Trump to host Armenia, Azerbaijan leaders for peace talks: Report
Armenia and Azerbaijan’s leaders met in the UAE last month, but no breakthrough in their decades-long conflict was reached. United States President Donald Trump will host the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan for peace talks at the White House, a US official said. The official told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday that there is a possibility a framework for a peace agreement could be announced at Friday’s meeting in Washington, DC. The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan met in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, for peace talks last month, but no breakthrough in the decades-old conflict was announced. [Al Jazeera] The two South Caucasus countries have been in conflict with each other since the late 1980s, when Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. The region, which was claimed by both Azerbaijan and Armenia after the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917, had a mostly ethnic Armenian population at the time. Azerbaijan recaptured Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023, prompting almost all of the territory’s 100,000 Armenians to flee to Armenia. Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of “erasing all traces” of the presence of ethnic Armenians in the contested territory, in a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The case stems from the 2020 war over Nagorno-Karabakh, which left more than 6,600 people dead, one of three full-scale wars that the two countries have fought over the region. The United Nations’s top court has ordered Azerbaijan to allow ethnic Armenians who fled Nagorno-Karabakh to return. Azerbaijan says it is committed to ensuring all residents’ safety and security, regardless of national or ethnic origin, and that it has not forced ethnic Armenians, who are mostly Christian, to leave the Karabakh region. Advertisement Azerbaijan, whose inhabitants are mostly Muslim, links its historical identity to the territory, too, and has accused the Armenians of driving out Azeris who lived near the region in the 1990s. The meeting in Abu Dhabi last month between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev came after the two countries finalised a draft peace deal in March. The two leaders “agreed to continue bilateral negotiations and confidence-building measures between the two countries”, but no more concrete steps were outlined in the final statement from the talks. Ceasefire violations along the heavily militarised 1,000km (620-mile) shared Armenia-Azerbaijan border surged soon after the draft deal was announced in March, but later diminished. Adblock test (Why?)
Uttarkashi cloudbursts: Flashfloods claim 4 lives, 8-10 soldiers missing, check key updates
Multiple cloudbursts in Uttarkashi led to massive destruction in Uttarakhand on Tuesday. With massive landslides, mudslides and flashfloods, the village of Dharali and Harsil Valley suffered nature’s wrath. At least four people were killed and many remain missing due to floods.
Mumbai to Ahmedabad in just 2 hours: BIG update on India’s 1st bullet train corridor, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw says…
India’s first bullet train will cover a distance of 508 kilometres between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Starting from the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai, it will connect key cities in Gujarat including Vapi, Surat, Anand, Vadodara, and Ahmedabad.
Did Donald Trump apply for residential certificate in Bihar? Another fake application emerges
The incident took place in Mohiuddinnagar zone, where an unidentified person submitted an online application using the US president’s photo and name. It is the latest in a series of fake residence certificate applications surfacing across Bihar in recent weeks. Read on for more details.
Texas AG can’t depose Catholic Charities leader in migrant aid case, appeals court rules
The three-judge panel agreed with a lower court that Ken Paxton’s office can’t question officials from Catholic Charities under oath without first filing a lawsuit.
Gov. Greg Abbott asks Texas Supreme Court to expel House Democratic leader who left state
Legal experts say it’s “inconsistent with the Texas Constitution” to argue that leaving the state to halt legislative action qualifies as abandoning an office.
Beto O’Rourke’s political group is a top funder for Texas Democrats’ exodus to block GOP congressional map
The former El Paso congressman also contributed to House Democrats’ 2021 quorum break. A PAC backed by Democratic donor George Soros is also involved in this year’s effort.
Federal appeals court sides with Texas on ID requirements for voting by mail
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the state’s voter ID requirements for mail-in ballots do not violate the Civil Rights Act.
TribCast: How long can Texas Democrats hold out?
In this week’s episode, Matthew and Eleanor speak with state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, about her and her colleagues’ decision to flee the state, the potential financial and criminal penalties and her opposition to the state’s proposed new congressional map.
Texas House committee discusses flood bills despite standstill
Only one Democrat taking part in the quorum break was absent from the panel as the group discussed five bills and the chair vowed their work would go on.