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Thousands of ethnic Armenians fled Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday in lines of cars which stretched for kilometres, after Azerbaijan took control of the breakaway region sparking fears of persecution. Desperate residents of the main city sent videos showing families stocking up vehicles and sitting in long tailbacks which have brought the mountainous road to Armenia to a complete standstill. They told The Independent people chose to leave fearing abuse at the hands of the Azerbaijani authorities and a burgeoning humanitarian crisis as food, fuel, gas and electricity were increasingly scarce following a 10-month blockade. The Azerbaijani military routed Armenian forces in a 24-hour blitz last week, forcing the authorities of the breakaway region to agree to lay down weapons. They also agreed to start talks on the “reintegration” of Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Artsakh, into Azerbaijan, after three decades of separatist rule. Azerbaijan has pledged to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians and to restore the supply routes they cut in December. But Artak Beglaryan, a former adviser to the self-declared government of Artsakh, told The Independent that people fear reprisals and ethnic cleansing and so “almost all the villages” and large parts of main city Stepanakert, which Azerbaijan calls Khankendi, “are emptying”. The leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh said in total nearly 7,000 people fled to Armenia on Monday alone. “They are fleeing because of the genocidal policy of Azerbaijan, the blockade, their aggression, and the failure of Russian peacekeepers to guarantee protection,” Mr Beglaryan added with desperation. “It is impossible to live under Azerbaijani subjugation. The Azerbaijani state and society is full of hatred of Armenians. “The international community is just looking at this and saying sorry. Nothing else is being done. We are frustrated with everyone. We are frustrated with humanity.” Siranush Sargsyan, a freelance Armenian journalist who also spoke to The Independent from Stepanakert, sent videos of lines of vehicles trying to escape. “I have never seen so many cars together, people are scared the roads will close and they won’t be able to leave so they are going now. And the other problem is food, it is hard to try to find to find something to eat,” she said. “Nobody wants to leave, we just want to have a life. If we know that we are protected we would stay but who is going to give us that guarantee?” She said the ethnic Armenians had suffered 10 months of “psychological terror” and starvation, because of Azerbaijan’s effective siege. Breaking down into tears, she accused the international community had prioritised their own economic interests over the lives of ethnic Armenians. “The whole world was silent because our lives were not as important as Azerbaijani gas. The world exchanged our lives for gas.” The world exchanged our lives for gas Siranush Sargsyan, a freelance Armenian journalist Both sides have been locked in a bloody battle over the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. It is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan – which is backed by Turkey – but home to 120,000 ethnic Armenians who have enjoyed de facto independence since then. In 2020, a six-week war erupted during which nearly 7,000 people were killed Azerbaijan reclaimed swathes of region. Russia, historically a close ally of Armenia, brokered a truce and dispatched 2,000 peacekeepers. But in recent months Moscow has taken a step back since building stronger ties with Azerbaijan and Turkey after suffering crippling sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. And so on Tuesday, the Russian-agreed true was broken by the Azerbaijan army who launched a 24-hour string of lightning strikes against the severely outnumbered and outgunned breakaway forces. The area had been struggling with a humanitarian crisis due to Azerbaijan’s blockade of the “Lachin Corridor” - the road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia - piling on further pressure. Now thousands are on the move. Moscow said that Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh were assisting the evacuation. A second round of meetings between Azerbaijani officials and separatist representatives began in Khojaly on Tuesday after the opening meeting last week. The international community has been quick to urge Baku to protect the ethnic Armenians. On Monday, the German government said Azerbaijani had a responsibility to protect rights. The day before, French president Emmanuel Macron pledged support for Armenia and Armenians, saying that France will mobilise food and medical aid for the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, and keep working toward a ‘’sustainable peace” in the region. Meanwhile, the head of the US Agency for International Development, Samantha Power, visited Armenia Monday to “affirm US support for Armenia’s sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and democracy and to help address humanitarian needs stemming from the recent violence in Nagorno-Karabakh.” She was joined by US Department of State acting assistant secretary for Europe and Eurasian affairs Yuri Kim. “The United States is deeply concerned about reports on the humanitarian conditions in Nagorno-Karabakh and calls for unimpeded access for international humanitarian organizations and commercial traffic,” USAID said. In an address to the nation Sunday, Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan said his government was working with international partners to protect the rights and security of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Mr Pashinyhan has faced growing calls for his resignation over what demonstrators have said is his failure to protect Armenians in Nagorno Karabkh. Read More What is Nakhchivan? And after Nagorno-Karabakh, is this the next crisis for Azerbaijan and Armenia Thousands of Armenians flee Nagorno-Karabakh as Turkish president is set to visit Azerbaijan First refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh arrive in Armenia following Azerbaijan's military offensive What is Nakhchivan? And after Nagorno-Karabakh, is this the next crisis for Azerbaijan and Armenia First refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh arrive in Armenia following Azerbaijan's military offensive Aid shipments and evacuations as Azerbaijan reasserts control over breakaway province Azerbaijan send in food supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh after warning of humanitarian catastrophe Azerbaijan send in food supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh after warning of humanitarian catastrophe Stones thrown as Armenian protesters clash with police after ceasefire

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The unraveling of Hunter Biden's plea agreement has thrust his criminal case into uncertain waters and given new fodder to Republican critics in Congress as they push ahead with investigations into the president's youngest son. Biden was supposed to plead guilty Wednesday to misdemeanor charges for failing to pay taxes. But U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika in Delaware put the brakes on the guilty plea after raising concerns during an hourslong hearing about the structure and terms of the agreement and another deal that would allow him to avoid prosecution on a gun charge if he meets certain conditions. Plea deals are carefully negotiated between defense lawyers and prosecutors over the course of weeks or months and it's unusual — especially in high-profile cases — for judges to not sign off on them. But Wednesday's hearing revealed that the two sides apparently did not see eye to eye on the scope of the agreement around a non-prosecution clause for crimes outside of the gun charge. A look at what happens now in the criminal case and what's next for the Biden investigations in Congress: WHAT HAPPENS NOW IN COURT? Noreika — an appointee of former President Donald Trump — told both sides to file written briefs addressing her concerns within 30 days. Among other things, Noreika took issue with a provision in the agreement on the gun charge that she said would have created a role for her where she would determine if he violated the terms. The lawyers said they wanted her to serve as a neutral fact finder in determining if a violation happened, but Noreika said that is the Justice Department's job — not the judge's. Hunter Biden's lawyers and the Justice Department also disagreed on the extent to which the agreement gave him immunity from future prosecution. A prosecutor said Wednesday their investigation was ongoing, and that the agreement protecting him from other potential charges was limited only to certain offenses over a certain time frame. Biden's lawyers said it was broader than that. After intense courtroom negotiations, the two sides appeared to agree to a more narrow non-prosecution clause. Biden's lawyers and prosecutors will now continue negotiations to see if they can salvage the agreement in a way that satisfies the judge. "They are going to have to go back and figure out how they can come to an agreement terms of the plea and they have to come to a meeting of the minds, which is clear they don't have here," said Jessica Tillipman, associate dean for government procurement law studies at George Washington University Law School. "So I think what you'll see is a renewed effort — or it's just going to collapse." The judge may ultimately accept the deal that was proposed or reject it. If the deal totally falls apart, Biden could eventually face a trial. WILL HE AVOID JAIL TIME? Even if the judge ultimately accepts the plea agreement, she will have the final say on whether he serves any time behind bars. Prosecutors have said that they will recommend probation, but the judge can decide not to follow that. The two tax charges carry up to a year in prison. And the judge suggested on Wednesday that it was too soon to say whether she's willing to sign off on probation. “I can’t predict for you today whether that is an appropriate sentence or not,” Noreika said. “I can’t say that I will accept the sentence recommendation or whether a different sentence would be more appropriate.” WHAT'S GOING ON IN CONGRESS? The collapse of the younger Biden’s plea deal Wednesday came as joyful news to House Republicans vying to connect him and his questionable business dealings to his father. Republicans had already slammed the agreement as a “sweetheart deal." “The judge did the obvious thing, they put a pause on the plea deal, so I think that was progress,” Rep. James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said Wednesday. “I think it adds credibility to what we’re doing.” He added that this will only propel their investigation to get answers “as to what the family did, and what level of involvement the president had.” Comer has been investigating Hunter Biden’s financial ties and transactions since gaining the gavel in January. The Kentucky lawmaker has obtained thousands of pages of financial records from various members of the Biden family through subpoenas to the Treasury Department and various financial institutions. Last month, shortly after Hunter Biden reached an agreement with the government, Comer joined forces with two chairmen of powerful committees to launch a larger investigation into claims by two IRS agents who claimed the Justice Department improperly interfered in the yearslong case. IRS supervisory special agent Greg Shapley and a second agent, Joe Ziegler, testified before Congress last week that there was a pattern of “slow-walking investigative steps” into Hunter Biden, including during the Trump administration in the months before the 2020 election that Joe Biden won. One of the most detailed claims was that U.S. Attorney David Weiss in Delaware, the federal prosecutor who led the investigation, asked for special counsel status in order to bring the tax cases against Hunter Biden in jurisdictions outside Delaware, including the District of Columbia and California, but was denied. Weiss and the Justice Department have denied that, saying he had “full authority” and never sought to bring charges in other states. Despite the denials, Republicans are moving forward with their probes, asking Weiss to come in and testify about the case directly. The Justice Department has offered to have the prosecutor come before lawmakers after the August recess. ____ Richer reported from Boston. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide White House attacks McCarthy’s impeachment gambit as ‘ridiculous, baseless stunt’ Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to two tax charges after chaos around deal Hunter Biden’s plea deal appears at risk of falling apart. What happens next?

A decade after hundreds of Egyptians were killed in a single day when security forces dispersed a sit-in protest in Cairo, a new report released by a human rights group to coincide with the anniversary of the massacre has claimed that authorities debated but ultimately rejected potentially less lethal options to break up the demonstration.

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The White House said on Monday it wasn’t behind a Defense Department decision to cancel drag events at US military bases. Late last week, DoD announced that drag events, which have been performed at US military installations for decades, wouldn’t continue because they aren’t a “suitable use” of military resources. The Pentagon said in a statement that “certain criteria must be met for persons or organizations acting in nonfederal capacity.” Biden administration press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday at a press conference that the White House supports LGBTQ+ members of the military. “The Biden-Harris administration will celebrate LGBTQI plus service members’ contributions with pride across federal agencies, including at the Department of Defense,” she said. The Pentagon decision has already led to the cancellation of at least one planned drag show, a family-friendly event at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada featuring performer Coco Montrese, a former contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race. The base has hosted drag events in 2021 and 2022, planned by the facility’s Pride committee. General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Monday on CNN canceling the events was the “absolute right thing to do” and said drag events “were never part of DOD policy to begin with and they’re certainly not funded by federal funds.” Capitol Hill Republicans questioned Mr Milley and other military leaders in March at a House Armed Services Committee hearing in March, and have since raised inquiries about potential funds going to such events. US military members have performed in drag at bases since at least World War I, including during the famed USO shows of WWII, according to the New York Times “Ensuring our ranks reflect the diversity of the American people is essential to morale and cohesion,” the Modern Military Association of America, a nonprofit representing LGBTQ+ servicemembers, told the paper. “It affects recruiting and retention of service members who do not feel welcome due to their sexual and gender identities.” Across the country, Republican-led legislatures have passed laws targeting drag shows, and drag events have been the subject of armed threats, part of a wider wave of GOP attacks on LGBTQ+ people. Read More David Furnish hits out at Ron DeSantis for ‘diabolically anti-Christian’ policies against LGBTQ+ people The Independent Pride List 2023: The LGBT+ people making change happen Tennessee drag ban is struck down by federal judge: ‘Unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad’