Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 04.05.21:

- Azerbaijani soldiers have tortured and killed 19 Armenian POWs.

Armenian civilians and servicemen have continued to be captured during the second war that broke out in Artsakh on September 27, 2020, and after the signing of the trilateral agreement on November 9, 2020.

Armenian human rights activist Artak Zeynalyan wrote on his Facebook that out of the people who found themselves in captivity, 19 of them have been tortured and killed by Azerbaijani servicemen.

The study of the collected videos and photos shows that the tortures, cruelties, and inhuman treatment by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces against Armenian POWs have been committed with motives of ethnic hatred, Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan noted.

- Azerbaijanis have removed domes of Holy Savior Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi, Nagorno-Karabakh [Artsakh], which has been handed over to Azerbaijan following the last war back in autumn 2020.

"Azerbaijan cannot restore the cultural value of a nation, against which it has been spreading systematic hatred at the state level for years," said Artsakh State Service for Emergency Situations official Hunan Tadevosyan.

- President Joe Biden authorized the provision of military aid to Azerbaijan, which was initially limited due to the conflict between Baku and Armenia and tensions over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, The Hill reported.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that such assistance to Azerbaijan would not "undermine or hamper ongoing efforts to negotiate a peaceful settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan or be used for offensive purposes against Armenia."

This decision provokes condemnation of the American Armenian community as a betrayal after Biden's historic decision to recognize the Armenian Genocide for the first time.

- Former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia, Colonel-General Movses Hakobyan has been questioned and charged by the National Security Service.

Hakobyan noted that he has been charged for the disclosure of information containing state secrets.

- As of Tuesday morning, 399 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 217,407 in the country.

Also, 16 more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the respective total 4,165 cases.

The number of people who have recovered over the past one day is 635, the total respective number so far is 201,107.