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Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 21.08.2020:
- As of Friday morning, 158 COVID-19 new cases were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of cases has reached 42,477 in the country.
Also, six more deaths from COVID-19 were reported, making the respective death toll 842 cases.
The total number of people who have recovered so far is 35,693, and the number of people currently being treated is 5,689.
- Armenia ranks 21st in terms of the COVID-19 death toll per million population (284). In terms of the absolute number of deaths, Armenia now ranks 49th in the world (842, 6 in the last 24 hours).
After confirming 42,477 COVID-19 cases in Armenia since the beginning of the pandemic, the country is currently in 54th place in the world and 13th in terms of COVID-19 cases per million.
- Russia and its partners in the OSCE Minsk Group are working on the earliest possible resumption of talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Trud newspaper, TASS reported
"We are expecting early resumption of the negotiation process on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. We are working on this together with our partners in the OSCE Minsk Group," he said.
Lavrov noted that the July border conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan was the second most widespread violation of the 1994 ceasefire agreement.
"The Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh Igor Popov has been in direct contact with the leadership of the foreign ministries of the two countries all this time. As a result, with active Russian mediation, a ceasefire has been reached since August 16, albeit not on the first attempt," he noted.
- By the President's decree of Tuesday and by the petition of the Prime Minister, Captain Ruben Sanamyan has been awarded the Order of the Homeland, being awarded the highest title of National Hero of Armenia.
As an officer and commander, Captain Sanamyan has shown exceptional courage, selflessness, and bravery in ensuring the defense and security of the homeland, the President's Office reported.
By the same presidential decree, 199 more servicemen of Armenia have been awarded state awards for their selflessness while defending the borders of the homeland, and for their bravery and skill during the military actions.
- The criminal case under investigation into a 57-year-old resident of Khashtarak village causing serious bodily and psychological harm to his underage grandchildren has found out that his 28-year-old daughter also had regularly beaten her five minor children, as well as her brother's two underage sons, Investigative Committee of Armenia informed.
A new criminal case was initiated in connection with this incident, and a decision was made to merge the two criminal cases and continue the investigation under one proceeding.
Seven kids have been recognized as injured parties.
A forensic medical examination has been ordered for them.
The aforesaid 28-year-old resident of Khashtarak was detained on Thursday.
The investigation continues.
