Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 01.09.21:

• The Azerbaijani armed forces once again resorted to provocation on Wednesday, opening fire on the Armenian positions in Ararat Province, particularly at the Yeraskh village section of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. As a result of the incident, an Armenian contract soldier sustained a fatal gunshot wound.

The ministry strongly condemns these actions by the Azerbaijani side and warns that they will not go unanswered.

The entire accountability for the aggravation of the situation falls on the military and political leadership of Azerbaijan.

• Numerous injuries have been found on the Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] citizen returned by Azerbaijan.

On July 26, a resident—born in 1989—of Machkalashen village of the Martuni region of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), had come under the Azerbaijani control after getting lost while searching for his lost animals. Several hours later, he was returned to the Artsakh side with the intervention of Russian peacekeeping forces.

A forensic medical examination has concluded that this Artsakh citizen had numerous bodily injuries that coincided with the circumstances behind and the time of this incident.

A criminal case was initiated by the Artsakh police on torture committed on the motive of national hatred.

An investigation is underway.

• Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, who is on a working visit to Moscow, met with the Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization Stanislav Zas, Armenian Foreign Ministry reported.

Ararat Mirzoyan and Stanislav Zas discussed in detail the dynamics of changes at the regional and international levels, which have a direct impact on the vital interests of the CSTO member states.

During the meeting, the sides touched upon the situation resulting from the penetration of the Azerbaijani armed forces into the sovereign territory of Armenia. The need for an early resolution of the situation and de-escalation was mutually noted.

• The Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) and Air Arabia Group, the Middle East and North Africa’s first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC) operator, on Wednesday announced that the new national airline to be launched by their joint venture company will be named “Fly Arna,” Armenian News-NEWS.am has learned from ANIF.

The name was chosen by the Board of Directors of the joint venture company from over 500 suggestions received in response to the “Name the Airline” competition announced in July 2021.

The competition aimed to engage the citizens of Armenia to participate in naming their new national airline reflecting the commitment of ANIF and Air Arabia Group to promote stakeholder participation.

• After the 44-day war last fall, Armenia, the guarantor of the security of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), will for the first time not participate in the 30th Artsakh Independence Day anniversary events Thursday at the level of its top leadership.

The new speaker of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, Alen Simonyan, has sent a delegation to the Artsakh capital Stepanakert this year.

Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has decided to go on a four-day vacation, from which he will return on Friday—the day after the anniversary of Artsakh's independence.

Armenia’s President Armen Sarkissian is also on vacation these days.

• As of Wednesday morning, 615 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 242,750 in the country.

Also, 13 more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the respective total 4,857 cases.

• President Joe Biden defended his withdrawal from Afghanistan in a speech Tuesday.

It came a day after the final U.S. troops left the Taliban-run country following two decades of war, insisting the departure was timed appropriately and calling the effort to evacuate Americans and Afghans from the country an “extraordinary success,” Forbes reported.

Biden lauded the military for helping to evacuate roughly 90% of U.S. citizens who wanted to leave Afghanistan and 100,000 Afghans in the weeks following the Taliban’s mid-August takeover of Kabul.