Armenian National Assembly amended the Law On Excise Tax on Wednesday. The amendments call to exempt importers of expensive cars of high excise taxes.

 There are very few free people in the Armenian Parliament, Hrant Bargaryan, former prime minister of Armenia, a member of Armenian National Congress Party Faction in the Parliament, said in a Facebook post.

 James Warlick, OSCE MG Co-Chair of USA, wrote on Twitter, Wednesday, that the OSCE MG co-chairs met in Warsaw. 

 The agreement on Armenia's accession to the Customs Union and the Single Economic Space will be drafted by 1 June 2014, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Viktor Khristenko said following the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting on 29 April, BelTA reports.

Tbilisi. A delegation of the Georgian Defence Ministry (MoD, headed by Minister Irakli Alasania, has left for the USA. 

Tbilisi. The President of Georgia has finished his working visit to the Republic of Estonia, the President's Administration reports.

Tblisi. During the visit to Prague on April 24-25, where the 5th anniversary of the European Partnership was marked at the EP Summit, President of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili, stated to the Associated Press that, in his opinion, isolation of Russia was not the best way for the Ukrainian crisis settlement.          

Baku. The Union of Journalists of Ukraine and the Independent Media Trade Union issued a statement in which they said: "On 20 April the authorities of Azerbaijan detained and arrested a prominent journalist, political columnist for Zerkalo, Rauf Mirkadirov. He was charged with treason (espionage in favor of Armenia).

 Baku. Unauthorized persons entered the office of the Institute for Peace and Democracy at 63 Nizami Street, in which the Women's Crisis Center (WCC) and the Azerbaijani company to prevent anti-personnel mines are located.

The philosophy of ignoring the strategic core of Armenian problems since 1998 has led to the collapse of the political system in Armenia, Manvel Sargsyan, Head of the Armenian Center for National and International Studies, told ArmInfo. 

The national security interests make Armenia demand reparations for the Genocide committed in Western Armenia by Turks, Prof. Ashot Melkonyan, Head of the Institute of History of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences, said at today's seminar held at the Armenian Center for National and International Studies.

The world Armenians seek historical justice, but their strategy needs fundamental revision, Ashot Melkonyan, Director of the History Institute, National Academy of Science of Armenia, said at a seminar-discussion at the Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS), Tuesday.

"Many think that Vardanyan has sold his company and is now engaged in charity. It is not so. I am going to provide services in investments projects and in charitable projects to customers who will consolidate around me and get commercial benefits, high quality services and feel themselves involved in interesting, bright and large-scale charity projects," said Ruben Vardanyan,  Russian businessman, investor, philanthropist, advisor to the Russian Sberbank President, in an interview with Vedomosti newspaper, Tuesday.

The French President's visit to Azerbaijan scheduled for May 12 may be cancelled, Azeri media outlets say in relation to the arrest of the well-known Azeri human rights activists - spouses Arif and Leyla Yunus, who advocate a dialogue between the civil societies of Azerbaijan and Armenia. They were arrested at the Baku airport on Tuesday morning.    

 The protesters against the mandatory accumulative pension system have booed Mher Ghazaryan, Head of the Administration of the Armenian Minister of Education and Science.  

 Armenian Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan has failed to meet with the teachers protesting against the mandatory accumulative pension system. The protesters were very disappointed. Some of them thought that the Minister refused to meet with them and to listen to their demands because he was short of time due to his active behavior on Facebook.  The demonstrators pointed out that the headmasters of schools and principals of universities are mostly members of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia and therefore failed to join the protest. In the meantime, the protesters said that they would not let their heads dismiss those who were not afraid to express their protest.    

The Armenian National Congress (ANC) rules out any cooperation with the new Government, Secretary of the ANC Faction Aram Manukyan said in Parliament on Tuesday.  

The constitutional reforms become senseless without transition to a parliamentary regime, Aghvan Vardanyan, member of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Faction, said in Parliament on Tuesday.  

Today's detaining of Leyla Yunus and Arif Yunusov shows aspiration of the Azerbaijani authorities to limit the activity of the human rights protection organizations in the country very much, chairman of the Yerevan Press Club, Boris Navasardyan, said when commenting on the detaining.