Category: News

An Armenian immigrant Newport Beach physician who faked his own death to dodge a Medi-Cal fraud case 14 years ago pleaded guilty Tuesday to fleeing to evade justice after he was arrested in Egypt,  reports.

Tigran Svadjian, 58, entered his plea to a single federal count of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, a felony that carries a five-year maximum sentence. He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 9 in Los Angeles.

Svadjian was arrested in Egypt in July and escorted back to the U.S. by federal agents 14 years after he fled to Russia and later to Egypt, court papers show.

In 2002, he was facing federal health care fraud charges in Sacramento for allegedly bilking the state Medi-Cal program out of more than $2.4 million in fraudulent insurance billings.

After agreeing to cooperate with the government’s investigation, Svadjian was allowed to travel to Moscow to visit his ailing mother. But in October 2002, federal officials were notified that Svadjian died of pneumonia while in Russia and his remains had been cremated. The fraud charges were eventually dismissed.

Svadjian had been hiding in Egypt for much of the past 14 years, most recently working as a part-time scuba instructor. He was en route to Russia with a fake passport when he was apprehended.

Federal authorities indicated that the fraud charges would not be reinstated.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian had a meeting with Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Andrei Galbur.

Minister Nalbandian noted that Armenia attaches importance to the deepening of friendly relations with Moldova.

The parties held detailed discussions on issues on bilateral and multilateral agenda, urgent international and regional issues.

The interlocutors exchanged views on steps towards further development of cooperation between the two countries, discussed the trade-economic ties, intensification of scientific-technical and cultural exchange.

Edward Nalbandian and Andrei Galbur referred to the intensification of inter-parliamentary ties, conduct of consultations between the Foreign Ministries and deepening of cooperation within the framework of international organizations.

The Armenian Foreign Minister briefed his Moldovan counterpart on the talks on a new Armenia-EU framework agreement.  Andrei Galbur, in turn, presented the latest developments in the process of Moldova’s European integration.

The issue of peaceful settlement of regional conflicts was also on the agenda of the meeting. The interlocutors agreed that all conflicts should be solved exceptionally in a peaceful way. In this context Edward Nalbandian presented the efforts of Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries aimed at furthering the negotiation process on the peacefull settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

At the end of the meeting the Ministers signed four documents on elimination of visa regime for citizens of the two countries, as well as agreements on cooperation in the fields of tourism, science and education. The parties also signed the 2017-2018 plan of consultations between the Foreign Ministries of the two countries.

Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan met with mass media representatives to present the program of increased social security benefits to be paid to families of military servicemen killed or handicapped in action or during combat duty.

Attaching importance to meetings with media representatives, Vigen Sargsyan noted that “they provide an opportunity to confer complete information both on the initiative under discussion and army-related issues of public interest.”

Minister Sargsyan briefed the participants on the ideology of “nation-army” and the main directions of the strategy of achieving maximal results.

The Defense Minister referred to the ongoing works in the armed forces and the future plans, the achievements and omissions.

Noting that the “nation-army” ideology does not lead to the militarization of the public or the state, Vigen Sargsyan noted that “only by utilizing the potential of the army, ensuring full interaction between the economic, social, public, educational, scientific and other fields will it be possible to guarantee the combat readiness of the army and the security of the state.”

Lionel Messi has revealed that Argentina’s players will boycott media duties following accusations made against attacker Ezequiel Lavezzi, reports.

Lavezzi is taking legal action after a journalist suggested he was left out of the squad because he had been smoking cannabis.

Messi inspired Argentina to their 3-0 World Cup qualifying win over Colombia on Tuesday with a stunning free kick and two assists.

Afterwards, the captain announced the players would no longer be speaking to the press.

“We have made the decision to not speak to the media anymore – obviously you know why,” Messi said.

“We’ve had a lot of accusations, a lack of respect and we haven’t said anything but I believe that this overtakes everything.

“The accusation against Pocho [Lavezzi] is very serious because if it is made and we don’t say anything, the people believe it.

“So, because a lot of the people believe everything that is said, we prefer to cut it off. We are very sorry that it has to be this way but there is no other option.”

The victory, which ended a four-match winless run, saw Argentina jump into fifth in Conmebol qualifying.

Israel on Tuesday named a new ambassador to Turkey, the foreign ministry said, the latest step towards normalizing diplomatic ties between the once strong Mediterranean allies following a breakdown in 2010, Reuters reports.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emanuel Nahshon said Eitan Na’eh, currently deputy ambassador in London, had been appointed ambassador in Ankara. It was not immediately announced when he would take up his post.

Turkey was also expected to name its envoy to Israel shortly.

Israel and Turkey said in June they would normalize relations – a rapprochement driven by the prospect of lucrative Mediterranean gas deals as well as mutual fears over security risks in the Middle East.

Both countries have recently increased cooperation in the energy sector.

Israeli-Turkish relations broke down in 2010 when 10 Turkish pro-Palestinian activists were killed by Israeli commandos enforcing a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. The soldiers had raided a ship, the Mavi Marmara, leading a flotilla to the Hamas Islamist-run Palestinian territory.

Israel has agreed to pay compensation to the families of those killed on the vessel, a crucial element in the restoration of ties.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received Bridget Brink, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.

Minister Nalbandian hailed the high-level friendly relations between Armenia and the United States, underlining that the bilateral ties have greatly advanced thanks to joint efforts, which creates good opportunities for further reinforcement and expansion of cooperation.

Bridget Brink noted, in turn, that the US values the partnership with Armenia and is interested in its further deepening.

The interlocutors referred to the perspectives of development of Armenian-American trade relations and exchanged views on the activity of the US-Armenia Council on Trade and Investments and the Armenian-American Inter-Governmental Commission on Economic Cooperation.

The Armenian Foreign Minister and the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State discussed issues related to the implementation of the agreements reached at Vienna and St. Petersburg Summits aimed at furthering the process of settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

Edward Nalbandian and Bridget Brink exchanged views on urgent regional and international issues.

Gary Neville says he would leave out both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney from Manchester United’s starting XI, reports.

In a talk at the Oxford Union, the former United defender said he would play Marcus Rashford up front, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial both starting in wide positions.

Neville went for David De Gea in goal, a back four of Antonio Valencia, Eric Bailly, Chris Smalling and Daley Blind, and a midfield trio of Paul Pogba, Ander Herrera and Michael Carrick.

Neville made his United debut in 1992 and went on to play 602 games for the club under Ferguson before retiring in 2011.

The Armenian language will be taught as a separate profession at the Beijing Language and Culture University. China’s Education Minister Chen Baosheng confirmed the plans at a meeting with Armenian Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtchyan.

He welcomed the agreement reached between the Beijing Pedagogical University and the Yerevan State Pedagogical University to implement joint programs and issue double diplomas.

The perspectives of functioning of the Chinese school being constructed in Yerevan were also discussed at the meeting.

The parties emphasized the importance of giving a regional status to the school and creating a training system.

The Freedom House has ranked Armenia as a “free”country in its annual   report.

“Internet freedom remained largely uninhibited in the past year, though Armenia’s overall score declined somewhat after police physically attacked journalists livestreaming protests in Yerevan,” the report says.

“The past year in Armenia has been marked by periods of civil unrest and regional conflict. However, historically the internet has remained relatively free in Armenia, with gradual improvements in infrastructure and accessibility connecting more of the population. Activists regularly use social media as a tool to promote their causes, and opposition and independent media flourish online,” the Freedom House says.

Armenia’s neighbor Georgia is also a “fee”cuntry, while Azerbaijan is “partly free. Turkey  and Iran are both ranked as “not free.”

Armenia’s partners in the Eurasian Economic Union Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are all rated as “not free,” Kyrgyzstan is “partly free.”

Estonia and Iceland top the ranking. Other countries rated as “free” include Canada, the United States, Germany, Australia, Japan, United Kingdom, France, Georgia, Italy, South Africa, Philippines, Argentina, Hungary, Kenya and Armenia. Chine, Syria and Iran are at the bottom of the list.

Freedom on the Net provides analytical reports and numerical scores for 65 countries worldwide.

The Freedom on the Net index measures each country’s level of internet and digital media freedom based on a set of methodology questions developed in consultation with international experts to capture the vast array of relevant issues that enable internet freedom.

Given increasing technological convergence, the index also measures access and openness of other digital means of transmitting information, particularly mobile phones and text messaging services.

 

 

 

The Military Attachés of the diplomatic representations registered in Armenia visited the Peacekeeping Brigade today within the framework of the NATO Week events, familiarized with the history of creation of the unit, the ongoing works and everyday life.

Deputy Chief of the Operative Department of the Peacekeeping Brigade, Major Yervand Voskanyan briefed the Military Attachés of the US, German, French and British Embassies on the history of the brigade.

According to the Brigade’s Commander, Major General Arthur Simonyan, two detachments with 56 and 65 peacekeepers currently carry out mission in Afghanistan. Another 35-member group is in Kosovo, while a 32-member detachment is on mission in Lebanon. The Commander says the mission in Lebanon may be expanded in the future.

German Embassy’s Military Attaché Michael Westerman hailed the cooperation with the Armenian authorities, especially the ministry of Defense and the Peacekeeping Brigade. He expressed gratitude for Armenia’s contribution to NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.