Yerevan Reporter

The press service of the State Revenue Committee of the Republic of Armenia reported about the prevention of drug smuggling on a particularly large scale. A citizen of the Federative Republic of Brazil arrived in Yerevan on the São Paulo-Dubai-Yerevan flight with a drug shipment. During the customs inspection of his luggage, two packages of white powders of cocaine type were found. They were hidden in pre-prepared caches inside the luggage. The total weight of drugs found during customs inspection was 1721 grams. The market value of the consignment exceeds $600,000. The Brazilian citizen was detained. A criminal case was initiated.

  The Investigative Committee of Armenia decided to detain National Security Party leader Garnik Isagulian, the Investigative Committee's press service reports. Evidence was obtained that during a press conference on September 20 this year, the politician, realizing that the information he provided was false, reported a crime that did not take place. Particularly Isahulyan. stated that the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to Ukraine had been allegedly studied and recruited by the special services of Turkey and Azerbaijan and had cooperated with the said services and representatives of these nations. after 2008. He also said that the RA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Ukraine had allegedly held talks with the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Ukraine and as a result of these talks it was decided that the RA Prime Minister should meet with the representatives of the Republic of Turkey in Batumi to discuss important issues. Thus, the poli...

  For the first time ever, the President of the Republic of Armenia gave an interview to a periodical representing Saudi Arabia. "After my historic visit to Saudi Arabia, one of the key countries of the Arab and Islamic world, Armenia was visited for the first time by Faisal Abbas, editor-in-chief of the leading Middle Eastern English-language newspaper Arab News. In an extensive interview with the editor-in-chief of Arab News Faisal Abbas spoke about the development of relations with Saudi Arabia, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, current regional processes and a number of other issues," Armen Sargsyan wrote in his Telegram channel.

  European Broadcasting Union and Public Television of Armenia officially announce that next year Armenia will host the 20th Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which is due to the victory of 14-year-old young Armenian singer Malena at the 19th Junior Eurovision Song Contest held in Paris. This is Armenia's second victory at the contest. In 2010, Vladimir Arzumanyan took first place and in 2011, the contest was held in Yerevan. After 11 years, in 2022, Armenia will host Junior Eurovision Song Contest for the second time. Executive director of Junior Eurovision Song Contest Martin Osterdal stated in his speech: "An interesting, high class and modern performer from Armenia has set new standards for the contest. Armenia's enthusiasm for the competition is boundless and we are happy to announce that the Public Television of Armenia has expressed its wish to host the 20th Junior Eurovision Song Contest next year. We look forward to working with them to jointly organize a special sh...

The number of confirmed carriers of the coronavirus in the country increased by 72 in the past 24 hours on 4,897 tests, according to the Armenian Health Ministry on the morning of December 20. The number of those who have recovered increased by 364. Four people died of COVID-19 during the day and two more deaths were registered when a patient was diagnosed with a coronavirus infection, but died of another disease. In fact, there were 5,513 patients on treatment. A total of 2,497,107 tests have been performed to date, of which 343,708 have been confirmed carriers of the coronavirus and 328,799 have recovered. To this day, 7,903 people have died from COVID-19 in Armenia. As a result of other diseases, 1,493 patients have died.

  American journalist Lindsay Snell posted on Twitter a joint photo of Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu and Fahim Issa, commander of the pro-Turkish militant group "Sultan Murad," taken in the Syrian city of Al-Ray. The journalist noted that "Sultan Murad" was sending mercenaries to Artsakh and Libya. The recruitment of minors resulted in the U.S. placing Turkey on the list of "countries that use child soldiers".

Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Stanislav Zas will make a working visit to the Republic of Armenia on December 21-23 to meet with the country's top military and political leadership and discuss the situation in the CSTO area of responsibility. According to CSTO spokesman Vladimir Zaynetdinov, during the visit a meeting with the chairman of the CSTO Collective Security Council, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is planned. CSTO Secretary General will submit the draft plan of measures on implementation of decisions of the September (2021) session of the CSTO Collective Security Council and implementation of priority areas of the CSTO during the Republic of Armenia presidency for his approval. Stanislav Zas is also expected to hold talks with Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, Defense Minister Suren Papikyan and Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan.