A major Chinese energy company pledged on Wednesday to invest about $500 million in developing and expanding three Armenian iron mines in which it purchased a significant stake last month.

As the Congress continues deliberations over appropriations for the remaining months of Fiscal Year 2011, President Barack Obama today announced his proposed Fiscal Year 2012 budget numbers, which included a call for $40 million in aid to Armenia and a pro-Baku tilt in U.S. military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

Two years ago, NBA superstar Kobe Bryant took a stand against the inhumane murder and rape of people in the Darfur region of Sudan. Through press releases and infomercials, Bryant strongly advocated for ending this genocide. His actions were commendable, and his efforts an example of how raising public awareness can shape the direction of an ongoing debate.

The Armenian government moved on Thursday to obtain yet another large-scale foreign loan which it hopes will help the country overcome the ongoing economic crisis.

Azerbaijan announced on Wednesday that the first series of weaponry produced through its new domestic arms production program have rolled off the factory and are ready for testing, the Azeri Press Agency reported.

Turkey’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Wednesday said his country’s parliament would not ratify US-backed fence-mending agreements signed with Armenia in October until Azeri “lands are liberated from Armenian occupation,” reported the Azeri Today.az website.

The Nagorno-Karabakh peace process will be successful only with the participation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in the negotiations, said President Serzh Sarkisian Tuesday during a meeting with a visiting Karabakh parliamentary delegation.

The East Coast tour of Armenia National Assembly member Armen Rustamyan concluded on Sunday, December 13, after a guest appearance at the New York ARF’s commemoration of the Federation’s 119th anniversary. During his December 9-13 visit, Rustamyan met with Congressional and other US government representatives and visited east coast communities.

The Armenian authorities have again failed to sell off a mineral water company that was controversially confiscated from a wealthy opposition-linked businessman, a senior official said on Wednesday.

A key watchdog of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has given a mostly negative assessment of government-drafted amendments to an Armenian law regulating the work of non-governmental organizations, it emerged on Wednesday.

Citing a continuing slump in construction, one of Armenia’s two cement factories halted production operations and effectively laid off most of its 600 workers on Wednesday.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation will hold street demonstrations on January 12 when Armenia’s Constitutional Court is scheduled to hold hearings on the Turkey-Armenia Protocols, said the leader of the party’s faction in parliament.

The Armenian authorities will make another attempt this week to sell off a mineral water company that was controversially confiscated from a wealthy opposition-linked businessman.

Law-enforcement authorities in Armenia said on Tuesday that they have finished a criminal investigation into two men who were arrested recently on charges of spying for Azerbaijan.