Category: 2022

 13:55,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. The Turkish Hurriyet newspaper reports some information about the contacts of the Armenian and Turkish special representatives for normalization Ruben Rubinyan and Serdar Kilic.

Rubinyan and Kilic met 4 times (once in Moscow and 3 times in Vienna).

Hurriyet reported citing an anonymous source from the Turkish foreign ministry that Rubinyan and Kilic had more than 500 phone talks so far.

“Officials from the ministries of transport, trade and foreign affairs of the two countries will discuss the technical aspects of the steps taken within the scope of the normalization process, according to sources,” Hurriyet reported, stating that the next meeting will take place in September.

On August 11 however, the Armenian foreign ministry said there is no agreement on the next meeting so far.

 13:59,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. New daily coronavirus cases in Russia went up by 27,810 in the past 24 hours from 25,815 the day before, TASS news agency reported citing the anti-coronavirus crisis center. That’s the most since March 21, when 28,709 coronavirus patients were identified. The total number of cases has reached 18,824.282 since the start of the pandemic.

As many as 2,619 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, 3.7% up from the day before. Hospitalizations rose in 41 regions of the country and decreased in 39 regions.

Moscow’s COVID-19 cases surged by 7,381 in the past day to 2,892,603, St. Petersburg’s coronavirus cases increased by 3,229 to 1,581,838.

Coronavirus recoveries

Russia’s coronavirus recoveries in the past 24 hours rose by 14,320 to 18,104,261, the crisis center reported. Recoveries increased by 5,955 to 2,663,561 in Moscow and by 1,542 to 1,524,698 in St. Petersburg.

Coronavirus death toll

Russia reported 57 coronavirus fatalities in the past 24 hours, up from 52 the day before. The total death toll has climbed to 383,011. Moscow’s coronavirus death toll rose by 20 in the past day to 44,654 and St. Petersburg’s fatalities were up by nine to 34,434.

 14:21,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. There are 196,000 people with disabilities in Armenia, and according to the latest data from the Statistical Committee over 27,000 people with disabilities are employed.

Many employers have already adapted working conditions for them.

Now, the Armenian Government is introducing legislation requiring employers to ensure reasonable adaptations at the workplace for people with disabilities.

The new regulations will take effect January 1, 2023.

“We’ve defined reasonable adaptation types, which I will present now so that employers don’t think that it implies big expenses. For example, a person with disability with diabetes can agree with their employer to change the lunch break hours from the 1 hour break to 15-minute breaks every 2 hours. Another example, the replacement of the door handle which must be lowered, and so on,” Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Tatevik Stepanyan said at a news conference.

 14:28,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. Pakistan and Turkey signed a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) for promoting trade liberalization and enhancing bilateral trade, Turkish media reported.

The PTA includes provisions on bilateral safeguards, balance of payment exceptions, dispute settlement, among others.

The agreement was signed by Pakistani Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar and Turkish Minister of Trade Mehmet Mus in the presence of Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

 14:52,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. The shortlist of UK cities that could host next year's Eurovision Song Contest has been revealed, the BBC reports.

Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield will vie to stage the event in May.

Twenty cities expressed an interest, the BBC said, and those not making the shortlist include London and Belfast.

The UK was chosen to host the contest after organisers decided it could not be staged by Ukraine, the 2022 winners.

The BBC said the seven-strong shortlist was based on the cities' ability to show they have "the capacity, capability and experience to host an event of this scale and complexity".

 15:14,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. Over 2500 socially vulnerable people with disabilities will be offered free personal assistant services after the government approved the regulations which will take effect January 1, 2024.

And meanwhile, a pilot program will be launched in some towns.

“Any adult can be a personal assistant, even a family member of the person with disability,” the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Tatevik Stepanyan said at a press conference. “They must all pass a training course. The personal assistants will be paid per-hour, at a rate of 1050 drams, which could be revised.”

 16:02,

HRAZDAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. Hrazdan, the city declared as Youth Capital of Armenia, is celebrating International Youth Day with various events, concerts and tours.

The UN General Assembly has titled this year’s International Youth Day as “Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages”.

The Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Vahram Dumanyan, the UN Resident Coordinator for Armenia a.i. Lila Pieters Yahia, Kotayk Governor Aharon Sahakyan and Hrazdan Mayor Sevak Mikayelyan attended an event opening the celebrations.

“Any investment done for youth is an investment for tomorrow, for having a better future,” Dumanyan said. “Be sure that the Armenian government will continue carrying out multiple youth programs aimed at discovering the potential of young people, developing opportunities and capabilities, forming a favorable environment for self-_expression_.”

The acting UN Resident Coordinator Lila Pieters Yahia said it is impressive to see the senior generation and young people together at the same event. She conveyed some of the remarks voiced by the UN Secretary General: “Solidarity and cooperation are very important for withstanding the challenges of the future. That is why only through joint efforts we can achieve the UN sustainable development goals. And to reach these goals we must first of all support our youth in developing education and skills.”

The events will be concluded with a concert by Nemra.

Iran weighing EU's proposal on safeguards, sanctions, assurances: Diplomat – IRNA

 16:51,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. An Iranian diplomat, who is informed of the process of the ongoing talks in Vienna, told IRNA news agency that the European proposals would be acceptable if it makes credibility in various matters, including political claims linked to issues of IAEA safeguards, sanctions, and guarantees.

He went on to say that the Islamic Republic is considering European proposals to make sure its demands are fulfilled, IRNA reports.

Iran must analyze whether these proposals will ensure Iranian demands in different fields, including political claims pertaining to issues of IAEA safeguards, sanctions, and guarantees to achieve a durable agreement, the source noted.

The Wall Street Journal had cited hours earlier quoting a European diplomat that the EU has presented ‘Final Text’ to Iran for Reviving Nuclear Deal.

Ali Bagheri Kani who had met the EU's JCPOA negotiations coordinator Enrique Mora in Qatar, arrived in Vienna on Wednesday as the head of the Iranian delegation to continue the Vienna nuclear negotiations to terminate the sanctions.

Mohammad Jamshidi, in a tweet on Friday night, wrote that in entire phone talks between President Raisi and the French, Russian and Chinese presidents, his definite stand was that the final agreement can be reached only after the NPT claims are resolved and their files are closed.

 17:32,

YEREVAN, 12 AUGUST, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 12 August, USD exchange rate down by 0.18 drams to 405.91 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 2.22 drams to 417.56 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.04 drams to 6.66 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 3.42 drams to 492.25 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 11.15 drams to 23447.49 drams. Silver price up by 1.25 drams to 268.05 drams. Platinum price stood at 16414.1 drams.

 17:33,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. At the advice of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, President Vahagn Khachaturyan signed a decree appointing Areg Hovhannisyan as Ambassador of Armenia to Australia.

Ambassador Hovhannisyan will be serving concurrently in his current capacity as Ambassador to Japan.

After the appointment, Hovhannisyan said in a statement that serious efforts are needed to utilize the huge untapped potential. “It is a great honor to be the first accredited ambassador of Armenia to Australia,” he said.