Ken Davitian

Kenneth "Ken" Davitian (born June 19, 1953) is an American amateur who is best accepted for his role as Borat's ambassador (Azamat Bagatov) in the 2006 ball blur Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, in which he speaks the Eastern accent of Armenian throughout the film.

Life and career

Davitian, who is of Armenian descent, was built-in in Los Angeles, California. He accustomed a amount in theatre from Whittier College.

Early in his career, he appeared in the movies American Raspberry, Bikini Summer, Maximum Force, Frogtown II, and Sexual Intent. In 1994, he appeared in the cine The Silence of the Hams, a bluff of The Silence of the Lambs. Davitian has aswell appeared in television alternation such as Chuck, Ghost Whisperer, Becker, ER, Arli$$, The Shield, Gilmore Girls, Six Feet Under, Boston Legal, The Closer, and Mind of Mencia. He has aswell fabricated appearances in music videos, for archetype in The Smashing Pumpkins' "Stand Inside Your Love" of 2000. He appeared in the blur Meet the Spartans as Xerxes, with the movie's narrator arena on his antecedent role as "that fat guy from Borat". He aswell starred in the 2008 film, Stone & Ed, in which he portrays a biologic aristocrat alleged Señor Gordo. Ken aswell was an added in a accomplishments arena of the actualization According to Jim. Upcoming films with Davitian cover the ancestors affable blur The Prankster, Melvin Smarty, and You May Not Kiss The Bride in which he plays Katherine McPhee's father, starring adverse Kathy Bates, Rob Schneider, Vinny Jones, Dave Annable and Mena Suvari. Davitian aswell has a adornment on the blur The Artist with John Goodman and James Cromwell, which was the aboriginal blur to be bought at the 2011 Cannes Blur Festival by The Weinstein Company and already has Oscar buzz.

Davitian starred in the abbreviate Last Day Foundation with actor Jon Lovitz, a section accounting by his son, biographer Aaron Davitian.

Davitian founded a restaurant in 2003 alleged The Dip, which was amid in Los Angeles, California and his son Robert Davitian runs his hot dog restaurant "The Infield" in Sherman Oaks, CA, which was afresh fabricated even added acclaimed by Charlie Sheens cheep and the conception by Sheen of the Charlie Sheen Dog with Tiger Blood.

Adam G. Sevani

Adam G. Sevani (born June 29, 1992) is an American actor and dancer, known for playing Robert Alexander III aka "Moose" in the films Step Up 2: The Streets and Step Up 3D.

Background

Sevani is of Armenian and Italian descent. His earlier brother, V Sevani (aka Vahe Sevani), was a affiliate of the Boy Band NLT. Sevani was aloft in Los Angeles, California and started dancing from a adolescent age at the Synthesis Ball Center, the dancing flat founded by his parents.

Career

Sevani was featured in two J.C. Penney's Children's Apparel commercials with adolescent adolescent actor/dancer, Alyson Stoner (one in 2004 and one in 2005). Sevani was a allotment of FlyKidz, a singing accumulation and children's television appearance on the CBS network.

Sevani was a acknowledging amateur in Step Up 2: The Streets, the aftereffect to Step Up, arena Robert "Moose" Alexander III. The cine premiered on February 14, 2008. Sevani was accepted by The New York Times for assuming a appearance who "might be the baddest alarmist in cine history". He aswell accustomed the 2008 Adolescent Hollywood Award for 'Best Scene Stealer' for his role as "Moose".

In November 2008, he was featured in a accolade video to Michael Jackson's 25th Anniversary 'Thriller' video for Halloween, with Alyson Stoner. Sevani reprised the role of "Moose" in Step Up 3D, appear August 6, 2010. The blur aswell featured Stoner as Camille Gage.

Sevani was aswell in one adventure of Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory to shoot a music video with Rob Dyrdek and to choreograph their moves.

Dancing

Sevani has appeared in music videos such as: Mase's "Breathe, Stretch, Shake", Will Smith's "Switch", T-Pain's "Church" and a little allotment in NLT's "That Girl." He aswell did the choreography for NLT's music video for "Karma." He is accustomed as a back ballerina for Kevin Federline's achievement on the Teen Choice Awards in 2006. Adam aswell formed a ball aggregation with Jon Chu and several California breadth dancers with celebrity cameos in 2008 accepted as the ACDC, or Adam/Chu Ball Crew. The aggregation had a awful publicized YouTube ball action with Miley Cyrus. The action concluded with a final ball off amid the two crews at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards.

'Baby Joseph,' focus of treatment dispute, dies in his sleep

"Baby Joseph" Maraachli died peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday, in Windsor, Ontario, his family said

Joseph Maraachli, the infant who became the center of an international end-of-life debate, died peacefully in his sleep at his Windsor, Ontario, home, a spokesperson for the family said Wednesday.
Widely known in the media as "Baby Joseph," the 20-month-old boy spent the last several months with his family and died Tuesday afternoon.
"Obviously, it's been a very difficult day for the family today," said spokeswoman Emma Fedor. "In some ways, it was a bit of a relief for the family."
Joseph's family had refused to accept a recommendation by a Canadian hospital to remove the boy's breathing tube and allow him to die. In March, the infant received a tracheotomy at a children's hospital in St. Louis, Missouri.
He was able to go home April 21.
"By providing him with this common palliative procedure, we've given Joseph the chance to go home and be with his family after spending so much of his young life in the hospital," said Dr. Robert Wilmott, chief of pediatrics for SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center in St. Louis.
A London, Ontario, hospital where Joseph was receiving care for a progressive neurological disease refused to perform a tracheotomy, a surgical procedure in which an opening is made into the airway through an incision in the neck to allow for suction of fluid out of the lungs.
In court papers, doctors in Canada said there was no hope for recovery. They would not perform a tracheotomy because they considered it to be invasive and not recommended for patients who require a long-term breathing machine.
Parents Moe and Sana Maraachli refused to accept the recommendation. The Maraachlis' daughter, Zeina, had died at home in 2002 after a tracheotomy after suffering similar complications, and the family wanted to offer the same care to their son.
"To go through it once is enough for a lifetime, to go through it twice, it's just ... unbelievable," Fedor said.
Joseph was "very peaceful, in no pain whatsoever, no distress," when he died, Fedor said. He was buried Wednesday next to his sister.
The family was thankful for those who helped and prayed for Joseph, she added.
"The heart of the issue would come down to the mix between respecting the parents' rights ... to be in comfort of (their) own home, to die on God's time," said Fedor.
The family countered assertions that Joseph was nonresponsive, blind and deaf, she said. Instead, the boy could hear the parents' voices and look for them, Fedor told CNN. The family believed that, after a tracheotomy, Joseph could be freed from machinery.
The parents said that they, rather than physicians, should make a judgment on quality of life, Fedor said.
The Maraachli case caught the attention of the group Priests for Life, which funded Joseph's transfer and treatment at the SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center. That hospital deemed the procedure medically appropriate and Baby Joseph underwent a tracheotomy there on March 21.
In April, Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, said he considered this a "victory over the culture of death." He says "(Joseph) has gained benefit from his tracheotomy, is breathing on his own, and is going home to live with his parents."
Priests for Life is a Catholic pro-life organization that functions as a network to prevent abortion and euthanasia. The group often is noted for the graphic images depicting abortion its members and supporters use to make their case.
The London Health Sciences Centre -- the hospital where Joseph was initially treated -- in March said that "there are clearly differences in the approach of these centres to the management of end-of-life care in this tragic situation" and that "the medical judgments made by LHSC physicians remain unchallenged by any credible medical source."
Nurses helped the family provide 24-hour care for Joseph in his final months. "There was always somebody by his side," Fedor said.
The child was on almost no medication and apparently was in no pain, Fedor said.
"When he was in the arms of his parents, you could tell," she said. "He was settled when he was in their arms."

USS Cole: Guantanamo tribunal for Yemen bombing suspect

The force of the blast blew a massive hole in the side of the guided missile destroyer

The prime suspect in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole will face a military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay, US defence officials have said.

Abd al-Nashiri, a Saudi of Yemeni descent, could face the death penalty if he is convicted.

The ruling, issued by the US Department of Defense, means the US must bring him before a military judge within 30 days.

At least 17 sailors were killed and 40 were wounded in the attack in Aden on 12 October 2000.

Barring a late plea, the tribunal will be the first death penalty case at the base under US President Barack Obama, who had previously pledged to close Guantanamo.

Waterboarding admission

The charges against Mr Nashiri allege he was head of "planning and preparation" for the attack on USS Cole, during which two suicide bombers rammed an explosives-laden boat into the guided missile destroyer, blowing a vast hole into its side.

Other charges against him include murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, terrorism and using treachery or perfidy.

Mr Nashiri is also accused of plotting an attempted strike on USS The Sullivans in the same port in January of the same year.

And the US also accuses him of planning an attack on a French oil tanker MV Limburg in the Gulf of Aden in 2002.

One crew member died in the oil tanker attack, which caused a spill of some 90,000 barrels of oil.

Mr Nashiri is one of three detainees the CIA has admitted to waterboarding, a simulated drowning technique that has been widely condemned as torture by foreign governments and human rights organisations.

At a closed hearing in 2007, the suspect said that he had confessed to the USS Cole bombing because he had been tortured by his interrogators.

According to documents released in 2009, the Saudi national underwent waterboarding dozens of times.

His lawyers have argued that he should not face execution because of the treatment he faced while in detention.

"We think there were a lot of compelling reasons to say it shouldn't be a death penalty case but we're not surprised at all," said one of his lawyers, Rick Kammen.

But the Pentagon official overseeing the process has ruled that, if found guilty, the defendant can face execution.

US in 'final' stage to decide Haqqani network status

The US has blamed the recent attack on Kabul's US embassy on the Haqqani network

The United States says it is close to deciding whether to label the Pakistan-based Haqqani network a foreign terrorist organisation.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said a final review was under way before making a decision on the group blamed for a series of attacks in Afghanistan.

US officials say the group was behind the recent attack on the US embassy in Kabul in which some 25 people died.

They have been putting pressure on Pakistan to sever links with the group.

The most senior US military officer, Adm Mike Mullen, recently accused Pakistan's spy agency of supporting the Haqqani group.

Pakistani officials have consistently denied links with militant groups.

The spat has further strained US-Pakistan ties which have deteriorated sharply after the killing of al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden on Pakistani soil by US commandos in May.

'Final review'
"We're in the final, formal review that has to be undertaken to make a government-wide decision to designate the network as a foreign terrorist organisation," Mrs Clinton told a news conference in Washington on Wednesday.
She said seven leaders of the group had been placed under US sanctions since 2008.

The Haqqani network, which is closely allied to the Taliban and reportedly based in Pakistan, has been blamed for several high-profile attacks against Western, Indian and government targets in Afghanistan.

It is often described by Pakistani officials as a predominantly Afghan group.

But correspondents say its roots reach deep inside Pakistani territory, and speculation over its links to Pakistan's security establishment refuses to die down.

US officials have long been frustrated at what they perceive to be Pakistani inaction against the Haqqani network, and analysts say US concern about the group's capabilities is particularly acute as Nato begins withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.

After Adm Mullen's accusation last week, Pakistan's government warning that the US could lose Pakistan as an ally if it continued to publicly accuse Islamabad of supporting militants.

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said that the US cannot afford to alienate Pakistan's government or its people.

Washington, however, has kept up the pressure, urging Islamabad to break any links it has with the Haqqani network.

Pakistan denies its intelligence service has links with the Haqqani network and says it is determined to fight all militants based on its border with Afghanistan.

Indonesia plane carrying 18 feared crashed

A plane carrying 18 people is feared to have crashed in western Indonesia, government officials say.

Rescue teams are heading to its last known location near the North Sumatran village of Bahorok.

Transport ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said the CASA C-212 aircraft was on an hour-long flight between North Sumatra and Aceh provinces.

He said it lost contact with air traffic control after sending out an emergency signal.

Indonesia relies heavily on air transport and has a poor aviation record.

In May, 27 people died when an Indonesian passenger plane crashed into the sea off the eastern province of West Papua.

Saudi woman driver's lashing 'overturned by king'

Driving remains a banned activity for Saudi women, who will soon be allowed to vote

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has overturned a court ruling sentencing a woman to 10 lashes for breaking a ban on female drivers, reports say.

The ruling, although not officially confirmed, was tweeted by a Saudi princess and reported by AP news agency citing an unnamed official.

The woman, named as Shema, was found guilty of driving in Jeddah in July.

The sentence came two days after the king announced women would be allowed to vote for the first time in 2015.

"Thank God, the lashing of Shema is cancelled. Thanks to our beloved king," tweeted Princess Amira al-Taweel, wife of Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.

"I am sure all Saudi women will be so happy."

Two other women are due to appear in court later this year on similar charges, reports say.

In recent months, scores of women have driven vehicles in Saudi cities to put pressure on the monarchy.

The Saudi interpretation of Islamic law includes the guardianship system under which women need permission from a male relative to participate in public life.

However, correspondents say King Abdullah has struck a reformist stance since he ascended the throne in 2005, especially in regard to women's rights.

Angela Merkel faces big test in German EU bailout vote

German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks with Greek PM George Papandreou in Berlin this week

German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a major test of her authority, as MPs vote on whether to approve new powers for the EU's main bailout fund.

She faces a rebellion from some of her coalition who fear bailing out Greece is throwing good money after bad.

Meanwhile in Athens, fresh strikes by public sector workers are planned.

The strikes come as international inspectors resume talks with the Greek government to decide whether it has done enough to receive more funds.

If more than 19 members of Mrs Merkel's coalition rebel against her, she will have to rely on the support of the centre-left opposition to pass the bill on new powers for the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).

The BBC's Gavin Hewitt in Berlin says that although the bill will be passed, Mrs Merkel could emerge weakened, unable to hold her coalition together at a critical moment in the eurozone crisis.

Mrs Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and their allies have been pressuring the handful of dissidents to get in line before the vote at 11:00 (09:00 GMT).

There have been last-minute talks and much arm twisting, our correspondent adds, but the expectation is that it will be a close result.

"We are working to convince people," CDU deputy leader Hermann Groehe told Reuters.

The vote is on whether to endorse a eurozone commitment to boost bailout guarantees to 440bn euros (£383bn).

That figure is already being dismissed as inadequate in the light of the worsening Greek crisis and the threat of it spreading to others economies.

Chancellor Merkel has said she believes the vote is about Germany demonstrating its determination to save the euro.
She has tried to assure coalition members that German taxpayers' money would not be wasted by voting on a new bail-out for heavily indebted eurozone countries.

However, she cannot rule out that the money might be written off if Greece defaults.

Eurozone members are in the process of ratifying proposals put forward over the summer to give the EFSF greater powers.

Separately, eurozone governments also gave their backing to a debt swap deal that would see private lenders agree to write off about 20% of their loans to Greece.

However, as Greece seemingly nears default and the debt crisis increasingly threatens to envelop Italy, a consensus has emerged in the past days that the current deal being voted on by the Bundestag does not go far enough.

G20 leaders met over the weekend to discuss the best way forward, but EU officials stressed that no grand plan of action had been agreed.

Among the ideas reportedly discussed were a much deeper, 50% write-down of Greece's government debts, and strengthening the big European banks.

There were also rumours of a possible deal to increase the firepower of the bailout fund from 440bn euros to as much as 2tn euros, sparking the strong rally in markets seen earlier this week.

However, the idea of boosting the EFSF is deeply unpopular with Chancellor Merkel's coalition partners, the liberal FDP. Late on Tuesday, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble scotched the plan, calling it "a silly idea".

In Greece itself, taxi drivers, hospital workers and other public sector staff will strike on Thursday, angered by the announcement of new austerity measures including pension cuts and a new property tax.

Deputy Prime Minister Theodoros Pangalos has said even he will be unable to pay the new tax without selling property. He said that the country's ability to pay extra taxes had been "exhausted for some time".

Inspectors from the "troika" - made up of the European Commission, European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) - have returned to Athens to decide whether the government has done enough to receive another 8bn euros (£6.9bn) of loans.

Without the new loans - laid out under the terms of a bailout agreed last year - Greece will soon run out of money.

New taxes have been approved and deeper spending cuts have been promised, but some decisions have been delayed and privatisation is running behind schedule says the BBC's Chris Morris in Athens.

Many people believe that austerity measures are pushing Greece's crippled economy deeper into recession and strangling any chance of growth.

On Wednesday, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso warned Euro-MPs that the EU was facing its "greatest challenge".
In his annual State of the Union address, he urged patience over the Greek debt problem, insisting Greece would remain in the euro.

His speech triggered a rise in markets, but those increases could fall back if talks in Athens on Thursday end in deadlock.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, speaking in Berlin earlier this week, promised that Greece would keep its promises on implementing unpopular austerity measures in return for continued support from eurozone partners.

There was more bad news for the eurozone on Wednesday when Attila Szalay-Berzeviczy, global head of securities services at Italy's biggest lender UniCredit SpA, said the euro is "practically dead".

In an article for a Hungarian news website, Mr Szalay-Berzeviczy said Europe faced a financial earthquake from a Greek default.

Greek protesters say austerity measures are making the country's crisis worse

"The euro is beyond rescue," he said.

"The only remaining question is how many days the hopeless rearguard action of European governments and the European Central Bank can keep up Greece's spirits."

Libya: Fierce fighting in Gaddafi stronghold Sirte

Anti-Gaddafi forces breached the stronghold of Sirte for the first time on Monday

There has been heavy fighting in the Libyan city of Sirte, where armed supporters of the transitional authorities are facing strong resistance from Gaddafi loyalists.

A BBC correspondent on the outskirts of the city says the two sides have been exchanging machine-gun fire, rockets and artillery shells.

Many thousands of civilians remain in Sirte, east of the capital, Tripoli.

Humanitarian agencies have expressed concern about the conditions they face.

Sirte remains one of the final strongholds of supporters of the beleaguered colonel, with Bani Walid 250km (155 miles) to the west the only other major city holding out.

Urban snipers
Hundreds of National Transitional Council (NTC) troops are inside Sirte, but snipers were holding off an advance into the centre of the city, news agency Reuters reported.
For a second day, anti-Gaddafi forces were pinned down at a roundabout about 2km (1.5 miles) from the city centre, it said.

"Gaddafi forces have placed a lot of snipers around the roundabout and it is not easy for us to advance forward until we get rid of the snipers," Ahmed Saleh, an NTC fighter there, told Reuters.

The agency said explosions of artillery rounds and exchanges of small arms fire could be heard, and Nato warplanes were flying overhead.

There have also been clashes at the port.

Humanitarian agencies warn civilians inside Sirte and Bani Walid have appealed for help, saying medical supplies and food are running short.

Once the fighting gets underway and both sides establish front lines, there will be a good indication of whether Sirte will fall quickly or whether it will descend into dangerous urban warfare which would kill and injure many civilians and soldiers, says the BBC's Alastair Leithead in the city.

The fire power and determination of the new Libyan government's army will take Col Gaddafi's home town, he says, but with propaganda saying the rebels want revenge, those defending Sirte may fight to the death thinking they have nothing to lose.

Powerful Typhoon Nesat hits Philippines

Kate McGeown reports from the island of Luzon

A powerful typhoon has struck the Philippines, triggering floods and cutting power in the capital Manila and throughout the main island, Luzon.

Typhoon Nesat also forced the closure of the Philippine Stock Exchange and the US embassy, and the ground floor of Manila's main hospital was flooded.

At least seven people have been killed, including several children.

As Nesat approached, the authorities ordered the evacuation of more than 100,000 in central Albay province.

The typhoon is expected to continue slowly across the country, before blowing across the South China Sea towards southern China on Thursday.


Crushed
Nesat made landfall just before dawn on Tuesday in the eastern Isabela and Aurora provinces on the Pacific coast.

The storm - with a diameter of 650km (400 miles) and wind gusts of up to 170km/h (105mph) - is now making its way across Luzon, the BBC's Kate McGeown in the central Luzon province of Zambales reports.

Many roads have been flooded and flights cancelled, and local media are urging people against non-essential travel, our correspondent says.

An adult and three children were crushed to death as a building collapsed in a northern Manila suburb on Tuesday, AFP news agency quoted the Office of Civil Defence as saying.

Two men were said to have died north of the capital in a landslide and weather-induced accident.

There is waist-deep flooding in parts of the capital.



Reporters described huge waves crashing into Manila Bay's seawall, with water overflowing into Roxas Boulevard and flooding streets and parks around the US embassy, which was evacuated.

The ground floor of Manila hospital was flooded, and staff were forced to move patients to the first floor.

"We've heard of Manila Hospital being flooded, but we're struggling to reach the area even though we've co-ordinated with them already to help in an evacuation plan," Philippine National Red Cross secretary general Gwen Pang told AFP.

A five-star hotel was also evacuated, reports said.

Meanwhile, thousands of residents living inland along the Marikana river were evacuated as it threatened to overflow.

Government offices, schools and universities were closed.

In Isabela province, four coastal towns under threat from storm surges have been evacuated.

Four fishermen are missing, and more than 50 more have been rescued after their boats capsized in rough seas.

There are fears that the death toll may rise further.

Late on Monday, the first reported casualty of the typhoon was a baby who fell into a swollen river in the eastern province of Catanduanes.

Tens of thousands of people are being evacuated in Luzon

Earlier, about 110,000 people in several towns of the Albay province were ordered to leave their homes and seek shelter elsewhere.


"We can't manage typhoons, but we can manage their effects," provincial Governor Joey Salceda was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

The Philippines suffers frequent typhoons, about 20 a year, but Nesat is thought to be the largest this year.

It comes almost exactly two years after Typhoon Ketsana killed more than 400 people.