, the
Spaniard struck a shot down the line which caught the highest part of
the net and carried over the baseline to put Henman 2-0 up. The
Briton’s hopes of another three-game lead evaporated as he sent an
overhead smash into the net to give his opponent an instant break
back. After another deuce game on the Corretja serve, the Spaniard won
out to level at 2-2.

The fifth game was nervy for Henman on his serve but it went in his
favour at deuce and he edged 3-2 ahead. The match went with serve to
5-4 and Henman closed out the second set.

The Australian two-time defending champion Lleyton Hewitt lost to Juan
Ignacio Chela, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 as the Argentinian put up a determined
performance to end Hewitt’s 13-match unbeaten run. “Even when I felt
like I had him on a stretch a couple of times, he came up with good
defensive shots,” Hewitt said. “I didn’t feel like I played too badly,
but I felt like he didn’t miss a lot of shots.”

Roger Federer, of Switzerland, made light work of Chile’s Fernando
Gonzalez in the third round, his 6-3, 6-2 victory taking 62
minutes. Federer, the top seed here, had breezed through the previous
round with a 6-1, 6-1 rout of Romania’s Andrei Pavel.

Also in the third round, Tommy Haas, of Germany, beat Spain’s Albert
Costa 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.

Andy Roddick beat his former doubles partner Jan-Michael Gambill 7-6,
6-2 late on Sunday to set up a meeting with the recent Australian Open
finalist Marat Safin, of Russia.

Roddick, who faced Gambill for the first time last week in Scottsdale,
hit 21 aces in the thin desert air and was never broken. The US Open
champion last met Safin in the Australian Open quarter-finals, where
the Russian won a titanic five-setter.

The fourth seed, Guillermo Coria, made a good first appearance on
American hard courts this season, beating the Armenian Sargis Sargsian
6-3, 6-4.

The seventh-seeded Carlos Moya, of Spain, hit a double-fault on match
point and fell to the Russian Irakli Labadze 2-6, 6-1, 6-3. The 11th
seed, Nicolas Massu, of Chile, retired with a sinus infection while
trailing 6-3, 1-0 to Spain’s Rafael Nadal.

l Greg Rusedski is expected to confirm today whether he intends to
pursue a compensation claim against the Association of Tennis
Professionals following his acquittal on doping charges last week. The
British No 2 and his legal team are believed to have examined the
possibility of pursuing a claim against the ATP.

Armenian president praises army

Mediamax news agency
16 Mar 04

YEREVAN

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan announced in Yerevan today that
“the Armenian army is improving year by year”, Mediamax news agency
quoted Robert Kocharyan as telling journalists this after his visit to
the Vazgen Sarkisyan Military School. He said that “this applies both
to the Armenian army’s combat readiness and level of discipline”.

[A separate Arminfo report quoted him as saying: “The level of
training of the military is now sufficiently high, nevertheless we
discussed with the leadership of the institute steps aimed at
developing further the quality of military education in Armenia.”]

Armenian leader hopes for peaceful solution to Ajaria crisis

Mediamax news agency
16 Mar 04

YEREVAN

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan today expressed the hope that the
leaders of Georgia and Ajaria will succeed in resolving their
disagreements through negotiations.

According to Mediamax news agency, Robert Kocharyan said this in
Yerevan today, speaking to journalists after his visit to the Defence
Ministry’s Vazgen Sarkisyan Military Institute.

Robert Kocharyan stressed that “Georgia at large and the Black Sea
ports of that country are of extremely special importance to Armenia”.

The president noted that Armenia’s wish for a peaceful settlement to
the situation in Ajaria was expressed during Georgian President
Mikheil Saakashvili’s official visit to Yerevan at the end of the last
week.

Useful advice to Misha

Aravot, Yerevan
13 Mar 04

On the eve of his visit to Armenia, Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili gave an interview to Armenian journalists and said that he
wanted very much to learn Armenia’s experience in the law-enforcement
agencies and especially, in fighting corruption in the police, as the
level of corruption in Georgia is incomparably higher than in Armenia,
according to Saakashvili. So the Georgian president wants Kocharyan to
explain how he manages to do this and in addition, how our president
has managed to establish law and order in the state service system. We
are also eager to discuss this issue with Kocharyan. To be short, the
young president of Georgia has come to Armenia not only for
establishing friendly relations with the Armenians, but also for
learning our country’s experience that will be applied in Georgia
afterwards.

If, for example, the police in Georgia do not simply take bribes as
they do in our country, but demand money from drivers threatening them
with a gun, then Kocharyan may give really good advice. The same
concerns the state system, as nobody is being robbed in our country,
and people and private companies “pay taxes” of their own volition. In
this case, Kocharyan will teach Saakashvili how to create a system
under which people will give bribes to officials and policemen of
their own volition.

But corruption is not the most important issue. The newly-elected
president of Georgia should be thinking of gaining victory in the next
presidential elections, when the people’s euphoria ends and most of
social problems are not resolved. Our president will really become an
inestimable adviser for Saakashvili on the issue of “being re-elected”.
For example, Kocharyan may give very valuable advice about how to
revoke the licence of any undesirable independent TV company, about
how to turn the parliament into a puppet, about the laws that the
parliament should be forced adopt in order to restrict freedom of
speech and the press and about how to fight the opposition that
irritates them from time to time. Saakashvili may get advice about how
to stuff ballot boxes and rig the results of elections. And remember,
my friend Misha [meaning Mikheil Saakashvili], opposition activists
should be definitely arrested. The people should be kept in an
atmosphere of fear. To be honest, Saakashvili will learn all these
skills without his counterpart’s advice in a year.

Senior US official comes to Azerbaijan with “concrete” proposals, analyst
says

Sarq, Baku
16 Mar 04

US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage is expected to visit the
South Caucasus countries in a few days. The US official is also
expected to hold talks with the presidents of the three countries of
the region during his visit. It is also said that the goal of the
visit is to discuss bilateral relations and regional problems.

This visit by Armitage can be assessed as yet another step by the West
and the USA which have recently increased their interest in the
region.

The director of the Centre of Political Innovations and Technologies,
political analyst Mubariz Ahmadoglu, thinks that the major goal of the
US official’s visit to the region has to do with Azerbaijan.

“There is an issue that the USA has always kept in the focus of
attention. At the moment it is the settlement of all regional
conflicts. Apart from the conflicts in Georgia and Azerbaijan, the USA
is also interested in regional integration. There are almost no
uncertainties in Georgian-US relations. What is not certain is that it
is difficult to predict [Georgian President Mikheil] Saakashvili’s
steps. But this is not of great concern for the USA. So, Georgia is
not a problem,” Ahmadoglu said.

He said that interestingly, ahead of Armitage’s visit, US officials
had made several statements in connection with the settlement of the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. Thus, it cannot be ruled out that Richard
Armitage will address regional leaders, in particular the Azerbaijani
and Armenian presidents, with concrete proposals on the settlement of
this problem.

“He will also try to get more precise answers to his proposals from
the sides,” Ahmadoglu said.

[Passage omitted: there might be other proposals on regional
integration]

Ahmadoglu believes that the USA is interested in the strengthening of
Azerbaijan. “There can be statements on human rights and
democracy. But the USA accepts the incumbent authorities. The White
House will boost both economic and geopolitical and military
cooperation with Azerbaijan,” the analyst said.