The News And Times

More than 80 percnt of Nagorno-Karabakh's population flees amid Azerbaijan offensive posted at 19:39:40 UTC   via   pbs.org YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — The exodus of more than 80 percent of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh raises questions about Azerbaijan’s plans for the ethnic Armenian enclave following its lightning offensive last week to reclaim the breakaway region. The Armenian government said Friday evening that more than 97,700 people, from a population of around 120,000, had fled to Armenia since Azerbaijan attacked and ordered the region’s militants to disarm. The enclave’s separatist government said it would dissolve itself by the end of the year after a three-decade bid for independence. Some people lined up for days to escape Nagorno-Karabakh because the only route to Armenia — a winding mountain road — became jammed with slow-moving vehicles. Armenian Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan said some people, including the elderly, had died while on the road to Armenia, because

Russian Presidential Foundation Awards $16M to Pro-War Culture Projects posted at 19:01:43 UTC   via   themoscowtimes.com President Vladimir Putin’s cultural support foundation has  awarded  1.6 billion rubles ($16.4 million) to arts and culture projects that drum up support for the war in Ukraine. Russia’s Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives on Thursday announced 303 winners of its annual competition for receiving state funding, with projects including music festivals featuring songs about the war in Ukraine, patriotic-infused art installations and a movie about a pro-Russian separatist leader. “Mirnyi Atom” (“Peaceful Atom”), a detective TV series about a Russian engineer who travels to the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, won the largest grant of 49 million rubles ($500,000). The creators of “Mirnyi Atom” said they hope to show the TV series in schools across Russia. The second largest grant was awarded to a music production studio for “new patriotic talent,”