Elina Avanesyan Sets Sights on Representing Armenia at 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Elina Avanesyan has set her sights on representing Armenia at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, a goal the country’s top women’s tennis player believes is increasingly within reach as Armenia strengthens its national team. “Competing at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is one of our biggest dreams,” Avanesyan told reporters in Armenia. “It carries even greater responsibility because we would be representing Armenia at the Olympic Games.” Avanesyan, who switched sporting representat
11 hours ago
Azerbaijan Begins Blasting at Its Occupied Artsakh Section of Armenia’s Sotk Gold Mine
Azerbaijan has begun blasting operations at the Zod gold deposit along its border with Armenia and is considering construction of a new ore-processing complex, moving ahead with large-scale development of a mine that has been at the center of years of military tension and cross-border fire. AzerGold, Azerbaijan’s state-owned mining company, said Sept. 7 that it carried out its first drilling and blasting operation at the deposit, known as Soyudlu in Azerbaijan and Sotk in Arm
11 hours ago
Armenia’s Top Court Sends Criminal Case Against Catholicos Karekin II Back to Armavir
Armenia’s Court of Cassation has ordered a criminal case against Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and six senior clergymen back to a court in Armavir, rejecting an earlier attempt to move the proceedings to Yerevan. The Sept. 7 ruling settles a jurisdictional dispute that delayed the case for weeks and sent it between courts before reaching Armenia’s highest court of appeal. The case accuses Karekin II and six members of the Armenian Apostolic Church’s Supreme Spiritual
14 hours ago
Azerbaijan Levels Centuries-Old Armenian Cemetery in Occupied Shushi for Wastewater Facility
A centuries-old Armenian-Russian cemetery in Shushi has been completely leveled to make way for a wastewater and stormwater treatment facility, according to Caucasus Heritage Watch, which documented the destruction through satellite imagery. The cemetery on the eastern side of the city was destroyed between May 9 and 14, 2026, CHW said in a report published Sept. 5. The construction is part of a broader redevelopment plan for Shushi. The burial ground contained at least 40 hi
15 hours ago
General Who Helped Build Armenia’s Army Gives Up Citizenship, Vows Never to Return
Lieutenant General Norat Ter-Grigoryants, one of the military commanders who helped build Armenia’s armed forces after independence, says he has given up his Armenian passport and will never return to the country, citing deep opposition to the government in Yerevan. Ter-Grigoryants, who lives in Russia, told Armenian newspaper Iravunk that he personally surrendered his passport at an Armenian consulate. “I went to the consulate and returned my Armenian passport,” he said. “Th
15 hours ago
Israeli Activist Urges Jerusalem Mayor to Act Over Spitting Incidents Targeting Christians
An Israeli religious freedom advocate is pressing Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon to address repeated incidents of spitting at Christians and Christian holy sites, saying the city has failed to respond to a problem that has drawn growing international attention. Yisca Harani, director of the Hotline for Documenting Harassment of Christians at the Religious Freedom Data Center, raised the issue in a letter to the Jerusalem Municipality’s spokesperson’s office. Jerusalem-based Armen
3 days ago
Belarus Bans Import and Sale of Armenian ‘Yerevan 2800’ Brandy
Belarus has banned the import and sale of an Armenian brandy after regulators said laboratory tests found it did not meet required standards, a move that comes as relations between Yerevan and Minsk remain strained following a bitter dispute between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. The ban covers the eight-year-old “Yerevan 2800” brandy produced by MAP CJSC in Armenia’s Armavir region. Belarus’ State Committee for Standardization c
3 days ago
Azerbaijan Used Ruben Vardanyan’s Funding of Schools, Kindergartens and Mass Weddings as Evidence of Criminal Activity
The Azerbaijani court that sentenced Ruben Vardanyan to 20 years in prison tied him to killings, military operations and other events stretching back to the late 1980s, including incidents that occurred years before he moved to Nagorno-Karabakh, according to an Armenian human rights lawyer who reviewed the case. Siranush Sahakyan, who represents the interests of Armenian prisoners before the European Court of Human Rights, detailed portions of the case Friday during a news co
4 days ago
Pashinyan Says Armenia Is Wasting Water as Farmland Sits Unused
Armenia is wasting large amounts of water through outdated irrigation systems while thousands of hectares of farmland remain unused because they cannot be reliably supplied, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Friday as his government laid out plans to overhaul the country’s water sector. Speaking at a Sept. 4 workshop on water reforms for 2026-2031, Pashinyan said problems with drinking water, irrigation and wastewater treatment affect communities across Armenia. He said mos
4 days ago
Armenia Prepares First Direct Commercial Export to Azerbaijan, Pashinyan Says
Armenia is preparing to send its first direct commercial export to Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Thursday, as the two countries begin opening economic ties after decades of conflict. Speaking to reporters after a government meeting Sept. 3, Pashinyan said an Armenian company has already reached a deal to sell goods to Azerbaijan. He declined to identify the product or the businesses involved, saying the transaction should first be completed. “I believe the f
5 days ago
