10:45,
YEREVAN, MAY 21, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan arrived in Switzerland to participate in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters.
A number of bilateral and multilateral meetings with heads of state, business executives and representatives of international organizations are expected, Khachaturyan’s office said.
10:51,
YEREVAN, MAY 21, ARMENPRESS. Israel on Friday reported its first suspected case of the monkeypox virus in a man who had recently returned from a trip to Western Europe, The Times of Israel reports.
The patient is in good condition and is being isolated and monitored, The Times of Israel reported citing the Ichilov Hospital of Tel Aviv.
The virus has spread to at least eight European countries.
European and American health authorities have identified a number of monkeypox cases in recent days, mostly in young men. It’s a surprising outbreak of a disease that rarely appears outside Africa, according to AP.
Health officials around the world are keeping watch for more cases because, for the first time, the disease appears to be spreading among people who didn’t travel to Africa. They stress, however, that the risk to the general population is low.
Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms very similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe, according to WHO.
Animal-to-human (zoonotic) transmission can occur from direct contact with the blood, bodily fluids, or cutaneous or mucosal lesions of infected animals.
Human-to-human transmission can result from close contact with respiratory secretions, skin lesions of an infected person or recently contaminated objects. Transmission via droplet respiratory particles usually requires prolonged face-to-face contact.
The incubation period (interval from infection to onset of symptoms) of monkeypox is usually from 6 to 13 days but can range from 5 to 21 days. Monkeypox is usually a self-limited disease with the symptoms lasting from 2 to 4 weeks. Severe cases occur more commonly among children and are related to the extent of virus exposure, patient health status and nature of complications
11:33,
YEREVAN, MAY 21, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Ambassador to the Czech Republic Ashot Hovakimyan had a meeting with the President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Miloš Vystrčil.
The Armenian Embassy in Czech Republic said that Ambassador Hovakimyan comprehensively presented the latest regional developments, their consequences and existing challenges to Miloš Vystrčil.
12:03,
YEREVAN, MAY 21, ARMENPRESS. The United States remains ready to assist Armenia and Azerbaijan in the normalization of relations, including in its capacity as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, United States Department of State spokesperson Ned Price said at a press briefing.
“We very much welcome the dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We remain committed to promoting a peaceful, democratic, and prosperous future for the South Caucasus region as part of that. We do urge this dialogue to continue and for the parties to intensify their diplomatic engagements to make use of existing mechanisms for direct engagement, and in an effort to find comprehensive solutions to all outstanding issues related to and resulting from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and – to normalize their relations through the conclusion of a comprehensive peace agreement. We are there to support this process. We remain ready to assist Armenia and Azerbaijan with these efforts, including in our capacity as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group,” Price said when asked by a reporter on the US State Department’s expectations of the current ongoing negotiations process.
12:04,
YEREVAN, MAY 21, ARMENPRESS. FlyOne Armenia airlines will start operating non-scheduled direct Yerevan-Antalya-Yerevan flights starting June 14, the airline said in a statement.
Yerevan-Antalya-Yerevan flights will be operated from Zvartnots International Airport to Antalya International Airport with flights of twice a week on Tuesday and Friday. Price will start from 110 euros.
All the tickets, but also additional services can be purchased from the website www.flyone.am or through the mobile application.
12:11,
YEREVAN, MAY 21, ARMENPRESS. Within the framework of the 132nd session of the CoE Committee of Foreign Ministers in Turin, Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan had a meeting with Serbian FM Nikola Selaković, the Armenian foreign ministry said in a press release.
The sides were pleased to note the positive dynamics of development of bilateral relations and expressed readiness to promote the Armenian-Serbian relations which are based on historical and friendly ties.
Views were exchanged on cooperation based on mutual interests within the framework of international organizations, particularly the Council of Europe.
Issues of mutual interest of the regional and international agenda were discussed.
FM Mirzoyan presented Armenia’s position on establishing regional peace and stability and the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Humanitarian issues were also addressed, particularly the need to repatriate the Armenian POWs and other captives held in Azerbaijan and the protection of Armenian cultural and religious heritage in territories that have gone under Azerbaijani control.
FM Mirzoyan also presented details of the Armenia-Turkey normalization process.
12:31,
YEREVAN, MAY 21, ARMENPRESS. The United States is ready to help intensify diplomatic engagement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, United States President Joe Biden said in a letter to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani AZERTAC state news agency reported.
“Now is also a moment of hope with an important opportunity to build lasting peace in the South Caucasus. The United States is ready to help intensify diplomatic engagement between Azerbaijan and Armenia and to help Azerbaijan develop the economic, transportation, and people-to-people connections that will enable the entire Caucasus and trans-Caspian region to prosper,” Biden said in part.
Biden also noted that the United States encourages Azerbaijan to take “meaningful” steps towards democratic governance. “We continue to encourage Azerbaijan to take meaningful steps toward democratic governance and reforms that protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Azerbaijanis,” Biden said in the letter of congratulation to President Aliyev on the occasion of Independence Day.
13:10,
YEREVAN, MAY 21, ARMENPRESS. The statement issued by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense accusing the Armenian military in opening fire at Azerbaijani positions in the evening of May 20 in the eastern direction of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is a disinformation, the Armenian Ministry of Defense said.
It added that the situation at the border is relatively stable and is under the full control of the Armenian military.
13:51,
YEREVAN, MAY 21, ARMENPRESS. On May 20, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan of Armenia, who is in Turin to participate in the 132nd session of CoE Committee of Foreign Ministers, met with Foreign Minister of Ireland Simon Coveney, the Armenian foreign ministry said in a press release.
The interlocutors referred to the issues on the cooperation agenda between Armenia and Ireland at bilateral and multilateral levels.
Minister Mirzoyan stressed that Armenia welcomes the priorities of the forthcoming Irish Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, aimed at protecting human rights, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law, and emphasized their importance, especially in the context of conflicts.
Referring to humanitarian consequences resulting from the Azerbaijani aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020, Ararat Mirzoyan emphasized the need for the involvement of the Council of Europe.
14:26,
YEREVAN, MAY 21, ARMENPRESS. The 2021 parliamentary election in Armenia gave answers to all the questions that are now being raised by the protesters in the country, the Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan told RIA Novosti.
When asked whether or not the Armenian government plans to hold snap elections, Grigoryan said: “The absolutely democratic, free and lawful parliamentary election that took place in June of 2021 in Armenia gave the answers to all the questions that are today being circulated by the minority protest movement.”