The long-awaited Armenia-Russia UEFA EURO 2012 qualifier ended 0-0 on March 26 in Yerevan.

The hunger strike of Heritage party leader Raffi Hovannisian came to be the most debated topic in Armenia over the past two weeks. The decision was negatively met both by the authorities and opposition, which was extremely aggressive.

Challenged by high inflation rate, the Armenian government has launched various agricultural programs and resolved to bring down the gas prices for poor families. Thus, from April 1, 2011, 60 thousand of needy families will pay a lower price for the natural gas. The measure has become possible due to the changes effected in the energy system, specifically modernization of the Yerevan heat power plant. The consumers who use up to 300 cu m of gas will be given special coupons which will allow then to pay AMD 100 for a cu m. Those consuming more than 300 cu m will pay the standards price set at AMD 132.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, trying to settle (rather unsuccessfully) the Libyan problem that he himself bred, suffers a defeat also in his internal policy. Opposition won French local elections on Sunday. President Sarkozy’s party, Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), lost to the Socialist Party, and the far-right “National Front” consolidated its position a year before the presidential elections.

On March 21-28 the tourist inflow in Armenia will reach a record high, with over 20.000 Iranian tourists to arrive in Armenia for Nowruz (Muslim New Year) celebrations.

There are over 30 museums in Yerevan, most of them being under guardianship of the Armenian Ministry of Culture and National Academy of Sciences and almost all of them lacking funds and attention. Low salaries force employees quit.

Supporters of the Armenian National Congress opposition bloc are using social networks to spread information about the future plans. Particularly, opposition activists have already launched Armenian Revolution of reform: March 1, 2011 page on Facebook to inform of the actions planned for March 1. They also created #1mar hashtag in microblog Twitter, where they inform of the mass rally dated to the 3rd anniversary of the March 1, 2008 events, when 10 people were killed and thousands injured. Armenian opposition follows the example of Tunisia and Egypt as well as other Arab states, where organizers of disorders employed social media to implement their plans.