NEWS.am digest: EU special rep. is in Armenia, Roma's Mkhitaryan turns 33 today

Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of top news as of 21.01.22:

VIRGIL ABLOH

The Louis Vuitton show was held at the Men's Fashion Week in Paris. The autumn-winter line was the eighth and last for Virgil Abloh as creative director of the Louis Vuitton men's line. The designer died on November 28 last year, without having time to present new creations to the public.

Louis Vuitton simply called the show "8" - this is Virgil Abloh's eighth show for the brand. The references were shown in reverse order, from the latest collections to Abloh's debut in LV.

MKHITARYAN

Henrikh Mkhitaryan, captain of the Armenian national football team and Roma midfielder, is celebrating his 33rd birthday Friday.

On this occasion, the Football Federation of Armenia and Roma congratulated the leader of the Armenian football team.

Mkhitaryan on Thursday made his 100th appearance for Roma, as they beat Lecce 3-1 in the Round of 16 and reached the quarterfinals of Coppa Italia.

TOIVO KLAAR

The European Union (EU) Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia has arrived in Armenia.

“Good to be back in Yerevan. Looking forward to substantial meetings tomorrow with Armenia’s leadership on joint EU-France mission with Isabelle Dumont,” Toivo Klaar tweeted.

THOMAS DE WAAL

Will Armenia and Turkey be able to normalize their relations after a third attempt? The chief reason for optimism is that Azerbaijan is dropping its objections, UK journalist Thomas de Waal wrote in an article on Carnegie Europe.

He added that Turkey’s formal reason for freezing relations with Armenia was removed after the 44-day war in 2020.

De Waal added that if the negotiations fail, it is most likely to be due to the Azerbaijan factor.

GENEVA

Talks between Russian FM Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, where the parties are expected to discuss issues of security guarantees, began in Geneva.

The Russian and American delegations arrived in Geneva the night before.

Lavrov said that he did not expect a breakthrough from the meeting with Blinken, but he was waiting for a response to the Russian proposals.

SABAH

Turkish Sabah daily touched upon the next meeting of Armenian and Turkish special envoys.

According to the newspaper, Turkish Foreign Ministry diplomatic sources said they do not want the next meeting to be held in a third country. They want it to take place either in Armenia or in Turkey.

GAMBLING

At Friday’s session, the Armenian National Assembly passed— in the first reading— the bill restricting the gambling advertising in Armenia.

The bill prohibits the advertising of all types of gambling in Armenia—be it casinos, bookmakers’ offices, as well as their organizers—including on radio, television, and the internet. The ban, however, will not apply to their official websites, at 4-star and higher hotels, as well as at the checkpoints and in buildings where gambling is held.

RUSSIAN MFA

The Russian MFA has issued a statement speaking about the Azerbaijan-Armenia border delimitation process.

"Priority today is to start the Azerbaijan-Armenia border delimitation, demarcation process," the statement noted.

"We proceed from the need for full implementation of the trilateral agreements which are enshrined in the statements by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia," the MFA said.

FBI

The FBI raided Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar's home and campaign office in Texas as part of a wide-ranging federal probe relating to Azerbaijan and several U.S. businessmen, a source familiar with the matter told ABC News, the latter reported.

A federal grand jury in Washington is investigating the matter, but it's unclear if Cuellar is a target of the grand jury's probe, ABC News was told.

Over the past year, Cuellar has frequently criticized the Biden administration for some of its border-related policies.

Virgil Abloh's latest collection for Louis Vuitton presented in Paris (VIDEO)

Coppa Italia: Roma reach quarterfinals, Mkhitaryan plays 100th match and makes assist | NEWS.am Sport - All about sports