Author: Lilit Nahapetian

 10:00, 7 April 2023

YEREVAN, APRIL 7, ARMENPRESS. The Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan will visit Iran on April 9, his office reported Friday.

In Tehran, Grigoryan will have a meeting with Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran.

 18:52, 6 April 2023

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, ARMENPRESS. Armenia will participate in US-led military exercises, ARMENPRESS reports, the Deputy Spokesperson of the Pentagon, Sabrina Singh, announced in a briefing.

Defender 23 is an annual military exercise that lasts about two months and is led by the US military. The exercise has been held since 2021.

The deputy speaker said that about 9,000 American soldiers and about 17,000 servicemen from 26 allied and partner countries will participate in the exercises. The exercises will cover the territory of 10 European countries.

Singh informed that apart from the United States, troops from Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom will participate in the exercises.

 12:12, 6 April 2023

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, ARMENPRESS. State budget tax revenues were outperformed by 14 billion drams in the first quarter of 2023, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Thursday.

“Furthermore, the revenues of the first quarter grew 15,2% or around 60,8 billion drams compared to the first quarter of 2022,” he added.

Pashinyan said that 93,5 billion drams was returned to taxpayers in the reporting period, which is an 82% growth against the previous year’s same period.

 11:57,

YEREVAN, MARCH 31, ARMENPRESS. The Russian General Staff is not planning to hold a second wave of mobilization, because the current number of “volunteers and servicemen” is sufficient for fulfilling the tasks of the “special operation” in Ukraine, the head of the Russian General Staff’s main organization and mobilization department Rear Admiral Vladimir Tsimlyansky has said.

"I would like to assure you that the General Staff’s plans do not include the second wave of mobilization. The current number of conscripts and people who volunteered to participate in the [special] operation is sufficient for fulfilling the objectives," TASS quoted Rear Admiral Tsimlyansky as saying during a briefing devoted to Russia’s spring conscription for mandatory service.

In his words, "the number of citizens who decided to join the Russian armed forces under the enlistment contract has increased significantly as of lately."

This year’s spring conscription in Russia will be held during its usual timeframe of April 1 – July 15 for a total of 147,000 Russians aged between 18 and 27.

Meanwhile, Russian officials said that the conscripts called up for mandatory military service won’t be sent to Ukraine.

Russia mobilized 318,000 men in autumn 2022 for what it describes as “a special military operation” in Ukraine, which Kiev and many Western countries say is an unprovoked aggression.

 09:34, 22 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 22, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem has strongly condemned the attack on St. Mary’s Church of Gethsemane and called on Israeli authorities to take “serious measures” to protect the holy sites.

In a statement released on March 21, the Chancellery of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem said that “religious intolerance and hate crimes in all their forms and perpetrations will never allow the conditions of peaceful co-existence to manifest.”

Below is the full communiqué released by the chancellery.

“The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem strongly condemns the attack on the St. Mary’s Church of Gethsemane, which according to the Status Quo of the Holy Places is under the joint control of the Armenian and Greek Orthodox Churches.

Though it was the first attack on St. Mary since the beginning of this year, the Christian Holy Shrines have been in constant state of both physical and emotional duress by rogue attackers. Had these previous attacks on the Christian Holy Places been swiftly condemned by the local authorities leading to the perpetrators’ punishment to the full extent of the law, there would not be an influx of new attacks on the churches and monasteries of these Christian communities.

Religious intolerance and hate crimes in all their forms and perpetrations will never allow the conditions of peaceful co-existence to manifest. In fact, their presence – especially when gone unchecked by prevailing authorities – will encourage other hateful crimes and intolerances to take place. These actions and their lack of condemnation lead to unsafe conditions for these communities and establishes a lack of trust between worshipers, tourists, and residents with the local authorities.

Therefore, we call upon the Israeli Government and the Police to take serious measures to prevent such attacks and to protect both the Christian Holy sites and their daily worshipers from further vandalism and suchlike attacks.”

 21:24,

YEREVAN, MARCH 22, ARMENPRESS. On the initiative of the Turkish side, on March 22, a telephone conversation was held between the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Sergey Shoigu and the Turkish Defense Minister, Hulusi Akar, ARMENPRESS reports, MoD Russia informed.

"During the negotiations, the parties discussed the results of the implementation of the Black Sea initiative, the Syrian and Nagorno Karabakh settlement issues, as well as other areas of cooperation of mutual interest," the ministry noted.

 10:15,

YEREVAN, MARCH 13, ARMENPRESS. Four new cases of measles were confirmed over the weekend, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the ongoing local outbreak in Armenia to 50, the Ministry of Healthcare reported Monday.

Only three patients are hospitalized, while 28 others have already been discharged.

34 of the 50 patients are children (aged from 3 months to 16 years old), while the 16 others are adults (aged 21 to 64). 1 of the patients is in serious condition.

Only 2 of the 50 patients are vaccinated, while 44 others are unvaccinated and two others had only had one dose of the vaccine.

Healthcare authorities recommend children get two doses of the measles vaccine, starting with the first dose at 12 through 15 months of age, and the second dose at 4 through 6 years of age. The Armenian healthcare ministry advised parents to get their children vaccinated if they’ve missed the immunization schedule.

At the same time, unvaccinated direct contacts of confirmed cases should also get vaccinated, healthcare authorities said.

Measles is one of the world’s most contagious diseases. It is spread by coughing and sneezing, close personal contact or direct contact with infected nasal or throat secretions.

The virus remains active and contagious in the air or on infected surfaces for up to 2 hours. It can be transmitted by an infected person from 4 days prior to the onset of the rash to 4 days after the rash erupts.

Unvaccinated young children are at highest risk of measles and its complications. Unvaccinated pregnant women are also at risk. Any non-immune person (who has not been vaccinated or was vaccinated but did not develop immunity) can become infected.

The first sign of measles is usually a high fever, which begins about 10 to 12 days after exposure to the virus, and lasts 4 to 7 days. A runny nose, a cough, red and watery eyes, and small white spots inside the cheeks can develop in the initial stage. After several days, a rash erupts, usually on the face and upper neck. Over about 3 days, the rash spreads, eventually reaching the hands and feet.