Armenian News -NEWS. am presents a daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 11.09.2019:
· An earthquake with a 4.8 magnitude has hit Armenia.
It was recorded on Tuesday at 8:22 pm near the Armenia-Georgia border, 13km northeast of Bavra village in Shirak Province of Armenia.
According to preliminary data, the earthquake was felt in the Shirak, Lori, Tavush, Aragatsotn and Armavir Provinces of Armenia and the city of Yerevan.
According to Shirak governor Tigran Petrosyan, the number of aftershocks of the earthquake has dropped considerably.
“We have had two minor [after]shocks at the same epicenter overnight,” he wrote.
· A trend in external national debt reduction has been recorded in August 2019 for the first time since 2015, Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, wrote on his Facebook.
“Of course, reducing the national debt is not an end in itself, but it’s a result of the fact that we have set a clear task: to spend state funds efficiently,” he added. “This, of course, somewhat slows down the pace of capital spending because the system is used to working with other—well-known—rules.
· A large fire broke out at a hotel in Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia.
On Wednesday, at 6:54 am, the 911 emergency hotline received a call informing that smoke was coming out a hotel in downtown Yerevan. The fire was extinguished at 7:21 am.
A total of 38 guests and 8 employees of this hotel were evacuated from the building.
No one was injured.
· A man has sold his kidney in Armenia.
It turned out that in January-February 2018, K. M., 32, a resident of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), had sold his kidney for about $20,000—and by way of someone named Levon.
Subsequently, he also was offered to sell his kidney, saying that there was a kidney buyer and the latter was willing to pay $15,000 to $20,000 for it, as well as to cover the expenses for traveling abroad and undergoing surgery at a medical center there.
Police are working toward determining the identity of the aforesaid Levon and finding him and K. M.
· Vahagn Melikyan, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Armenia, is on a working visit to Germany.
Within his visit, the protocol implementing the Armenia-European Union (EU) agreement—signed between the governments of Armenia and Germany—on the readmission of persons residing in each other’s countries without a residency permit was signed Tuesday at the German Federal Foreign Office.
· One has to wait, the Russian ambassador told reporters to the query about the likelihood of Putin’s visit to Armenia.
“I have no other information. We proceed from the fact that the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council will be held on October 1, in Yerevan, and that event is held at the level of the Presidents.”
The ambassador also touched upon the Amulsar issue.
“The question of Amulsar is an internal affair of the Armenian state and the people of Armenia. This is an asset, and as far as I understand, no one here has any doubt that this issue should be resolved taking into account all factors, taking into account the need not to damage either Armenia’s business reputation or its natural resources. But this is a purely internal matter of Armenia. I think that the Armenian leadership, together with the Armenian population, is wise enough to make the right decision, taking into account all factors,” he said
· Armenia second President Robert Kocharyan’s supporters held a protest rally outside the building of the Shengavit court of general jurisdiction in Yerevan for the third day.
Supporters launched sit-in near the court with the demand for immediate enforcement of the decision of the Constitutional Court and the release of Robert Kocharyan. Robert Kocharyan’s friend-in-combat, freedom fighter Gevorg Gevorgyan has come to express his support to him.
Gevorgyan said the second President is being politically persecuted. He said this is unacceptable and called on all of his friends-in-combat to fight against this political persecution. He added that the decision of the Constitutional Court is overlooked and didn’t rule out the ongoing political persecution.
