Freedom House: Armenia Not Free country in terms of press freedomApril 27, 2016 - 18:19 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Freedom House published its annual Freedom of the Press report which turned out to have declined to its lowest point in 12 years in 2015. The report assesses the degree of media freedom in 199 countries and territories, analyzing the events and developments of each calendar year. Each country and territory receives a numerical score from 0 (the most free) to 100 (the least free), which serves as the basis for a status designation of Free, Partly Free, or Not Free. With an overall score of 63, Armenia ranked the 139th and continues being a Not Free country in the Freedom of the Press 2016. In the Freedom in the World and Freedom on the Net, Armenia is assessed as a Partly Free and a Free country, respectively. With a score of 89, Azerbaijan ranked the 189th, Russia, with 83 points, took the 176th spot, while Turkey and Iran, with 42 and 90 scores, came in 156th and 190th, respectively. Among the notable declines of 2015 is Azerbaijan due to the brutal and so far unsolved murder of a prominent journalist, as well as increased restrictions on foreign journalists surrounding the European Games in June. Top stories David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. U.S. believes peace is “possible” in South Caucasus The United States continues to believe that peace is possible in the South Caucasus, Vedant Patel said. |