The NATO summit in Chicago did not in fact yield anything new, except for the Afghanistan ruling which was the main reason for the gathering, actually. The agenda featured withdrawal of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) that did not succeed in its mission, which was admittedly doomed to failure.

International institutions, in particular, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are optimistic about economic growth worldwide, given the efforts of European states to tackle the debt crisis and increased rates of economic growth in U.S. Commenting on report on “Perspectives of global economy development”, IMF Economic Counsellor and Director of Research Department Olivier Blanchard said that the international economy has faced ups and downs over the past six months and now sees comparative stability.

François Hollande became the first socialist president after François Mitterrand who finished his two-term tenure in 1995. Hollande won the 2012 elections not because of people’s admiration for socialists, but rather due to their aversion to Nicolas Sarkozy who did his best to lose the battle.

The temple of Zvartnots is an asset of enormous value as a unique piece of architecture. The composition of the temple is exclusive. Its semantic content is extremely substantial: references to the constellation of Orion, to the Universal Hierarchy, as well as to the Holy Patriarchs, the Founders of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The holiness of the temple location is corroborated by authoritative references incorporated into architectural elements of structures for public worship in other parts of the world.

It has just so happened that for the past 10 years I have been visiting Shushi on May 9. It has already become a sort of tradition, almost a ritual. And every year the weather in Nagorno-Karabakh is just disgusting these days: fog, constant rain and cold. But this is not what is worst.

The recent parliamentary elections in Armenia recorded sweeping victory by the current authorities, the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) and its coalition partner and rival Prosperous Armenia. These two, along with the third member of the current coalition Orinats Yerkir (which was the only ruling party seeing worse results against 2007 vote), grabbed 112 out of 131 mandates of Armenia's National Assembly.

The 18 years of fragile ceasefire at the contact line between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan never yielded the expected results: violations of the ceasefire continue, Azerbaijan refuses to call off its snipers and keeps on subversive activities. In addition, it keeps dubbing as “provocation” everything happening in Stepanakert, from military parade to elections.

The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), according to Russian media publications, is rapidly losing its place in society, making way for Islam. Of course, there may be an element of exaggeration and distortion in press reports, but it’s an obvious fact that at a time when Europe is hastily trying to distance itself from multiculturalism, the latter is actively penetrating into the social environment in Russia.

Parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on May 6, and people are now assessing their outcomes, pondering over expectations from the new “elects”; meanwhile, the political forces are summing up the results and considering their future moves and potential alliances. So, I decided to avail of the current political lull and sum up my own voting outcomes, sharing my views on each of the race participants.

Statements of official Ankara more and more remind of a mutter resulting from inadequate perception of its own place in the Middle East and in the world. Becoming at one time a NATO member “thanks to” the confrontation USSR-USA, current Turkish leadership has decided that it can dictate terms to the Alliance. So it was at the time of appointment of current Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, so it is today.