ALINA NIKOGHOSYAN

Levon Mnatsakanyan, the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Defense Minister and Chief Commander of the Defense Army, said that the statements by former defense chief, Lieutenant-General Samvel Babayan are sabotage against the society in Karabakh and its independence.

The upcoming visit of Pope Francis to Armenia is a message of peace to the region as well as to the world, says the Very Rev. Fr. Shahe Ananian, who is in charge of interchurch relations at the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin.

As a society Armenians are known to adore children and thus very few cases of violence against children are officially registered in the country, said Marine Farmanyan, a lawyer at the Chamber of Advocates of the Republic of Armenia, adding, however, that there are gaps in court procedural norms.

There has been stagnation in fighting corruption for years in Armenia, and anti-corruption laws have not been implemented, said an international organization’s representative in Armenia.

A prominent Armenian artist has created a sculpture that he wants to be donated to Pope Francis during the Pontiff’s upcoming visit in appreciation of the Pope’s stance on the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey.

An Armenian civil activist who recently drove a cardboard tank through Yerevan streets in a “street art” protest and hit the metal gates of the National Security Service (NSS) building with it is facing a month in prison for his act qualified as hooliganism.

The Draft law “On Medicines” adopted by the National Assembly will give an opportunity to deal more effectively with counterfeit medicines entering Armenia, said Gayane Khachvankyan, a National Consumers Academy of Armenia representative in charge of the pharmaceutics department.

Territory lost during four days of fighting in April are part of Nagorno Karabakh, and they will be addressed accordingly during negotiating process, said Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan.

A week after Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan announced an ambitious plan to cut down administrative expenses, the Armenian government has decided to reduce the number of cars used by different government agencies and state-run companies by nearly 800.

Opposition hardliners in Armenia have criticized President Serzh Sargsyan over his attitude towards territorial losses to Azerbaijan during the April 2-5 war in Nagorno Karabakh that he expressed in an interview while returning from an internationally mediated meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev in Vienna.