Karabakh issue dominated the internatal political agenda during the past week.

The low growth of Armenia’s GDP (4%) was caused by a slump in agriculture, which, according to Armenian Minister of Agriculture Gerasim Alaverdyan, is basically reasoned by decrease in fruit and vegetable harvest.

Football: Football Academy opened in Yerevan on September 1 with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and UEFA President Michel Platini participating in the ceremony. According to FFA President Ruben Hayrapetyan, the project cost $12 million of which $ 7 million 475 thousand was allocated by the UEFA and $400 thousand by FIFA. The territory of the Academy covers 13 thousand m2. It has 5 playing fields, 2 pools and several gyms. “UEFA built many academies in Europe but the one in Yerevan is special,” Mr. Platini noted.

Random coincidences do not usually occur in politics and the latest incident in the Karabakh village of Verin Chaylu can serve as a proof. For some reason these incidents occur either after Ilham Aliyev’s meeting with the Russian President or before it. The first time the Azeri saboteurs attempted to gain a foothold in Chaylu during Sargsyan-Aliyev-Medvedev meeting in St. Petersburg, the second time - on the eve of the official visit of Dmitry Medvedev to Baku.

The volume of electronic non-cash payments from Armenia via Internet amounted to AMD 2bln in the second quarter of 2010. The index grew by AMD 0.3bln (17.6%) as compared with the data of the first quarter of the year.

For dozens of centuries Armenians had been celebrating the New Year, Navasard, on August 11. Once a favorite popular holiday, it now became a topic of historians’ remarks or Armenian folklore only. “August 11 is the first day of the new year according to the ancient Armenian calendar. It was celebrated by all – the rich and the poor,” said ethnographer Gohar Vardumyan, senior fellow at the Armenian National Academy of Sciences.

An Armenian singer won New Wave song contest for the first time in nine years of its existence. Armenia was represented by Sona Shahgeldyan this year, as she passed through a selection round in April 2010. People had been talking about wonderful vocal of Sona and her unusual timbre for a long time. However, almost all representatives of Armenia were notable for their powerful vocal at the contest. Jury was traditionally delighted with Armenian artists, but each time they lacked several or even one point to win the contest. This refers also to Razmik Amyan, who participated in the contest in 2006, when everyone was speaking with admiration about the singer’s unique voice, but a representative of the U.S. won the contest. Almost the same thing happened to Mher, who participated in New Wave in 2008. He received the People’s Choice Award, but has not won the contest.