ARMENIAN NEWS: BREAKING NEWS 18.07.2018

Corruption and not ensuring equal opportunities for all businesses was the obstacle before American investments in Armenia, US Ambassador Richard Mills told reporters.

When asked whether major American investments could come to Armenia now, when the Armenian government has started a serious fight against corruption, the diplomat responded, in particular, that it was still too early to speak about new major investments, or to start them, in Armenia.

Mills added that the American investors were also following as to how the Armenian government was dealing with the challenges of local and foreign businesses.

It will be possible to say when the construction of the North-South Road Corridor will be over only after the problem of funding is solved, Transport Minister Ashot Hakobyan told reporters.

He added that the law enforcement officers are trying to find out whether they was embezzlement and abuse.

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) today called upon the Social Security Administration to explore a Social Security Totalization Agreement with Armenia eliminating the danger of double taxation of pension benefits and, more broadly, clarifying the obligations and entitlements of workers who divide their careers between the United States and Armenia, ANCA reported.

The U.S. currently has a Social Security Totalization Agreement in force with more than two dozen nations.

From July 2018 to June 2021, the IRIS program—which is implemented under the leadership of the Austrian Red Cross—will contribute to the implementation of the Armenian national policy of ensuring a dignified life for the Syrian Armenians living in Armenia.

Anna Yeghiazaryan, Executive Director of the Armenian Red Cross Society, on Wednesday stated about the aforementioned during the capital city Yerevan launch of a program devoted to increasing the Syrian Armenians’ and locals’ resilience to challenges in Armenia.

The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has published today reports on six of itsvisits to Azerbaijan – in 2004, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017 – together with the responses of the Azerbaijani Government. Thus, all of the CPT’s reports on its visits to Azerbaijan have now been made public, the report of the Council of Europe reads.

The CPT’s overall impression of the situation in Azerbaijan is that torture and other forms of physical ill-treatment by the police, other law enforcement agencies and the army, corruption in the whole law enforcement system and impunity remain systemic, widespread and endemic. The findings of the 2017 ad hoc visit suggest the existence of a generalised culture of violence among the staff of various law enforcement agencies.

Governor Karen Sarukhanyan of Armenia’s Shirak Province on Wednesday met with Aleksei Polyukhovich, deputy commander of staff at the 102nd Russian Military Base in Gyumri, to discuss the incident that occurred Tuesday in Panik village.

“Aleksei Polyukhovich apologized and noted that the incident was a result of carelessness, assuring that there will no longer be such an omission in their work,” Sarukhanyan informed, in particular, on Facebook.

The Panik village residents on Tuesday heard sounds of shootings and explosions. Sometime thereafter, it was found out that the ones carrying out these shootings and explosions were the servicemen from the 102nd Russian Military Base in Gyumri, and that they had entered the village without notifying and without documents, and conducted military exercises.