The former head of Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist government was arrested as he tried to cross into Armenia on Wednesday, Azerbaijani authorities said.
Ruben Vardanyan was one of more than 50,000 people to cross into Armenia from the separatist region, almost half of its 120,000 population, since Azerbaijan lifted its nine-month blockade on the enclave on Sunday.
It marks a fundamental shift in ethnic control of lands that had been disputed by mostly Christian Armenians and predominantly Muslim Azerbaijanis for the past century.
Despite Azerbaijan’s promises to respect the rights of the region’s ethnic Armenians, they have rushed to flee the region en masse, fearing reprisals.
It follows Azerbaijan’s 24-hour blitz last week to reclaim control of the region, involving heavy artillery, rocket launchers and drones, which forced the separatist authorities to agree to lay down weapons and sit down for talks on Nagorno-Karabakh’s “reintegration” into Azerbaijan.
Mr Vardanyan, a billionaire businessman who made his fortune in Russia where he owned a major investment bank, moved to Nagorno-Karabakh last year and served as the head of the regional government for several months before stepping down this year.
Azerbaijan's border security service said Mr Vardanyan was escorted to the country's capital of Baku and handed over to “the relevant state bodies”. It posted a picture of him being held by two border guards next to a helicopter.
His wife Veronika Zonabend said on his Telegram channel that he had been arrested while trying to flee. She asked for people's "prayers and support for my husband's safe release".
It was not known on what grounds Mr Vardanyan had been held but Azerbaijan has signalled it will seek to prosecute prominent figures in the Karabakh leadership.
"We have accused elements of the criminal regime and we will bring them to justice," Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said last week, without naming anyone or specifying any crime.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment on the arrest of Mr Vardanyan, who renounced his Russian citizenship after moving to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenia's attempts to absorb the rush of ethnic Armenians come with officials still trying to identify the whereabouts of more than 100 people reported missing in a fuel depot blast on Monday that claimed 68 lives.
The fireball erupted as refugees were stocking up on fuel for the long drive along the mountain road leading to Armenia.
Azerbaijan’s Health Ministry said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops have been killed and 511 wounded in the offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh. One Azeri civilian also died in the hostilities, the ministry said.
Nagorno-Karabakh officials earlier said at least 200 people on their side, including 10 civilians, were killed and more than 400 were wounded in the fighting.
Azerbaijan's swift onslaught followed a nine-month blockade of the road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia. The Armenian government in Yerevan claimed the closure denied basic food and fuel supplies to the enclave’s residents, while Azerbaijan countered by alleging the Armenian government was using the road for mineral extraction and transporting illicit weapons to the region’s separatist forces.
The Armenian government on Wednesday said it had received 50,243 Nagorno-Karabakh refugees since Azerbaijan's lightning offensive.
It has prepared living arrangements for 40,000 families since last week's fighting broke out.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's spokeswoman said late on Tuesday the government had so far been able to find housing for only 2,850 people.
Western governments fear a humanitarian disaster and are pressing for Azerbaijan to allow international observers into Karabakh to monitor its treatment of the resident population.
"What is needed now is transparency and the eyes and ears of the international community on the spot," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock posted on X, formerly Twitter.
"It would be a sign of confidence that Azerbaijan is serious about its commitments to the security and well-being of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh if it allows international observers."
independent political analyst Boris Navasardyan said: "The influx of refugees will have a serious impact on the domestic political situation in Armenia."
The Red Cross and the UN's refugees agency are trying to organise immediate help.
Moscow is now firing daily barbs at Mr Pashinyan for his vow on Sunday to pivot away from Armenia's long-standing alliance with the Kremlin.
Mr Pashinyan has blamed Russia for failing to avert the Azerbaijani offensive and called Armenia's current foreign security alliances "ineffective" and "insufficient".
The comments underscored the extent to which the Kremlin's influence has shrunk across former Soviet republics since it became bogged down in its war on Ukraine.
But Moscow still has an important military base in Armenia and has indicated that it will try to keep Yerevan in its sphere of influence.
Russia's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said Moscow expected "all agreements on developing bilateral co-operation ... to continue to be implemented" in full.
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TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
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- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
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- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
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Photographer: Mateusz Stefanowski at Art Factory
Videographer: Jear Valasquez
Fashion director: Sarah Maisey
Make-up: Gulum Erzincan at Art Factory
Model: Randa at Art Factory Videographer’s assistant: Zanong Magat
Photographer’s assistant: Sophia Shlykova
With thanks to Jubail Mangrove Park, Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi
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A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
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“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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Titanium Escrow profile
Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
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Weather warnings show that Storm Eunice is soon to make landfall. The videographer and I are scrambling to return to the other side of the Channel before it does. As we race to the port of Calais, I see miles of wire fencing topped with barbed wire all around it, a silent ‘Keep Out’ sign for those who, unlike us, aren’t lucky enough to have the right to move freely and safely across borders.
We set sail on a giant ferry whose length dwarfs the dinghies migrants use by nearly a 100 times. Despite the windy rain lashing at the portholes, we arrive safely in Dover; grateful but acutely aware of the miserable conditions the people we’ve left behind are in and of the privilege of choice.
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