NEWS.am digest: Biden calls Americans to leave Ukraine, Russian figure skater fails doping test

Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of top news as of 11.02.22:

• Turkish daily Gazete Vatan reported Thursday that the country will take serious steps to normalize relations with Israel, Armenia, and the UAE.

Referring to the normalization of relations with Armenia, the newspaper added that after the bilateral meeting scheduled in Vienna on February 24, talks will be held in Yerevan and Istanbul in the spring.

• Azerbaijan has once again violated the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh.

At around 5:50am Friday, shots were fired near the Karmir Shuka and Taghavard villages of the Martuni region of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

Artsakh Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan noted that the described incident was another 'manifestation of the regular intensified terrorist acts by the Azerbaijani armed forces in recent days."

• The opposition "Armenia" and "With Honor" factions will not participate in the work of the parliamentary committee of inquiry into the 44-day Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) war in the fall of 2020. 

The two factions have released a respective joint statement noting that the committee of inquiry will be engaged in staging the 'innocence' of the authorities.

• US President Joe Biden issued a warning Thursday to any Americans who remain in Ukraine as Russia continues to threaten an invasion, NBC News reported.

"American citizens should leave now," Biden told NBC News anchor Lester Holt.

Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Russia poses a direct challenge not only to Ukraine but also to the rest of the world, including Australia.

"Russia could launch an invasion at any time, including during the Winter Olympics," he noted.

• The California State Senate on Thursday passed ACR 105, a resolution that establishes a sister-state relationship between the US State of California and Armenia’s Province of Syunik.

A total of 62 California legislators have been listed as co-authors of this resolution, which declares California’s solidarity with Syunik, the southernmost province in Armenia, and will facilitate mutually beneficial educational, economic, and cultural exchanges.

• Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian figure skating star who helped her team win the Winter Olympic gold in Beijing, failed a drugs test collected in St Petersburg in December last year.

But the positive result was only reported on Tuesday - the day after she helped to win team gold before the medal ceremony had taken place. 

Valieva tested positive for trimetazidine, which is used in the prevention of angina attacks.

This case will now be taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) to make a final ruling. 

Meanwhile, the head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Travis Tygart, told Reuters on Friday that the US could prosecute Russians in the Valieva doping case.

• The United States reiterated its call on Turkey to respect press freedom.

This followed the news that the country's media watchdog warned three international media outlets it would block their content unless they obtained a national publishing license.

International outlets, including the Turkish-language websites of VOA, Deutsche Welle, and Euronews, have 72 hours to apply for a national license or their content will be blocked.

• A billion-year-old black diamond, believed to be the largest cut in the world, was bought with cryptocurrencies at an auction for $4.3 million, according to CNBC.

Known as the Enigma, the natural-colored fancy black diamond, weighing 555.55 carats, was on display in London from February 2 to 9, according to Sotheby's.