[Azortac] In an emotional audio message recorded Wednesday to his family from isolation in a Baku prison, businessman and former Artsakh state minister Ruben Vardanyan said he is “ready to bear the most severe punishment if only it would help bring peace and stability,” and optimistically believes one day it will be achieved. He expressed gratitude to his supporters and apologized for any pain caused by his decision to go on a hunger strike, now lasting more than two weeks.

NATO military forces during static display after "Exercise Steadfast Dart 2025" at the Smardan Training Area, in Smardan, southeastern Romania, on February 19, 2025.Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images Europe is staring down the barrel of a stark new reality where the United States being the backbone of NATO – the alliance that has guaranteed the continent’s security for almost 80 years – is no longer a given. President Donald Trump’s public animosity  towards Ukraine’s Volodym

World Food Programme says ‘severe funding shortfalls’ to force cut in monthly food vouchers from $12.50 to $6 per person. Rohingya...

The Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, will hold public hearings from 11...

Three weeks ago, the American Bar Association spoke to you about values that guide us. We called upon every lawyer to insist that the government adhere to four major principles of law that have guided our country for over 200 years: Defending Judges and Courts, Acknowledging the Role of the Courts, Adhering to the Rule of Law, and Respecting the Separation of Powers and the three co-equal branches of government with distinct duties and responsibilities. These principles have

Tesla CEO Elon Musk sparked controversy over his far-right leanings following his stiff right-armed salute. When he later made a Nazi joke, it was too much for Tesla manager Jared Ottmann. [Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images] Exercising his free speech on social media cost Jared Ottmann his job at Tesla.  Four weeks ago he posted his concerns that Tesla  remained silent after CEO Elon Musk used Nazi mass murderers as a prop in a joke to make light of his critics. Jared Ottma

Palestinians in Gaza are struggling to put their lives back together in the current, fragile peace Israel has blocked the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza as it demands Hamas agree to a US plan for a ceasefire extension. The first phase of a truce deal mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the US expired on Saturday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Hamas was refusing to accept a temporary extension proposed by Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff. A Hamas

Protestors fill the Iowa state Capitol to denounce a bill that would strip the state civil rights code of protection based on gender identity, Thursday Feb. 27, 2025, in Des Moines, Iowa (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) Iowa lawmakers became the first in the nation to approve legislation removing gender identity protections from the state’s civil rights code Thursday, despite massive protests by opponents who say it could expose transgender people to discrimination in numerous

Proposed legislation will also introduce prison time for conducting same-sex marriage ceremonies Protesters at an LGBT Pride March in the Kadikoy district of Istanbul on 30 June 2024 (Kemal Aslan/AFP) Draft legislation could see “biological sex” written into law in Turkey and the “promotion” of LGBTQ rights criminalised. According to a draft document from the justice ministry acquired by LGBTQ rights group Kaos GL, the new legislation would also introduce prison time for thos

Jeangagnon , CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons Montreal-based author and activist Yves Engler turned himself in  to Montreal police for arrest at 9:30 am Thursday on multiple charges, initially for social media posts about the Israel-Gaza conflict and subsequently for writing about the police enforcement action against him.  Following the arrest , Engler appeared in court via video link Thursday afternoon and will remain in detention overnight after the Crown opposed his r