Weightlifting: Armenia’s Elen Grigoryan (53kg) finshed 12th at the World Weightlifting Championships, lifting 186kg in snatch, clean & jerk. China’s Chen Xiaoting won the division, lifting 222kg. Meline Daluzyan (69kg) won bronze. She lifted 251 kg in snatch, clean & jerk, gaining points for London 2012 Olympic Games. Russia’s Svetlana Shimkova won the 69kg division, lifting 256 kg.

The second barbecue festival was held in Akhtala, Lori region of Armenia, on Sunday, September 12. It was dated to two other events: re-consecration of Surb Mariam Astvatsatsin Church and inauguration of a monument to wedding rings.

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.