YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–Georgia’s State Minister Zurab Zhvania paid a one-day working visit to Armenia on Monday–saying that the new government in Tbilisi would like to bolster relations between the two countries seen as vital for stability in the volatile region.
"I hope that the new Georgian leadership will be able to give a new impetus to the [...]

YEREVAN (Armenpress)–The "Primary Drug Prevention Program" (PDPP) was launched this week by UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative Lise Grande and the Minister of Education and Science Sergo Yeritsian. The project’s objective is to prevent illicit drug use in Armenia by raising awareness of drugs and HIV/AIDS-related issues among policemen–teachers–and community groups–as well as to accurately [...]

BAM (Combined Sources)–A team of Armenian rescuers departed for Iran on December 29 to take part in search and rescue efforts in the historical city Bam after an earthquake rocked the city last Friday–leveling most of the city.
The Armenian team of thirty rescuers with trained dogs–five medics–and five seismologists will took along 15 cases with [...]

ANKARA–A Turkish minister said on Saturday he was in favor of allowing a controversial movie on the mass killings of Armenia’s under the Ottoman Empire to be screened in the country–but played it down as "ridiculous propaganda," AP reported–quoting the Turkish Anatolia news agency.
Culture and Tourism Minister Erkan Mumcu said he welcomed a decision by [...]

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–A1+–Armenia’s leading independent television forced off the air in 2002–lost Monday its apparently last chance of resuming broadcasts in the near future as authorities rejected its application for a new license for the fourth consecutive time this year.
The predictable decision by the National Commission on Television and Radio (HRAH) was the result of a [...]

BAM (Reuters)–A devastating earthquake struck the ancient Silk Road city of Bam in southeastern Iran on Friday–killing more than 15,000 people and injuring thousands of others–Iranian news agency IRNA reported.
Initial estimates suggested the earthquake measured 6.3 on the Richter scale–according to a statement made by Mohammad Ali Karimi–governor of the Kerman province where Bam is [...]

Descendants of Armenian Genocide victims filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Victoria Insurance Company to recover life insurance benefits that were wrongfully withheld from beneficiaries. Victoria Insurance Company is the tenth insurance company sued on behalf of victims of the Armenian Genocide.
Vartkes Yeghiayan and his team of legal experts at Yeghiayan and Associates are representing [...]

The delegation from the Central Committee of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF)–Western Region–officially congratulated newly appointed Armenia’s Consul General in Los Angeles Gagik Kirakosian. The ARF delegation–who met with the diplomat on December 23–wished the Consul General success in his endeavors–and conveyed the party’s readiness to support–by all means possible–the government of Armenia and its [...]

YEREVAN (Armenpress/Yerkir)–Armenian prime minister Antranik Margarian sent condolences to Iran’s vice-president Mohammad Reza Arefi Friday–conveying the profound sympathy of the Armenian nation for the deaths of thousands of Iranians in the Friday-morning earthquake. "I was deeply shocked with the report of the earthquake that has taken numerous victims. Please accept sincere condolences of the Armenian [...]

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham (center) met with ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian and Michigan community activist Chuck Yessaian at the Arab American Institute National Leadership Conference held in October.
The three-day Conference included speeches by eight of the nine Democratic Presidential candidates–Bush-Cheney 2004 Campaign Chairman Gov. Marc Racicot–as well as a host of federal–state and local [...]

LONDON (Reuters)–The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline project that would link Azeri oilfields with Turkey–has secured over $1 billion in financing from a banking syndicate well ahead of schedule–a source close to the deal said on Monday.
"The commercial syndicate for over $1 billion has been finalized and 15 banks will lend money to the project,” the source [...]

SCOTLAND (Combined Sources)–As a part of the South Caucasus Parliamentary Initiative–an attempt at inter-republic dialogue–begun more than two years ago by the London based non-governmental organization Links–took place over the weekend in the small town of Craigellachie–Scotland that boasts a population of 400.
Members of Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentary delegations and representatives of Links specifically discussed [...]

BAKU (Armenpress)–Azerbaijan’s foreign minister Vilayat Guliyev announced on national television on Sunday–that intensified Russian involvement on the part of the OSCE Minsk Group Russian co-chair would yield positive results.
"Russia has more possibilities and resources to do that than other states," he remarked. "The region still has close relations with Russia–and this is especially true for [...]

YEREVAN (PanARMENIAN.Net)–As one of the possibilities in developing Armenian power engineering–the International Agency on Atomic Energy (MAGATE) is reviewing the possibility of adding a new energy block to the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP).
The Armenian Ministry of Energy reported that fact-finding work by MAGATE experts and Armenian power engineers will be published in the near [...]