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☆ Driver may have fallen ill before fatal Venice bus crash
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( Claudia Greco | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] Flowers are seen at the site where a coach crashed off an overpass in Mestre, Italy, October 4, 2023. Five Ukrainians, a German and the Italian bus driver were among those killed, Venice's prefect Michele Di Bari, the local representative of the interior ministry, said on Wednesday. "We presume the driver may have fallen ill," Veneto regional president Luca Zaia told Rtl 102.5 radio. The bus had been ferrying the tourists back to a campsite in nearby Marghera after a day out in Venice. "I think the driver had an illness, because otherwise I can't explain it," Fiorese said, adding that the driver had started his shift less than two hours before the crash.

Persons: Claudia Greco, Michele Di Bari, Luca Zaia, Di Bari, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Corriere, Massimo Fiorese, Corriere della Sera, Fiorese, Alvise Armellini, Keith Weir, Bernadette Baum, Gavin Jones, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Rtl, Corriere della Sera, Thomson Locations: Mestre, Italy, Venice Italian, VENICE, Venice, Veneto, Croatian, Marghera, Nigeria

☆ Contested statues must stay but with explanations, says Britain
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( Estelle Shirbon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Then prime minister Boris Johnson and other ministers denounced this as censorship of history while activists and some public figures said the glorification of such figures in public spaces had to end. The culture ministry's new guidance said custodians of contested statues and monuments should comply with the government's policy to "retain and explain". The guidance, which applies to structures in public spaces but not inside museums, said explanations could include alternative media and creative approaches, not just texts. The Conservatives say they are fighting a far-left agenda that seeks to denigrate Britain and its history. The controversies echoed debates in other countries, notably the United States where historic statues honouring leaders of Confederate States from the Civil War era have also been contested and removed.

Persons: Cecil Rhodes, George Floyd, Eddie Keogh, Boris Johnson, Lucy Frazer, Edward Colston, Robert Milligan, Estelle Shirbon, Gareth Jones Organizations: Oriel College, REUTERS, Conservative, Labour Party, Conservatives, Thomson Locations: Minneapolis, Oxford, Britain, Bristol, stoke, London, United States, Confederate

Janet Yellen, United States Secretary of Treasury, participates in global infrastructure and investment forum in New York, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. Seth Wenig/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Oct 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Tuesday she was very optimistic about the outlook for the U.S. economy, adding that inflation was coming down in the short term and the labor market was "extremely strong." Short term: inflation is coming down in the context of an extremely strong labor market," Yellen said at a Fortune CEO event on Tuesday. The treasury secretary added she was pleased that Congress passed a deal over the weekend that averted a government shutdown. Yellen also said the United States had an over-dependence on China in some key areas.

Persons: Janet Yellen, Seth Wenig, Yellen, Joe Biden, David Lawder, Kanishka Singh, Jonathan Oatis, Gareth Jones, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Treasury, Rights, . Treasury, Federal, Thomson Locations: United States, New York, U.S, China, Washington

Japanese yen and U.S. dollar banknotes are seen with a currency exchange rate graph in this illustration picture taken June 16, 2022. Traders have been on watch for weeks for a possible intervention by Japanese officials to combat a sustained depreciation in the yen. "It could just be people expecting intervention and then reacting to what they believed to be intervention," said Asher. To support the Japanese currency, authorities need to tap Japan's foreign reserves of dollars to sell for yen. A senior Japanese ministry of finance official declined to comment on whether Japan had intervened in foreign exchange markets.

Persons: Florence Lo, Michael Brown, Brown, Colin Asher, Asher, Niels Christensen, Jeremy Stretch, Edward Moya, Stretch, Tuesday's, Chuck Mikolajczak, Samuel Indyk, Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Gertrude Chavez, Dreyfuss, Dhara Ranasinghe, Lucy Raitano, Ira Iosebashvili, Megan Davies, Jonathan Oatis, Andrea Ricci, Hugh Lawson, Gareth Jones Organizations: U.S, REUTERS, Trader, Mizuho, Nordea, Bank of Japan, New York Federal Reserve, CIBC Capital Markets, Ministry, Finance, Seven, Japan, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, London, Copenhagen, Japan, U.S, Tokyo, Asia, New York, United States

President Vladimir Putin, who rules the world's biggest nuclear power, has repeatedly cautioned the West that any attack on Russia could provoke a nuclear response. The Soviet Union's last nuclear test took place in 1990. The United States' last nuclear test took place in 1992 and France and China conducted their last nuclear tests in 1996, according to the United Nations. Simonyan said the Ukraine crisis was moving towards a nuclear ultimatum and that the West would not stop until Russia sent a nuclear message. He also cautioned that if the United States returned to nuclear testing, then Russia would resume too.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Margarita Simonyan, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Simonyan, Putin, Russia's, Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey, Nick Macfie, Gareth Jones Organizations: Donetsk, Kremlin, New York Times, Soviet, United, United Nations, RT, Soviet Union, Washington, Thomson Locations: Russian, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Siberia Kremlin, MOSCOW, Russia, Moscow, Siberia, United States, France, China, Ukraine, Alamogordo , New Mexico, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Soviet, Ban, Soviet Union

☆ Ukraine troops advance on southern front - general
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

"In the Tavria sector, there has been an advance by the defence forces," General Oleksander Tarnavskyi said in a post on Telegram, using the military's name for the southern front. Tarnavskyi, head of the southern group of forces, said troops had conducted 1,198 assignments in the past 24 hours, with Russian forces sustaining losses of 261 men and a further 10 being taken prisoner. The General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces, in its evening report, said offensive operations were proceeding in the east and south, with little elaboration. It reported Russian air strikes in southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, the focus of the drive south to the Sea of Azov. Military analysts have spoken in the past week of Ukrainian forces consolidating positions around the village of Verbove on their southward drive.

Persons: Oleksander Tarnavskyi, Ron Popeski, Gareth Jones Organizations: Russian, General Staff, Ukrainian, Military, Thomson Locations: Ukrainian, Zaporizhzhia, Azov, Donetsk, Kyiv, Maryinka, Verbove, Bakhmut

Fleeing shoppers were ushered by security guards from the mall into torrential rain and towards a road with heavy traffic. We saw all the people run, run, run, we didn't understand what was happening," said 26-year-old Shir Yahav from Israel, who was at a designer store at the time of the shooting. [1/6]People flee following shots fired at the luxury Siam Paragon shopping mall, in Bangkok, Thailand, October 3, 2023. The mall said it had evacuated shoppers and staff immediately, stressing safety was of the utmost importance. "Siam Paragon would like to express our deep apologies for the unexpected event," it said in a statement, adding the mall would reopen on Wednesday.

Persons: Torsak Sukvimol, Torsak, Yahav, Devjyot, handcuffing, Panu, Pasit, Napat, Artorn, Athit, Kanupriya Kapoor, Martin Petty, Gareth Jones Organizations: Siam, Police, Thai, Siam Paragon, National, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Myanmar, BANGKOK, Bangkok, China, Israel, Thailand, Siam, Nakhon Ratchasima, Instagram, Sun

☆ US, Asked About Sikh Separatist Groups, Says It Respects Free Speech
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Oct. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

The Indian government has complained about the presence of Sikh separatist groups outside India, especially in Canada. The groups have kept alive the movement for Khalistan, or the demand for an independent Sikh state to be carved out of India. One such group called Sikhs for Justice is based in the United States and has been organizing an unofficial so-called "Khalistan Referendum". The demand for an independent Sikh state surfaced most prominently in India during a violent insurgency in the 1980s and 1990s and paralyzed the state of Punjab. Canada last month alleged that India may have been involved in the killing of Canadian citizen and Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whom New Delhi labeled as a "terrorist".

Persons: Simon Lewis, Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON, we're, Indira Gandhi, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Kanishka Singh, Gareth Jones Organizations: State Department, Justice, U.S . State Department, Air, Air India Boeing Locations: United States, India, Canada, U.S, Punjab, Air India, New Delhi, Washington

☆ Four Karabakh leaders held in Azerbaijan, three more reach Armenia - agencies
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

However, three other former leaders of Karabakh have arrived safely in Armenia, the Armenian state news agency Armenpress quoted one of the three as saying. Almost all the 120,000 or so inhabitants of Karabakh have since fled to Armenia, fearing for their safety. However, former state minister Artur Arutyunyan, ex-interior minister Karen Sarkisyan and the former head of Karabakh's security service, Ararat Melkunyan, all entered Armenia on Tuesday, Artur Arutyunyan said, according to Armenpress. Karabakh is viewed internationally as part of Azerbaijan but had been run as a breakaway ethnic Armenian statelet since the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Alison Williams and Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Aziz Karimov, Armenpress, Ruben Vardanyan, Levon Mnatsakanyan, Arkady Gukasyan, Bako, Araik, David Ishkhanyan, Artur Arutyunyan, Karen Sarkisyan, Kevin Liffey, Alison Williams, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Azerbaijan's State Security Service, Press Agency, Soviet Union, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Stepanakert, Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan's, Baku, Armenia, Ararat Melkunyan, Armenpress, Soviet

☆ Armenia to accept International Court's remit, vexing Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The entrance of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is seen in The Hague March 3, 2011. A spokeswoman for the Yerevan parliament said 60 deputies had voted to ratify the Rome Statute of the ICC and 22 had voted against. "We would not want the president to have to refuse visits to Armenia for some reason," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday. Armenia says it had discussed its ICC plans with Russia, after Moscow warned in March of "serious consequences". Yerevan has said its move addresses what it says are war crimes committed by Azerbaijan in a long-running conflict with Armenia, although ICC jurisdiction will not be retroactive.

Persons: Jerry Lampen, Putin, Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Nikol Pashinyan, Peskov, Pashinyan, Aysor.am, Vahan Kerobyan, Kevin Liffey, Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones Organizations: Criminal Court, REUTERS, Armenia, Armenia Bilateral, ICC, Kremlin, Collective Security, Organisation, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Hague, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine Russia, The Hague, vexing Russia, Moscow, Yerevan, Rome, Ukraine, Nagorno, Karabakh, Russia, Russian

Persons: Erin Scott, we're, Indira Gandhi, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Simon Lewis, Kanishka Singh, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, State Department, Justice, U.S . State Department, Air, Air India Boeing, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, United States, India, Canada, U.S, Punjab, Air India, New Delhi, Washington

☆ Billions in frozen funds for Hungary on table as EU seeks Ukraine support
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"I can't imagine Hungary agreeing without there first being a solution to the blocked funds," said the official. A second EU official confirmed there was a link between releasing funds to Hungary and EU plans requiring unanimity, including in the enlargement and budget talks. The Commission needs Hungary to lift its vetoes on a number of issues in return," said an EU diplomat. For Ukraine, which applied to join the EU just days after Russia's invasion in February 2022, the West's support is existential and EU membership is a major national goal. Speaking to the Hungarian parliament last week, he drew a line between supporting Ukraine and unlocking EU funds.

Persons: Viktor Orban, Orban, Gabriela Baczynska, Jan Strupczewski, Andrew Gray, Gareth Jones Organizations: Budapest, Ukraine, Hungary BRUSSELS, European, Kyiv, EU, Reuters, Financial, European Union, Thomson Locations: Hungary, Ukraine, Brussels, EU, European Union, Russia, Budapest, Krisztina

A nurse fills a syringe with malaria vaccine before administering it to an infant at the Lumumba Sub-County hospital in Kisumu, Kenya, July 1, 2022. REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsGENEVA, Oct 2 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended on Monday the use of a second malaria vaccine to curb the life-threatening disease spread to humans by some mosquitoes. recommended the broad use of the world's first malaria vaccine called RTS,S," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing in Geneva. "Today, it gives me great pleasure to announce that WHO is recommending a second vaccine called R21/Matrix-M to prevent malaria in children at risk of the disease." "GSK has always recognised the need for a second malaria vaccine, but it is increasingly evident that RTS,S, the first ever malaria vaccine and the first ever vaccine against a human parasite, set a strong benchmark," GSK said in a statement.

Persons: Baz Ratner, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Tedros, Poonawalla, Takeda, Hanna Nohynek, Gabrielle Tétrault, Farber, Leroy Leo, Gareth Jones, Mark Potter Organizations: Lumumba, REUTERS, Rights, World Health Organization, WHO, Britain's University of Oxford, UNICEF, Serum Institute of India, Reuters, GSK plc, United Nations, GSK, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Thomson Locations: Kisumu, Kenya, Geneva, Ghana, Malawi, Bengaluru

☆ Ankara blast echoes past attacks in Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Members of Turkish Police Special Forces secure the area near the Interior Ministry following a bomb attack in Ankara, Turkey October 1, 2023. Turkey blamed Kurdish militants for the Istanbul blast, which reminded Turks of a wave of attacks carried out by various militant groups in Turkish cities between mid-2015 and early 2017. June 28, 2016 - A triple suicide bombing and a gun attack killed 45 people and wounded more than 160 people at Istanbul's main airport. March 19, 2016 - A suicide bomber killed four people in a busy shopping district of Istiklal Street in the heart of Istanbul. Sept 8, 2015 - Kurdish militants killed 15 police officers in two bombings in eastern Turkish provinces of Mardin and Igdir.

Persons: Cagla, Tayyip Erdogan, Azra Ceylan, Canan, Gareth Jones, William Maclean Organizations: Turkish Police Special Forces, Ministry, REUTERS, Authorities, Kurdistan Workers Party, Islamic State, Kurdistan Freedom Hawks, Islamic, Explosives, Thomson Locations: Ankara, Turkey, Istanbul, Turkish, Izmir, Kayseri, Turkey's, Gaziantep, Islamic State, Istanbul's, Diyarbakir, Istiklal, Iranian, Mardin, Igdir, Suruc, Syrian, Gdansk

☆ Russia's Putin signs decree on autumn military conscription
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a concert dedicated to the 100th birth anniversary of Soviet and Russian poet Rasul Gamzatov at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, September 28, 2023. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS/ File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 29 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree setting out the routine autumn conscription campaign, calling up 130,000 citizens for statutory military service, a document posted on the government website showed on Friday. All men in Russia are required to do a year-long military service between the ages of 18 and 27, or equivalent training while in higher education. Putin's move comes as Russia's armed forces press on with their "special military operation" in Ukraine, now in its 20th month. The West says it wants to help Ukraine defeat Russia - an aim Kremlin officials say is an unrealistic pipedream.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Rasul Gamzatov, Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Putin's, Maxim Rodionov, Gareth Jones Organizations: Sputnik, Thomson Locations: Russian, Moscow, Russia, Ukraine

☆ Russia's Putin Signs Decree on Autumn Military Conscription
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

(Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree setting out the routine autumn conscription campaign, calling up 130,000 citizens for statutory military service, a document posted on the government website showed on Friday. All men in Russia are required to do a year-long military service between the ages of 18 and 27, or equivalent training while in higher education. Putin's move comes as Russia's armed forces press on with their "special military operation" in Ukraine, now in its 20th month. In July Russia's lower house of parliament voted to raise the maximum age at which men can be conscripted to 30 from 27. The West says it wants to help Ukraine defeat Russia - an aim Kremlin officials say is an unrealistic pipedream.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin's, Maxim Rodionov, Gareth Jones Organizations: Reuters Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Russian

Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh region ride in a truck upon their arrival at the border village of Kornidzor, Armenia, September 27, 2023. Earlier, Ethnic Armenian authorities in Karabakh said they were dissolving the breakaway statelet they had defended against Azerbaijan for three decades. Many of those leaving have said they fear persecution and ethnic cleansing at the hands of Azerbaijan. Suleymanov, who issued a call on social media appealing to ethnic Armenians to stay and be part of a multi-ethnic Azerbaijan, said he understood why many civilians were frightened, but that those who chose to stay would benefit from planned rebuilding and infrastructure projects. HISTORIC MONUMENTSKarabakh Armenians will enjoy the same rights and protections as other citizens of Azerbaijan, he said.

Persons: Irakli, there's, Elin Suleymanov, Suleymanov, we're, Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Azerbaijan, Reuters, Baku, Thomson Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Kornidzor, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Britain, Baku, Nakhchivan, Iran, Turkey

☆ Armenians in Russia Return Home to Help Karabakh Refugees
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Sept. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Felix LightKORNIDZOR, Armenia (Reuters) - When Azerbaijan overran the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, David Harapetyan drove 1,000 km (620 miles) from his home in the Russian city of Stavropol to this Armenian border village to help fleeing Karabakh Armenians. I came to help my people however I can," said Harapetyan, who was born in this southern corner of Armenia but holds only Russian citizenship. Armenia’s government said on Wednesday that more than 50,000 Karabakh refugees so far had crossed the border, out of a total estimated Karabakh Armenian population of 120,000. The sudden influx has strained resources in Goris, the border town where Armenian authorities have booked out hotels for refugees with nowhere to go. Harapetyan said he and a group of 10 Stavropol Armenians he had arrived with were helping new arrivals with accommodation.

Persons: Felix Light KORNIDZOR, David Harapetyan, Harapetyan, Karen Martirosyan’s KAMAZ, Karabakh’s, Gareth Jones, William Maclean Organizations: Stavropol Armenians Locations: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Russian, Stavropol, Russia, United States, France, Goris, Badara, Stepanakert

☆ Kremlin reminds Hillary Clinton of her own gaffe in response to Putin jab
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers remarks during the unveiling of her portrait, at the State Department in Washington, U.S., September 26, 2023. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/ File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Sept 27 (Reuters) - After Hillary Clinton sought to needle President Vladimir Putin over NATO enlargement, the Kremlin on Wednesday hit back by reminding her of her gaffe when she sought to "reset" relations with Russia with a button mislabelled as "overload". Returning to the State Department for the unveiling of her official portrait, Clinton said of NATO enlargement: "Too bad, Vladimir. "It is probably necessary to remind Mrs Clinton of the numerous waves of NATO expansion and the approach of the alliance's military infrastructure to our borders," Peskov said. Putin's actions spurred Finland, which shares a long border with Russia, to join NATO.

Persons: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Ken Cedeno, Hillary Clinton, Vladimir Putin, Clinton, Vladimir, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Sergei Lavrov, Mrs Clinton, Putin, Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones Organizations: U.S, State Department, REUTERS, Rights, NATO, Union, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Russia, States, Soviet Union, Soviet, Warsaw, Ukraine, Crimea, Finland, Sweden

☆ U.S. astronaut Rubio and two Russian cosmonauts land in Kazakhstan
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] A view shows the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft (L) carrying Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, who get prepared to leave the International Space Station and head for a parachute-assisted landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan, September 27, 2023. "The crew have returned to earth after a year on the ISS," Russia's Roscosmos, Russia's space corporation, said after the landing on time at 1117 GMT. Rubio, who is 47 and on his first space voyage, travelled back to Earth with Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev, 48, and Dmitry Petelin, 40. That gave the two Russians and Rubio an unexpectedly extended mission of 371 days in orbit. On Sept. 11, Rubio surpassed the previous NASA record of 355 consecutive days in space set by now-retired U.S. astronaut Mark Vande Hei.

Persons: Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin, Frank Rubio, Konstantin, Rubio, he's, Prokopyev, Mark Vande Hei, Russia's Valeri Polyakov, Polyakov, Roscosmos, Guy Faulconbridge, Steve Gorman, Mark Trevelyan, Gareth Jones Organizations: NASA, Space Station, U.S, Space, Soyuz, Army, Blackhawk, Thomson Locations: Kazakhstan, ALMATY, Zhezqazghan, Moscow, Los Angeles, Miami, U.S, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq

☆ Azerbaijan arrests former top Karabakh minister as exodus tops 50,000
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

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. Karabakh authorities said more than 50,000 had left so far, out of an estimated ethnic Armenian population of 120,000. Azerbaijan rejects Armenian accusations of ethnic cleansing, but images of tens of thousands of desperate people on the move have provoked widespread international alarm. Germany added its voice to U.S. calls for Azerbaijan to allow international observers into Karabakh. Karabakh authorities said they lost at least 200 people in Azerbaijan's offensive last week.

Persons: Ruben Vardanyan, Veronika Zonabend, Morris Tidball, Binz, Annalena Baerbock, Matthew Miller, Washington, Irakli, Ilham Aliyev, Zonabend, Miller, Vera Petrosyan, Daphne Psaledakis, Mark Trevelyan, Gareth Jones, Philippa Fletcher, Alison Williams Organizations: Twitter, U.S . State Department, REUTERS, Reuters, Local, Russian, Russia, State, Washington, Thomson Locations: Azerbaijan Karabakh, Germany, GORIS, Armenia, Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Baku, Soviet Union, Kornidzor, Russia, Ukraine, Caucasus, Turkey, Iran, United States, Washington

☆ Armenian priest fears for Karabakh's Christian heritage amid mass exodus
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Azerbaijan launched a lightning offensive last week to retake the whole region, prompting a mass Armenian exodus. More than 50,000 people had crossed the border into Armenia by early Wednesday afternoon, nearly half of Karabakh's estimated 120,000 ethnic Armenians. Prior to last week's offensive, the Karabakh Armenians had lived under an effective 10-month Azerbaijani blockade which had led to chronic shortages of food, fuel and medicines. ANCIENT CHRISTIAN LANDConflict in the region between Armenians and Azeris goes back more than a century. There are churches in Azerbaijan which the authorities say are Caucasian Albanian rather than Armenians, something Armenians strongly dispute.

Persons: David, Irakli, Priest, Father David, Gareth Jones, William Maclean Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Christianity, Thomson Locations: Goris, Nagorno, Karabakh, Kornidzor, Armenia, KORNIDZOR, Azerbaijan, Republic of Artsakh, Soviet Union, Baku, Shusha, Moscow, Russian, Armenia's, Albania, Albanian, Turkey, Iran, Ottoman Turks

☆ Russian Black Sea Commander Shown on Video Call After Ukraine Said It Killed Him
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Admiral Viktor Sokolov, the commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, was shown on Russian state television on Tuesday attending a defence leaders' meeting remotely, a day after Ukrainian special forces said they had killed him. In response to the Russian video, the Ukraine special forces said on Telegram: "Since the Russians were urgently forced to publish a response with Sokolov allegedly alive, our units are clarifying the information." Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, interviewed by CNN, neither confirmed nor denied Sokolov's death, but said his demise could only be a good thing for all concerned. In the video, Shoigu said more than 17,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in September and that more than 2,700 weapons, including seven American Bradley fighting vehicles, had been destroyed. Kyiv's counteroffensive has yet to seize much territory from Russian forces, which control about 17.5% of Ukraine's internationally recognised territory.

Persons: Viktor Sokolov, Sokolov, Sergei Shoigu, Dmitry Peskov, Rustem Umerov, Umerov, Shoigu, Bradley, Guy Faulconbridge, Mark Trevelyan, Gareth Jones, Alex Richardson, Ron Popeski, Timothy Gardner Organizations: Fleet, Ukrainian Defence, CNN, Reuters, Ukrainian, Belfer, Harvard's Kennedy School Locations: MOSCOW, Sevastopol, Crimea, Ukraine, Ukrainian, United States, Russian, Russia

☆ Russian Black Sea commander shown working after Ukraine said it killed him
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Viktor Sokolov, the commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet and one of Russia's most senior navy officers, was shown on Tuesday attending a video conference, a day after Ukrainian special forces said they had killed him. In video and photographs released by the Russian defence ministry, Sokolov was shown apparently taking part in a video conference with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and other top admirals and army chiefs. The video was shown on Russian state television. Ukraine's counter-offensive has yet to yield significant territorial gains against Russian forces, which control about 17.5% of the internationally recognised territory of Ukraine. According to a Sept. 19 scorecard by the Belfer Center at Harvard's Kennedy School, Russia has gained 35 square miles of territory from Ukraine in the past month while Ukrainian forces have taken 16 square miles from Russian forces.

Persons: Sergei Shoigu, Viktor Sokolov, Sokolov, Dmitry Peskov, Shoigu, Bradley, Ukraine's, Guy Faulconbridge, Mark Trevelyan, Gareth Jones Organizations: Russian Defence, Armed Forces, Russian Defence Ministry, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Fleet, Defence, Russian, Belfer, Harvard's Kennedy School, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Moscow's, Crimea, Sevastopol, Ukrainian, United States, Ukraine

☆ Kremlin says U.S. Abrams tanks, ATACMS missiles for Ukraine can't change battlefield situation
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Cezary Aszkielowicz/ Agencja Wyborcza.pl via REUTERS/ File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Sept 26 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday that U.S. supplies of long-range ATACMS missiles and Abrams tanks to Ukraine would not change the situation on the battlefield. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that U.S.-made Abrams tanks had arrived in his country. The jet-powered tanks were a top demand of Kyiv until Washington finally offered more than 30 of them in January. "Abrams tanks are serious weapons, but remember what the president said about other tanks made in another country," Peskov said, referring to other Western tanks supplied to Kyiv, which include German-made Leopards and British Challengers. Last Friday, NBC News, citing U.S. officials, reported that President Joe Biden had informed Zelenskiy that Washington would also provide Kyiv with ATACMS long-range missiles.

Persons: Cezary, Wyborcza.pl, Dmitry Peskov, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Abrams, Peskov, Biden, Joe Biden, Zelenskiy, ATACMS, Gareth Jones Organizations: Abrams, REUTERS, Rights, Leopards, Kyiv, Army Tactical Missile Systems, NBC, U.S, Pentagon, Thomson Locations: U.S, Szczecin, Poland, Ukraine, Russian, Moscow, Kyiv, Washington, British

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