NEWS.am digest: Pfizer is now available in Armenia, Kamila Valieva cleared to compete at Olympics

Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 14.02.22:

• A strong 5,3 magnitude quake hit Armenia Sunday evening.

Besides Yerevan and Gyumri, the quake was felt in Vanadzor. The tremors were so strong that the cities’ residents left their homes and buildings. 

Meanwhile, the quake also hit 16 km northeast of the village of Bavra near the Armenian-Georgian border.

Six aftershocks were registered in Georgia with a magnitude of 3.1 overnight.

The Armenian emergency situations ministry noted they recorded nine cases of damage caused by the quake.

According to Sos Margaryan, the Director of the Seismic Protection Regional Service, the February 13 magnitude 5,2 earthquake was the strongest after 1988 Spitak earthquake.

By the way, such a strong earthquake took place exactly a year ago in Armenia.

• A total of 100,620 doses of the Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19 have been imported to Armenia.

After its distribution, the Pfizer vaccine will be available—just like the other vaccines already available—at the primary health care facilities and mobile vaccination points of Armenia.

Armenia has confirmed a total of 407,074 COVID-19 cases with a death toll of 8,186.

As of Sunday, a total of 1,959,789 inoculations against COVID-19 have been administered in Armenia, of which the first dose was 1,067,296, and the second dose—876,951.

• The Armenian parliament committee of inquiry into the 44-day Nagorno-Karabakh war in the fall of 2020, on Monday, held its first meeting.

The committee, initiated by the authorities will conduct its activities for six months, which then can be extended for another six months.

The Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan will be summoned to the parliamentary committee. According to committee chair Andranik Kocharyan, the PM’s attendance will be mandatory.

The committee included 11 ruling bloc members and 4 members from the opposition blocs. However, they have boycotted Monday's meeting.

The opposition noted that they may be involved in the other committee’s meetings.

• Azerbaijan has again voiced the pre-conditions for signing the peace agreement with Armenia.

The president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev declared that a peace agreement can be signed with Armenia - but only based on mutual acceptance of the territorial integrity of the two countries.

During his trip to the Aghdam region of Nagorno-Karabakh, he said Azerbaijanis are now in their 'land'. 

The president again distorted the history adding that “Karabakh is Azerbaijan”.    

• The singer of Armenian origin will represent Estonia at Eurovision 2022.

Singer Stefan Airapetjan will represent Estonia with the Hope song. The artist is the winner of the national selection ‘Eesti Laul-2022’.

The upcoming 66th Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Turin, Italy.    

• Dozens of countries, including European and the United States, have urged their citizens to leave Ukraine amid fears of Russian attacks.

The Armenian MFA said in a statement that they are following the developments in the situation in Ukraine and the citizens of Armenia will be given additional directions.

Meanwhile, during the weekend, there were intense talks between the high officials of different countries to prevent the war in Ukraine.

Presidents of Russia and France Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron held nearly 2-hour talks by phone over Ukraine. Russian FM Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also held phone talk on the US initiative. And President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held talks with Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has allocated $592m to guarantee the continuation of flights to and from the country. Fears of flying over its airspace led some airlines to scrap or divert flights as tensions between the West and the Kremlin mount over a possible Russian invasion.

• The Beijing Winter Olympics are in full swing now! However, the Armenian national team finished its performance at the 24th Olympic Games.

The Armenian figure skaters Tina Garabedian and Simon Proulx-Senecal took 18th place.

Skier Katya Galstyan entered the race on Tuesday and finished 80th.

In the women's 10km classic style race, Katya Galstyan took 74th place, while Angelina Muradyan ranked 94th.

• The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled Monday that Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva could compete in the short program of the women's single skating competition.

Kamila Valieva, 15, has been cleared to compete amid a doping controversy that's cast a shadow over Russia's involvement in the Beijing Winter Olympics. 

She tested positive for a banned substance back in December. But this finding only came after the star skater helped Russia win gold in the figure skating team event.

• The hip-hop and R&B legends delivered the most entertaining Super Bowl half-time show in years.

Three weeks earlier, the NFL released a four-minute trailer in which Dr. Dre brought together the hip-hop and R&B superheroes of the 90s: Eminem, Mary J Blige, and Snoop Dogg.