War Talk: The newly elected President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev announced that reforms of the Azerbaijani army carried out with Turkey's help may play an important role in settling the Karabakh conflict by military means, Yerkir online reported October 24.
The Azerbaijani president believes that neither bilateral negotiations, nor OSCE mediated talks suggest any results. He added that the failure of the OSCE mission indicates that time has come to settle the problem through force.

Sound and Vision: The public organization of mothers of deaf children Havat ("Belief") organized a conference this week entitled "Integration of the deaf into the public in Armenia" with a grant from the UN International Development Agency.
Arminfo reported October 25 that the conference aims to amend the law on television and radio to provide for new daily TV information and children's programs with appropriate translation.

Energy Warning: The Armenian government should avoid transferring more energy facilities to Russia's state-run RAO Unified Energy Systems (UES) utility, a World Bank official in Yerevan said October 27.
As reported by RFE/RL, the UES has taken over 80 percent of Armenia's power generating capacities as a result of agreements that cleared Yerevan's $100 million debt to Moscow over the past year. The Russians would like to get hold of the remaining 20 percent of the Armenian energy sector.

Karabagh Resettlers: Authorities in Nagorno Karabagh said that 12 families totaling 50 people have moved this year to settle permanently in the region under the "Return to Karabagh" program steered by the Karabagh and Armenian governments.
Armenpress agency reported October 27 that families wishing to move to Karabagh are entitled to a range of privileges. They are given a cottage, which they can privatize after a ten-year residential qualification, as well as a plot of land and cattle.

Elections in Georgia: The Council of Armenian Organizations in the Georgian province of Javakhk has urged local Armenians to support the Jumber Patiashavili-Ertoba bloc in the November 2 parliamentary elections in Georgia, Yerkir online reported October 28.
The council said that the bloc was the only one that "has promised to pay more attention to Armenian issues".

Gift Boxes: Armenia has provided 1,000 ballot boxes to Georgia to assist in parliamentary elections to be held there on November 2.
Yerkir daily reported that the boxes were provided under a cooperation agreement signed in Yerevan on October 28 between the Central Electoral Commissions (CEC) of Armenia and Georgia. Georgia's representatives said it needed 3,000 boxes to cope with an expected 1.8 million voters. They had 2,000 and the support from Armenia filled the gap.

Lethal Legacy: Eight accidents as a result of explosions of mines and ammunition were recorded in the first nine months of this year on the territory of Nagorno Karabagh.
PanARMENIAN.Net reported October 29 that HALO Trust, the British non-governmental organization working on unexploded munitions since 2000, continues to contribute much to the discovery and neutralization of mines. According to estimates of the British sappers, some 10,000 units of unexploded munitions remain on the territory of Karabagh.

New Refugees: In the first 9 months of this year, 28 foreign citizens have applied for refugee status in Armenia, PanARMENIAN.Net reported October 29.
According to data from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 12 of the 28 were accepted so far, 11 being Iraqi citizens and one an ethnic Kurd from Turkey. Four were rejected, one of them being a citizen of Georgia, and the rest are being considered.

Going East: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan begun a state visit to India October 29, RFE/RL reported. The two countries will sign agreements on avoiding double taxation, exempting diplomats from visas and boosting cooperation in information technology. Trade between India and Armenia was around $4.6 million this year and is expected to increase by almost 50 percent in the current year.

Going Out of Business: A court will declare the Armenian Airlines (AA) state-run company bankrupt by the end of the year, Azg daily reported October 30.

The company's property will be used to allow AA to pay back its debts in one year's time. First of all the company will pay the salaries of the company's employees, 70 percent of whom have already lost their jobs. The remaining 480 employees will also be dismissed soon.