Armenia

RFE/RL reports that the republic is once again considered “Partly Free” by Freedom House. RFE/RL quotes the U.S. based organization as laying the blame firmly on a “limited respect for political rights and civil liberties.”
The Washington-based group again evaluated the state of political rights and civil liberties in each of the 193 countries surveyed [...]

Raffi Kojian at Cilicia.com’s Life in Armenia has an albeit short post on Armenia’s ranking by the Wall Street Journal and Heritage Foundation which once again paints a rosy picture of the climate for investment. Still, it appears as though the rankings are more based on legislation passed rather than actual investment or indeed, [...]

The BBC reports that Hollywood actor Johnny Depp is to produce a film on the life and death of former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko who was poisoned by a radioactive substance in London in November last year. The film will be based on a book, Sasha’s Story: The Life and Death of a Russian Spy, [...]

Nothing to do with Armenia, apart from relatively close proximity and an Armenian minority, but the BBC reports that the deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death. Hussein will apparently be hung.
The former Iraqi president was convicted by a Baghdad court for his role [...]

With the Armenian President scheduled to make an official visit to Kazakhstan tomorrow, PanArmenian.net says that it will coincide with the second meeting of the Kazakh-Armenian Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation. However, Artyom at iArarat jokes that all might not be as it seems.
And so the rumor has it, that after meeting Premier George [...]

Via Google’s News Alerts an excerpt from a news item just arrived in my mailbox. Seeing the mention of the surname, Sanjian, I knew the main focus of the article had to be an old friend from London, and it was. Ara Sanjian, a Lebanese-Armenian, has been appointed Director of the Armenian Research Center at [...]

By Nessuna
Tonight, the American University of Armenia (AUA) hosted a public lecture entitled “Is Democracy Advancing or Retreating in the World?” by Thomas Carothers. Among other things, Carothers is Vice President for International Politics and Governance at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Carothers also has significant experience in the fields [...]

PanArmenian.net reports that Richard Giragosian, the Washington-based Regional Military and Political Analyst, said today in Yerevan than both the United States and Russia support power being passed on to Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisyan when Kocharian leaves office in 2008.
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The U.S.’s informal opinion is that Serge Sargsyan will be the next President of Armenia, [...]

Armenia Now has an interesting article on the results of a USAID sponsored poll ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections. According to the poll, 62 percent of Armenians want change and think that the country is heading in the wrong direction.
It found that 62 percent of Armenians think their country is on the wrong [...]

RFE/RL reports that the first arrests have been made in connection with last week’s car bombing in Central Yerevan. Those arrested are also employed by the State Taxation Service.
Two colleagues of an assassinated senior official at the Armenian government’s tax collection agency were arrested late Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in a car bombing [...]