ArmInfo.The Golden Apricot International Film Festival has unveiled its international feature film competition program.

ArmInfo. The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MFA) cautious response to Azerbaijan's false narratives does not serve the national interests of the Republic of Armenia. Ashot Melkonyan, a historian at the Institute of  History of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, made this statement in an interview with an ArmInfo correspondent in response to a request to assess the Armenian Foreign Ministry's statement regarding Azerbaijan's accusations against the Armenian people concerning the alleged "1918 genocide against Azerbaijanis." 

ArmInfo.  Ishkhan Khosrovyan, an employee of the fact- checking and information website Antifake, was released six hours after being arrested. Lawyer Ruben Melikyan shared this information on his Facebook page.

ArmInfo.  Pashinyan-style justice responds much more swiftly to dissent than to actual criminals. Hayk Mamijanyan, leader of the opposition parliamentary faction With Honor, shares this view.

ArmInfo.  Ishkhan Khosrovyan, an employee of the fact-checking and information website Antifake, has been detained. Lawyer Ruben Melikyan announced this on his Facebook account. 

ArmInfo.  The founders and hosts of the "Imnemnimi" podcast, Vazgen Saghatelyan and Narek Samsonyan, have been remanded in custody for two months by a court decision. Lawyer Arsen Babayan announced Vazgen Saghatelyan's arrest on his Facebook page.

ArmInfo. During a visit to Baku, Andranik Simonyan, Director of the RA National Security Service, handed over to the Azerbaijani side a list of 10 prisoners  of war whom Armenia wants to return to their homeland as part of the  normalization of bilateral relations.  This was reported by the  Armenian newspaper "Hraparak," citing a reliable source.

ArmInfo. The Armenian government has approved the Program for Adaptation to Climate Change in the Sphere of Water Resources for 2022-2026. A new draft law of the Republic of Armenia On Climate has been developed. The purpose of the draft law is to create a legal and institutional basis for the development and implementation of climate policy in the country. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this while speaking at the International Environmental Conference in Gorno- Altaisk. 

ArmInfo.  At the Congressional hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, chaired by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ). The hearing, titled "Human Rights in Azerbaijan since the COP 29 UN Climate Change Conference," Jared Genser, Managing Director of Perseus Strategies, LLC, who is the attorney for former Artsakh Minister and Azerbaijan hostage Ruben Vardanyan, highlighted the repression faced by Artsakh's leadership and  Christian Armenians imprisoned in Azerbaijan, the Armenian National  Committee of America (ANCA) reports.  "Ruben's ongoing imprisonment  remains a powerful symbol of Aliyev's brutality. He faces life in  prison on more than 40 fabricated charges. His trial is a mockery of  justice: closed proceedings, no access to legal counsel, and even  denial of the Bible. He was tortured during a hunger strike. And he's  not alone - at least 23 Armenians are being held in sham trials, and  hundreds more have been forcibly disappeared." Genser explained that  the Azerbaijani regime has launched politically motivated  prosecutions against current and former officials of Artsakh, as well  as civilians and POWs, all in a broader effort to erase Armenian  leadership and identity from the region.  "Dictators never release  prisoners because they are asked. They do so only when compelled,"  Genser stated. "That's why the Azerbaijan Democracy Act, public  hearings, international referrals, and real sanctions are critical." 

ArmInfo.  The draft amendments to the law "On Specially Protected Natural Areas" are being discussed at an extraordinary session of the National Assembly of Armenia on April 22.

ArmInfo. 37 years ago, on February 27-29, 1988, an act of genocide against the Armenian population of the city of Sumgait in the Azerbaijan SSR was  committed. As a result of the targeted and planned actions of the  Azerbaijani authorities and with the connivance of the USSR  authorities, mass pogroms and murders of Armenians were committed,  crimes against humanity that shocked the world community with their  savagery and cruelty. The entire Armenian population of 18,000 people  was completely expelled from Sumgait, reads a statement by Armenia's  first human rights defender Larisa Alaverdyan. 

ArmInfo. The initiators of the referendum on an application to join the EU are pursuing the only  goal - the withdrawal of the Russian base from Armenia. A similar opinion was expressed during a press conference on June 25 by former Prime Minister of Armenia Khosrov Harutyunyan.

ArmInfo.The leader of the "Tavush for the Motherland" movement, primate of the Tavush diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is holding a meeting with representatives of the country's political forces on May 18.

ArmInfo. Tomorrow in Yerevan, actions of disobedience are planned from the very morning, and at  4:00pm a large protest rally in Freedom Square. This was stated by head of the "Tavush for the Motherland" movement, Primate of the Tavush diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Bagrat Srbazan on May  14 during a meeting in the courtyard of the Church of St. Anne.

ArmInfo. The Caucasus  Nature Fund (CNF) has implemented numerous projects in Armenia aimed  at effective management and protection of conservation areas. 

ArmInfo. Turkey is negotiating the reopening or border with Armenia, but Azerbaijan's  interests must be considered, Turkish Minister of Trade Mehmet Mus  has stated. 

ArmInfo. On August 2, Baku court sentenced two Armenian prisoners of war to 20 years in prison each, the first 10 years in a general regime colony, and the second 10 years in a strict regime colony.

ArmInfo.Years ago, discovering Armenia, I came to realize a simple truth - it more complicated, but at the same time, easy to love when you know well… And, yes, it is about the Homeland. It's hard because it has so many 'faces', from bad roads to underdeveloped transport infrastructure in the regions… It's easy because every new step is a new discovery. And it turns out there are so many things you don’t know about your country, so many features which would make you proud, and which you could admire

ArmInfo. Armenian prisoners of war and civilians held captive in Azerbaijan must be immediately released and returned to their homeland without any preconditions.  This is stated in the statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry in  connection with the trial carried out in Baku over the Armenian  prisoners of war.

ArmInfo.Baku does not see any role of Paris in the ceasefire in Karabakh. This is stated in the commentary by head of the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign  Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva in connection with the statement by French  President Emmanuel Macron on June 1 in Paris.