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Thousands of Armenians streamed out of Nagorno-Karabakh after the Azerbaijani military reclaimed full control of the breakaway region while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was set to visit Azerbaijan Monday in a show of support to its ally. The Azerbaijani military routed Armenian forces in a 24-hour blitz last week, forcing the separatist authorities to agree to lay down weapons and start talks on Nagorno-Karabakh's “reintegration” into Azerbaijan after three decades of separatist rule. While Azerbaijan pledged to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians in the region and restore supplies after a 10-month blockade, many local residents feared reprisals and said they were planning to leave for Armenia. The Armenian government said that 4,850 Nagorno-Karabakh residents had fled to Armenia as of midday Monday. “It was a nightmare. There are no words to describe. The village was heavily shelled. Almost no one is left in the village,” said one of the evacuees who spoke to The Associated Press in the Armenian city of Kornidzor and refused to give her name for security reasons. Moscow said that Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh were assisting the evacuation. 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. “If these efforts do not produce concrete results, the government will welcome our sisters and brothers from Nagorno-Karabakh in the Republic of Armenia with every care,” he said. Demonstrators demanding Pashinyan's resignation continued blocking the Armenian capital's main avenues Monday, engaging in occasional clashes with police that sought to disperse the protests. Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by the Armenian military, in separatist fighting that ended in 1994. During a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan took back parts of Nagorno-Karabakh along with surrounding territory that Armenian forces had claimed during the earlier conflict. After a Russia-brokered armistice, a contingent of about 2,000 Russian peacekeepers was sent to the region to monitor it. In December, Azerbaijan imposed a blockade of the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, alleging that the Armenian government was using the road for mineral extraction and illicit weapons shipments to the region’s separatist forces. Armenia charged that the closure denied basic food and fuel supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh’s approximately 120,000 people. Azerbaijan rejected the accusation, arguing the region could receive supplies through the Azerbaijani city of Aghdam — a solution long resisted by Nagorno-Karabakh authorities, who called it a strategy for Azerbaijan to gain control of the region. On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged support for Armenia and Armenians, saying that France will mobilize food and medical aid for the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, and keep working toward a ‘’sustainable peace’’ in the region. "France is very vigilant about Armenia’s territorial integrity because that is what is at stake,” Macron said in an interview with France-2 and TF1 television, accusing Russia of complicity with Azerbaijan and charging that Turkey threatens Armenia’s borders. Since the start of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijan has relied on strong backing of its ally Turkey, which has offered political support and provided it with weapons. Erdogan's office said he will travel to Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan exclave for talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to discuss Turkey-Azerbaijan ties and regional and global issues. Nakhchivan is cut off from the rest of Azerbaijan by Armenian territory but forms a slim border with Turkey. During his one-day trip to the region, Erdogan will also attend the opening of a gas pipeline and a modernized military base, his office added in a statement. ___ Associated Press writers Aida Sultanova in London, Andrew Wilks in Istanbul and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide First refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh arrive in Armenia following Azerbaijan's military offensive UNGA Briefing: There's one more day to go after a break — but first, here's what you missed Aid shipments and evacuations as Azerbaijan reasserts control over breakaway province

The chairman of Hong Kong’s leading journalist group has been found guilty of obstructing a police officer in a case that sparked concerns about the city’s declining press freedom

The US is days away from a shutdown. Here's a summary of why it's happening and what to expect.

Russian forces have expressed ‘panic’ following significant Ukranian advances in the Verbove area. On September 22, a VDV source warned that there is a “real threat” of Ukrainian forces encircling Russian forces, according to a US-based war monitoring think-tank, The Institute for the Study of War. The source said that Ukrainian forces were within 7km of encircling the 56th VDV Regiment and that the regiment would be in a difficult position if its commander did not make a decision to withdraw from Novofedorivka to other previously prepared positions. A VDV-affiliated source reported to the think-tank that Ukrainian forces broke into Verbove on September 22 and continued attacking the settlement with armored vehicles as of yesterday, September 24. The source later reported that Ukrainian forces occupy half of Verbove as of September 24. The source also accused the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) of trying to conceal Ukraine’s tactical progress in Verbove, rhetorically stating: “For how long can Shoigu’s MoD hide the breakthrough in Verbove?” The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces captured new unspecified locations near Verbove on September 24. Read More Drones attack Russia’s Tula region where thousands suffered power cut Russia ‘weaponised food and deliberately caused starvation’ in Ukraine A Kremlin critic was transferred to a Siberian prison and placed in a 'punishment cell,' lawyer says Heartwarming moment Russian bomb victim, 6, learns to ride bike again

With six days until the government runs out of money, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has a choice to make: Does he risk a shutdown to keep his job or does he cross his Republican hardliners by working with Democrats?

Taiwan authorities have fined a golf ball manufacturer $75,000 and warned of criminal charges after a major factory fire killed nine people and left one other missing

Every morning, Gen. Mark Milley's staff pulls transcripts from Fox News prime-time shows to see if they're talking about him.

The Biden administration has awarded more than $1.4 billion to projects that improve railway safety and boost rail capacity, with much of the money coming from the 2021 infrastructure law

Italian prosecutors say that Matteo Messina Denaro, a convicted mastermind of some of the Sicilian Mafia’s most heinous slayings, has died in a hospital prison ward, months after being captured

Fall has only just begun, but it's not too soon to look ahead to winter, especially since this one may look drastically different than recent years because of El Niño.

By Yelin Mo and Brenda Goh BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Huawei Technologies kicked off a product launch event on Monday by thanking

Vladimir Putin wants the Ukrainian counteroffensive halted by early October and has instructed Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu to improve the situation, according to a Kremlin insider cited by a US-based think-tank monitoring the war. “Putin reportedly gave Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu a deadline of one month until early October 2023 to improve the situation on the frontlines, stop Ukrainian counteroffensives, and have Russian forces regain the initiative to launch an offensive operation against a larger city,” the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in an intelligence update on Sunday. It said the Russian military command is likely ordering relentless attacks with the hope of forcing the Ukrainian counteroffensive to culminate, even at a high cost to Russian military capabilities, if the claims are true. The ISW said it has previously seen situations wherein the Russian defence ministry, “fearing the imminent loss of Putin’s favour”, has amped up its efforts to purge commanders offering honest but negative views. Russia launched what it called a “special military operation” in Ukraine in February last year, bringing its neighbour under a full-scale invasion and causing thousands of deaths and displacing millions. Mr Putin had first acknowledged the Ukrainian counteroffensive in June this year and claimed that the war-hit nation’s troops will not make significant gains against the strong Russian defences. He had also claimed Ukrainian troops would suffer heavy losses of personnel and western military equipment. But the initiative in which Kyiv is looking to push back all Russian forces from Ukraine’s territory, including the occupied areas, is now well into its fourth month and has registered some important territorial gains this month. President Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged the counteroffensive was slow, but added that is was “important that we are moving forward every day and liberating territory”. A study by the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think-tank, found Ukrainian forces average 700-1,200m of progress every five days. That gives Russian forces time to dig in and especially to mine territory as they pull back. The 3rd Assault Brigade, composed entirely of volunteers and considered one of Ukraine’s best and most experienced corps, has been fighting almost nonstop in the east since January, while less-experienced units received new training and modern weapons to fight in the south. Read More ‘Panic’ grips Putin’s military and milbloggers over Ukraine’s advances on battlefield Ukraine-Russia war – live: ‘Panic’ among Putin’s troops as they ‘face threat of encirclement’ in Verbove Drones attack Black Sea, Crimea and parts of Russia where thousands suffered power cuts Russia ‘weaponised food and deliberately caused starvation’ in Ukraine Ukraine is building an advanced army of drones. For now, pilots improvise with duct tape and bombs