The post AP Headline News – Sep 27 2023 10:00 (EDT) first appeared on The News And Times – thenewsandtimes.com.
Month: September 2023
NPR News: 09-27-2023 10AM EDT
The post NPR News: 09-27-2023 10AM EDT first appeared on The News And Times – thenewsandtimes.com.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received U.S President’s special representative, Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Samantha Power, U.S Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Yuri Kim and US State Department’s Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations Louis Bono.
The post President Ilham Aliyev receives US delegation first appeared on The News And Times – thenewsandtimes.com.
Ukraine evacuated 59 children from the Gulyaipole, Stepnogirsk, Preobrazhenka, Yegorivka, and Novopavlivka settlements as Kyiv continues its fight to retake territory in the Zaporizhzhia Region.
The post Ukraine Says Evacuated Children from Several Towns in South first appeared on The News And Times – thenewsandtimes.com.
Russia Wednesday accused the United States and Britain of helping Ukraine carry out an attack last week against the headquarters Russian Black Sea fleet in Russia-occupied Crimea.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing that the attack was “planned in advance using Western intelligence means, NATO satellite assets, and reconnaissance planes.”
Zakharova also said U.S. and British intelligence helped coordinate the missile strike.
While the U.S. and other Western partners have provided military equipment and training to Ukraine, U.S. officials have previously denied playing a direct role in Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion.
When Russia accused the United States of being involved in a May drone attack on the Kremlin, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby called the claim “ludicrous.”
A television channel run by Russia’s Defense Ministry broadcast undated video Wednesday showing Adm. Viktor Sokolov, the leader of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, saying the fleet was performing successfully.
It was the second consecutive day in which video of Sokolov appeared on Russian television, following a Ukrainian claim that he was killed in the Crimea missile strike.
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
The post Russia Accuses US, Britain of Helping Ukraine in Crimea Missile Attack first appeared on The News And Times – thenewsandtimes.com.
By Felix Light
GORIS, Armenia (Reuters) – A former head of the breakaway ethnic Armenian government in Nagorno-Karabakh was arrested by Azerbaijan on Wednesday as he tried to escape into Armenia as part of an exodus of tens of thousands of people that has triggered a humanitarian crisis.
Ruben Vardanyan, a billionaire banker and philanthropist, headed Karabakh’s separatist government between November 2022 and February 2023.
His wife Veronika Zonabend said on his Telegram channel that he had been arrested while trying to flee as part of a mass departure by ethnic Armenians after Azerbaijan took back control of the territory last week.
Azerbaijan’s border service said he had been taken to the capital Baku and handed over to other state agencies.
Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but populated mostly by ethnic Armenians who broke away in the 1990s in the first of two wars there since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Fearing Azerbaijani reprisals because of the bloody history between the two sides, ethnic Armenians are abandoning their homes and fleeing en masse in cars and trucks along the snaking mountain road that leads to Armenia. Karabakh authorities said 47,115 people had left so far, out of an estimated ethnic Armenian population of 120,000 people.
Western governments fear a humanitarian disaster and are pressing for Azerbaijan to allow international observers into Karabakh to monitor its treatment of the local population.
“What is needed now is transparency, and the eyes and ears of the international community on the spot,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“It would be a sign of confidence that Azerbaijan is serious about its commitments to the security and wellbeing of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh if it allows international observers”.
ACCUSATIONS
Azerbaijan says it wants to peacefully reintegrate the ethnic Armenian residents of Karabakh and emphatically rejects Armenian accusations of ethnic cleansing.
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said last week that Armenians could “finally breathe a sigh of relief” and would be able to vote, receive state education and freely practise their Christian religion in mainly Muslim Azerbaijan. Baku would turn Karabakh into a “paradise”, he said.
It was not clear on what grounds Vardanyan had been held, but Azerbaijan has signalled it will seek to prosecute some figures in the Karabakh leadership.
“We have accused elements of the criminal regime and we will bring them to justice,” Aliyev said last week, without naming anyone or specifying any crime.
Zonabend said she asked for people’s “prayers and support for my husband’s safe release”.
The mountain road that winds out of Karabakh towards Armenia has been choked for days, with many people sleeping in cars or searching for firewood to keep warm. The journey of just 77 km (48 miles) to the border was taking at least 30 hours.
“I left everything behind. I don’t know what is in store for me. I have nothing. I don’t want anything,” Vera Petrosyan, a 70-year-old retired teacher, told Reuters.
DEATH TOLL
Local authorities said at least 68 people had been killed, 105 were missing and nearly 300 were injured in a huge explosion at a fuel station in Karabakh on Monday. It was unclear what caused it.
Russia said its peacekeeping force in the region had evacuated more than 120 people by helicopter.
Armenia is angry that the Russian peacekeepers, in place since a 44-day war in 2020, did nothing to prevent Azerbaijan from launching its offensive last week.
With Russia distracted by the war in Ukraine, the crisis has highlighted its waning ability to play the role of security guarantor in the Caucasus region, where Turkey, Iran and the United States are vying with it for influence.
Tens of thousands have been killed in wars over Karabakh since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, of which both Armenia and Azerbaijan were part.
The toll climbed further in last week’s fighting, in which Karabakh authorities said they lost at least 200 people.
Azerbaijan said on Wednesday that 192 of its soldiers had been killed, and published their names and photographs on the defence ministry website. More than 50 were young men in their teens.
(Writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Gareth Jones and Philippa Fletcher)
The post Azerbaijan arrests former top Karabakh official as Armenian exodus grows first appeared on The News And Times – thenewsandtimes.com.
By Felix Light
GORIS, Armenia (Reuters) – A former head of the breakaway ethnic Armenian government in Nagorno-Karabakh was arrested by Azerbaijan on Wednesday as he tried to escape into Armenia as part of an exodus of tens of thousands of people that has triggered a humanitarian crisis.
Ruben Vardanyan, a billionaire banker and philanthropist, headed Karabakh’s separatist government between November 2022 and February 2023.
His wife Veronika Zonabend said on his Telegram channel that he had been arrested while trying to flee as part of a mass departure by ethnic Armenians after Azerbaijan took back control of the territory last week.
Azerbaijan’s border service said he had been taken to the capital Baku and handed over to other state agencies.
Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but populated mostly by ethnic Armenians who broke away in the 1990s in the first of two wars there since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Fearing Azerbaijani reprisals because of the bloody history between the two sides, ethnic Armenians are abandoning their homes and fleeing en masse in cars and trucks along the snaking mountain road that leads to Armenia. Karabakh authorities said 47,115 people had left so far, out of an estimated ethnic Armenian population of 120,000 people.
Western governments fear a humanitarian disaster and are pressing for Azerbaijan to allow international observers into Karabakh to monitor its treatment of the local population.
“What is needed now is transparency, and the eyes and ears of the international community on the spot,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“It would be a sign of confidence that Azerbaijan is serious about its commitments to the security and wellbeing of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh if it allows international observers”.
ACCUSATIONS
Azerbaijan says it wants to peacefully reintegrate the ethnic Armenian residents of Karabakh and emphatically rejects Armenian accusations of ethnic cleansing.
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said last week that Armenians could “finally breathe a sigh of relief” and would be able to vote, receive state education and freely practise their Christian religion in mainly Muslim Azerbaijan. Baku would turn Karabakh into a “paradise”, he said.
It was not clear on what grounds Vardanyan had been held, but Azerbaijan has signalled it will seek to prosecute some figures in the Karabakh leadership.
“We have accused elements of the criminal regime and we will bring them to justice,” Aliyev said last week, without naming anyone or specifying any crime.
Zonabend said she asked for people’s “prayers and support for my husband’s safe release”.
The mountain road that winds out of Karabakh towards Armenia has been choked for days, with many people sleeping in cars or searching for firewood to keep warm. The journey of just 77 km (48 miles) to the border was taking at least 30 hours.
“I left everything behind. I don’t know what is in store for me. I have nothing. I don’t want anything,” Vera Petrosyan, a 70-year-old retired teacher, told Reuters.
DEATH TOLL
Local authorities said at least 68 people had been killed, 105 were missing and nearly 300 were injured in a huge explosion at a fuel station in Karabakh on Monday. It was unclear what caused it.
Russia said its peacekeeping force in the region had evacuated more than 120 people by helicopter.
Armenia is angry that the Russian peacekeepers, in place since a 44-day war in 2020, did nothing to prevent Azerbaijan from launching its offensive last week.
With Russia distracted by the war in Ukraine, the crisis has highlighted its waning ability to play the role of security guarantor in the Caucasus region, where Turkey, Iran and the United States are vying with it for influence.
Tens of thousands have been killed in wars over Karabakh since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, of which both Armenia and Azerbaijan were part.
The toll climbed further in last week’s fighting, in which Karabakh authorities said they lost at least 200 people.
Azerbaijan said on Wednesday that 192 of its soldiers had been killed, and published their names and photographs on the defence ministry website. More than 50 were young men in their teens.
(Writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Gareth Jones and Philippa Fletcher)
The post Azerbaijan arrests former top Karabakh official as Armenian exodus grows first appeared on The News And Times – thenewsandtimes.com.
“O grande desafio que a Geórgia enfrenta atualmente é a desocupação dos territórios ocupados pela Rússia. Os problemas com a Abcásia e a Ossétia só serão resolvidos por meios pacíficos”, escreveu o chefe do Governo georgiano nas redes sociais no 30.º aniversário da queda da capital da Abcásia, Sukhumi, para os separatistas.
Garibashvili, juntamente com membros do executivo e outras autoridades, depositou uma coroa de flores na chama eterna na Praça dos Heróis, no centro da capital.
“A 27 de setembro de 1993, um dos acontecimentos mais dramáticos da história recente da Geórgia chegou ao fim”, afirmou Garibashvili na mensagem à população, recordando a perda de Sukhumi.
O primeiro-ministro georgiano sublinhou que a derrota resultou numa “limpeza étnica, que transformou centenas de milhares de georgianos em refugiados”.
Em memória dos mortos, as bandeiras dos edifícios públicos da Geórgia foram hoje colocadas a meia haste.
O conflito armado entre a Geórgia e a Abcásia começou a 14 de agosto de 1992 e terminou a 27 de setembro do ano seguinte com a vitória dos separatistas apoiados por milhares de voluntários russos, provocando cerca de 12.000 mortos.
JSD // APN
Lusa/Fim
The post Geórgia pretende recuperar pacificamente territórios ocupados pela Rússia first appeared on The News And Times – thenewsandtimes.com.