Over a thousand protesters have gathered in Yerevan to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan following the Nagorno-Karabakh peace deal. They are accusing him of being a traitor for signing a truce with Baku.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Pashinyan announced that the country had agreed to end hostilities with Azerbaijan, following a bloody conflict which began in late September. After repeatedly claiming that Armenia was winning the war, he is now coming under attack for what many locals see as a surrender.

On Wednesday afternoon, demonstrators met in the center of Yerevan, chanting "Nikol is a traitor." Led by politicians from a wide range of opposition parties, the protest has brought together Armenians who disagree with the government's decision to end the conflict. Eyewitness reports suggest that the police have arrested individual protest leaders, but the participants have continued undeterred. MP Gagik Tsarukyan, the head of Prosperous Armenia, the country's second-biggest party, was detained by law enforcement.

Earlier this week, the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia signed a joint statement agreeing to a truce in Nagorno-Karabakh. The agreement states that Azerbaijani and Armenian troops must remain in their current positions, an arrangement which is to be enforced by Russian peacekeepers. This means that Baku will keep the areas of Nagorno-Karabakh it regained control of during the conflict. According to Pashinyan, Yerevan had no choice, as the country's resources were quickly becoming depleted.

On September 27, the frozen conflict suddenly erupted once again. The dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia is decades old, with both countries believing they have legitimate claims to the territory. The region is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but is primarily populated by ethnic Armenians. Baku had always considered the enclave to be illegally occupied by Yerevan.

Walz attempted to draw a hard distinction between "fun" vocalizations and everyday vocal drudgery, insisting that "the louder you speak, if you're singing, if you're playing darts standing next to someone in a crowded bar... it seems like these things shouldn't be as risky or elevated, but what we've seen is that they do do that."

"It's certainly not our intention to demonize any industry or any activity," Walz said while doing exactly that. "It's simply important for us to understand...who spreads this thing." The governor announced a limit of 10 people on inside and outdoor gatherings alike during Thursday's press conference, explaining that "just because they're family and just because you know them" doesn't mean any group celebrating the winter holidays can dispense with social distancing and masks indoors. However, he has at the same time suggested enforcement will be based on voluntary compliance: "Obviously, on this issue, we're not going into someone's home and arresting them on Thanksgiving."

"We will certainly fight that if it becomes necessary," he said during the livestream. "We as a state are going to continue with our strategy," he said, insisting a strategy "targeted" at hotspots was the only way to avoid extensive collateral economic damage. "The people of Mississippi can't just go home, shut down their small businesses, shut down their restaurants, shut down their gyms for six weeks and just think that you can come back six weeks from now, flip a switch and everything's gonna be fine."

Vladimir Urin of the Bolshoi Theatre has told reporters that the historic institution, known across the world for ballet and dramatic arts, has lost around 1.2 billion rubles (around $15.5 million) during the coronavirus pandemic. He told Russia's Dozhd TV channel that "these income losses... until October amounted to about 50% of all income that we have."

The director of another famous Moscow theatre, the Lenkom's Mark Varshaver, has also spoken out on the situation facing the arts. Speaking to Russian news agency RIA Novosti, he said that Moscow Deputy Mayor Natalya Sergunina had committed to helping venues meet the shortfall.

"[Sergunina] said something extremely important for theaters: the Moscow government is issuing a subsidy that will fully cover theaters' losses, especially those related to the payment of wages and other issues. She also said that the directors of Moscow theaters may, at their discretion, not play the performance or postpone it depending on the situation and conditions of the theater," he added.

On Tuesday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin brought forward a series of new measures aimed at limiting the spread of coronavirus. Among them were rules limiting audiences of theaters, cinemas and ballet performances to around 25 per cent of their usual capacity, to allow for social distancing.

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