With two wars going on, many Americans may have overlooked the conflict in September when Azerbaijan forcibly seized control of Artsakh, a long-disputed region east of Armenia. More than 100,000 ethnic Armenians who lived there fled to neighboring Armenia.
Against that backdrop, the Armenia Artsakh Fund, a charity based in Los Angeles, recently announced that in the first nine months of this year it shipped $34 million worth of medicines to Armenia and Artsakh. And that brought its total humanitarian assistance to Armenia and Artsakh to $1 billion over the 34 years of its existence.
“The Armenia Artsakh Fund is regularly offered free of charge millions of dollars of life-saving medicines and medical supplies,” said Harut Sassounian, the president of the fund and a leader in the Armenian American community that is centered in Los Angeles County, particularly Glendale. He said the fund pays for shipping and other costs.
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California again ranked high on the annual list of “Judicial Hellholes.” According to the American Tort Reform Foundation’s recent report, California is the third worst state in the nation when it comes to lawsuits engendered by the state’s legal system. It marked the 18th straight year that the Golden State ranked first, second or third on that ignominious list. And that prompted a state-based group to have a little fun with the number 18.
“California’s dubious distinction reaches adulthood,” is how the Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse reacted to the ranking.
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A new survey says the Los Angeles area has 15 of the 100 priciest ZIP codes when it comes to apartment rents. That’s second only to New York City, which had 39, according to the survey by RentHop, an apartment hunters’ ranking service. Santa Monica’s 90402 ZIP code has the highest rents in Los Angeles County. There, a median two-bedroom apartment goes for $8,500 a month and a one-bedroom will cost you a little less than $5,200.
The Insider is compiled by Editor-in-Chief Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].