A skirmish between participants of the Cultural Diversity Parade and a group of young nationalists on Monday added fuel to the fire of the heated discussions followed by the recent attack on DIY Rock Pub – a “gay-friendly” hangout in downtown Yerevan.

Dozens of relatively strong quakes and aftershocks that have hit the region in general and Armenia in particular in the past several months have caused anxiety among the population of the landlocked South Caucasus country where many remember the devastation and massive loss of life brought about by a powerful tremor more than two decades ago.

Hovhannes Kocharyan, head of the Passport and Visa Department of the Police, at a press conference on Monday said the passports with biometric data to be used in Armenian beginning June 1 will increase citizens’ chances for traveling more easily.

The recent home-made bomb attack on the DIY Rock Pub in downtown Yerevan remains in the center of public attention and is being politicized, as different political figures are commenting on the apparent “hate crime”.

At the invitation of President Serzh Sargsyan, a German plastic and reconstructive surgeon is in Armenia to examine victims of the May 4 gas-balloon explosion in Republic Square that took place during a Republican Party of Armenia campaign rally. Some 170 people received burns ranging from mild to severe. 56 remain hospitalized, with two in intensive care and 80 others taking out-patient treatment.

The U.S. House panel responsible for foreign aid this week adopted a number of provisions promoting U.S. interests and American values in the Caucasus, proposing sharply increasing aid to Nagorno Karabakh from $2 to $5 million and rejecting the Obama Administration's proposed $7.2 million cut in aid to Armenia, reports the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

In accordance with legislation passed last year, beginning June 1, 2012 citizens of Armenia will be enabled to get identification cards as documents certifying their identity and nationality within the territory of the republic.

The recent blast in the DIY Rock Pub in downtown Yerevan owned by a lesbian has stirred public clamor with one group of people criticizing those indulging in homosexuality, justifying those responsible for the arson, while others condemn such intolerance qualifying it as fascism.

A police chief accused of negligence during the assassination of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist murdered outside his office in Istanbul in 2007, received a promotion through the unanimous voting of a commission in the Turkish Police Headquarters.

Civic activists that have fought against construction in a Yerevan park said at a press conference Friday that Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan, Chief Architect Narek Sargsyan, deputy chief of the Yerevan police Robert Melkonyan and police officers Valery Osikyan and Karen Movsisyan should be held accountable for what they view an illegal decision to install trade facilities in the park and the police for “using violence against and illegally detaining citizens that were defending their constitutional rights.”