The symbolic Yerablur cemetery could be a grim catalog of the terrible price that this small country has had to pay in recent decades. The graves are lined up by decades: those from the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988-1994), those from

If you search on Google Maps, Klishchivka is just a town with a long street from which other smaller streets begin.. The buildings are, except for the school, the church and the town hall, single-family homes, owned by small farmers, which

Russia urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to stop the bloodshed in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, where Azerbaijan launched a massive artillery attack on Tuesday morning.

According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, the Russian Nagorno Karabakh peacekeeping troops were informed minutes before Baku began its operation.

Zakharova said Moscow is concerned about the escalation and that Moscow's peacekeepers in the region will continue their mission.

The Kremlin called for calm in the region and indicated that both Baku and Yerevan should sit down to negotiate to resolve the conflict.. Azerbaijan said it needed to restore constitutional order and expel Armenian military units from Nagorno-Karabakh, which is largely controlled by ethnic Armenians with support from Yerevan.. Armenia, Russia's formal ally, denies having forces in the area.

Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov said that the first thing “is to guarantee the safety of the civilian population of Karabakh.”. Peskov said the Russian military has been in contact with both sides, urging talks. Peskov added that the basis of the talks is the Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended a 2020 war in which Azerbaijan made significant progress: “We urge everyone to follow the provisions of these documents, naturally, taking into account “accounts for new realities, namely the fact that the Armenian side recognized the territory of Azerbaijan in 1991.”

Armenia has criticized Russian inaction. Peskov, however, asserted that the Russian army “is working to return the solution process to political and diplomatic channels.”.

Azerbaijan announced “anti-terrorist measures” in Nagorno-Karabakh and began shelling the territory of this unrecognized republic, including the capital Stepanakert. Baku claims that only military targets are bombed, but Russian media sources in Nagorno-Karabakh claim that the Azerbaijani army is “targeting villages” in the region.

Armenia's Foreign Ministry described Azerbaijan's actions as “large-scale aggression”. Yerevan called on the UN Security Council and Russian peacekeepers to take action to stop the fighting, but Russian soldiers have done nothing.

The assessment of the president of the jury, Vanessa Van Cartier, surprised and enthusiastic, was very clear: “You were born for this, baby”. The budding artist's response, equally heartfelt: “Yeah, baby”. Without a doubt, the natural talent was there. Sammy Mahdi had never worn high heels and could barely get up from the couch.. And in an instant and as if nothing had happened, he advanced on a set, swayed, turned with grace, elegance and a lot of rhythm from 20 centimeter platforms.. Ripping orange, ready to sweep. The image, visually extraordinary, would have nothing special if it were not for the fact that the candidate to win in Make up your mind, a program on the VTM network, is none other than the president of the CD&V party, the Flemish Christian Democratic party.

The show is an ingenious play on words, because in English it means make up your mind, but it also refers to makeup. The politician's transformation was incredible and the name chosen, Cindy Envy, was brilliant, because when read aloud it sounds almost exactly the same as the acronym of her political force.. Mahdi was charming, relaxed, loose, smiling. Perfectly integrated into the dynamic, taking advantage of his undeniable communication skills in front of the camera.

Flemish society, not the most progressive on the planet, has had some problems accepting its participation. They believe that it is not serious, that a politician should not lend himself to those things and that he ignores traditional values. But his response is blunt: “Drag queen shows are prohibited in Tennessee, in the United States.”. In Italy they are banned on television. We take many of the rights we enjoy in Belgium for granted, but we shouldn't.. We must continue the fight by all means, because today it could be drag shows and tomorrow maybe homosexual marriage. We have to continue fighting and if I can do it with 20 cm heels, I will do it with great pleasure,” she said to cheers when her identity was revealed.

Sammy Mahdi (34), son of a Flemish woman and an Iraqi man, has a degree in political science. He was responsible for the party's Youth and Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration. In June 2022, he won with 97% of the votes at the congress that his party held in an amusement park and changed his life.

The objective is to modernize and get closer to a younger voter. Polls forced the resignation of his predecessor. And in a chain they forced Mahdi to leave his position in the Government to focus on internal management. Many thought that strategically it was not the best. Flanders has been moving to the right, and polls place the far-right Vlaams Belang (whose predecessor was outlawed and which until recently suffered from a cordon sanitaire) in the lead. Migration is the big issue and the now winner of television contests was characterized in office by a tough policy.

Despite his origins, having suffered racism firsthand, from his exiled grandfather, Mahdi advocated restricting entries and harshly persecuting those who do not have the legal right to be in the country.. And he had his lowest moment when, in a famous hunger strike that almost brought down the Government, he promised to review the files of the plaintiffs, and then betray them.. Now he washes his image, but before rights were not a priority.

Iran and the United States achieved significant diplomatic progress a few hours ago after years of diplomatic tensions. Tehran freed five imprisoned Americans as part of an agreement with Washington, which involves the unlocking of 5.6 billion euros in Iranian funds and the release of five Iranian prisoners.

The pact was forged with the mediation of Qatar and its capital, Doha, has been chosen by both parties as a meeting point for the exchange.. Thus, this Monday four American men and one woman left Tehran on a chartered flight to Doha, where they were received by senior American officials, before finally returning to their country.

The five prisoners had dual Iranian-American nationality and were detained under different circumstances. Among them is oil executive Siamak Namazi, who has spent eight years in prison; the environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, who was accused of espionage while filming a documentary about endangered animals; o Emad Shargi, who worked in the venture capital sector. The identity of the other two detainees has not been revealed.. The United States insisted that the arrests had a political background.

US President Joe Biden celebrated that “five innocent Americans are finally returning home” after enduring “years of agony, uncertainty and suffering”. For its part, the United States released five Iranians detained on US soil. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani reported that two of the freed citizens will return to Iran, two others will remain in the United States and the fifth will join his family in a third country.

For his part, the president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, avoided commenting on the pact with Washington and simply described the release of the detainees as “a purely humanitarian action.”. “It certainly can be a step from which other humanitarian actions can be taken in the future,” he hinted to journalists in New York, where he will attend the UN General Assembly.

The agreement comes after months of indirect talks mediated by Qatar, which began in February last year. There were signs this summer that the talks may have made some progress, with the transfer of American prisoners from a jail to a safe house in Tehran. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said that the release of prisoners is “one of the important issues” raised in these negotiations, without giving further details of what other issues they would be dealing with.. While reviving the 2015 nuclear deal – which broke down under the administration of former US President Donald Trump – is not on the table, analysts speculate that Washington would be pressuring Tehran to limit uranium enrichment.

This Monday the United States also ordered the unblocking of some 5.6 billion euros of Iranian funds blocked in South Korea, which reached five Iranian accounts in Doha.. These funds were blocked after the sanctions that the United States imposed on Iran in 2018.. The assets are proceeds from frozen Iranian oil sales that Tehran had previously not spent for various reasons, including currency conversion difficulties, the BBC noted.. Iranian President Raisi assured that the funds “belong to the Iranian people” and that Iran will decide “what to do with this money”, however the current pact to unblock funds urges Tehran to use the money exclusively for humanitarian aid.. Qatar is expected to monitor the use of these funds.