5 wild lineups we can't wait to see in the 2023-24 NBA season
The NBA offseason is far from over, but there are still plenty of potential on-court lineups that are tantalizing. Here are five we can't wait to see.While many NBA teams are clearly far from their final product, plenty of teams seem to be content with what they've done — or have...
2023-08-01 21:37
Who is playing Sunday Night Football in Week 10?
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2023-11-12 20:01
A People lost: The end of Nagorno Karabakh’s fight for independence
It is over and everything is lost. This is the refrain repeated by Armenian families as they take that final step across the border out of their home of Nagorno Karabakh. In just a handful of days more than 100,000 people, almost the entire Armenian population of the breakaway enclave, has fled fearing ethnic persecution at the hands of Azerbaijani forces. The world barely registered it. But this astonishing exodus has vanished a self-declared state that thousands have died fighting for and ended a decades-old chapter of history. Today, along that dusty mountain road to neighbouring Armenia, a few remaining people limp to safety after enduring days in transit. Among them is the Tsovinar family who appear bundled in a hatchback littered with bullet holes, with seven relatives crushed in the back. Hasratyan, 48, the mother, crumbles into tears as she tries to make sense of her last 48 hours. The thought she cannot banish is that from this moment forward, she will never again be able to visit the grave of her brother killed in a previous bout of fighting. “He is buried in our village which is now controlled by Azerbaijan. We can never go back,” the mother-of-three says, as her teenage girls sob quietly beside her. “We have lost our home, and our homeland.” “It is an erasing of a people. The world kept silent and handed us over”. She is interrupted by several ambulances racing in the opposite direction towards Nagorno Karabakh’s main city of Stepanakert, or Khankendi, as it is known by the Azerbaijani forces that now control the streets. Their job is to fetch the few remaining Karabakh Armenians who want to leave and have yet to make it out. “Those left are the poorest who have no cars, the disabled and elderly who can’t move easily,” a first responder calls at us through the window. “Then we’re told that’s it.” As the world focused on the United Nations General Assembly, the war in Ukraine and, in the UK, the felling of an iconic Sycamore tree, a decades old war has reignited here unnoticed. It ultimately heralded the end of Nagorno Karabakh, a breakaway Armenian region, that is internationally recognised as being part of Azerbaijan but for several decades has enjoyed de facto independence. It has triggered the largest movement of people in the South Caucasus since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Azerbaijan has vehemently denied instigating ethnic cleansing and has promised to protect Armenians as it works to re-integrate the enclave. But in the border town of Goris, surrounded by the chaotic arrival of hundreds of refugees, Armenia’s infrastructure minister says Yerevan was now struggling to work out what to do with tens of thousands of displaced and desperate people. “Simply put this is a modern ethnic cleansing that has been permitted through the guilty silence of the world,” minister Gnel Sanosyan tells the Independent, as four new busses of fleeing families arrive behind him. “This is a global shame, a shame for the world. We need the international community to step up and step up now.” The divisions in this part of the world have their roots in centuries-old conflict but the latest iterations of bitter bloodshed erupted during the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh Armenians, who are in the majority in the enclave, demanded the right to autonomy over the 4,400 square kilometre rolling mountainous region that has its own history and dialect. In the early 1990s they won a bloody war that uprooted Azerbaijanis, building a de facto state that wasn’t internationally unrecognised. That is until in 2020. Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, launched a military offensive and took back swathes of territory in a six-week conflict that killed thousands of soldiers and civilians. Russia, which originally supported Armenia but in recent years has grown into a colder ally, brokered a fragile truce and deployed peacekeepers. But Moscow failed to stop Baku in December, enforcing a 10-month blockade on Nagorno-Karabakh, strangling food, fuel, electricity and water supplies. Then, the international community stood by as Azerbaijan launched a 24-hour military blitz that proved too much for Armenian separatist forces. Outgunned, outnumbered and weakened by the blockade, they agreed to lay down their weapons. For thirty years the Karabakh authorities had survived pressure from international powerhouses to give up statehood or at least downgrade their aspirations for Nagorno-Karabakh. For thirty years peace plans brokered by countries across the world were tabled and shelved. And then in a week all hope vanished and the self-declared government agreed to dissolve. Fearing further shelling and then violent reprisals, as news broke several Karabakh officials including former ministers and separatist commanders, had been arrested by Azerbaijani Security forces, people flooded over the border. At the political level there are discussions about “reintegration” and “peace” but with so few left in Narargno-Karabakh any process would now be futile. And so now, sleeping in tents on the floors of hotels, restaurants and sometimes the streets of border towns, shellshocked families, with a handful of belongings, are trying to piece their lives together. Among them is Vardan Tadevosyan, Nagorno Karabakh’s minister of health until the government was effectively dissolved on Thursday. He spent the night camping on the floor of a hotel, and carries only the clothes he is wearing. Exhausted he says he had “no idea what the future brings”. “For 25 years I have built a rehabilitation centre for people with physical disabilities I had to leave it all behind. You don’t know how many people are calling me for support,” he says as his phone ringed incessantly in the background throughout the interview. “We all left everything behind. I am very depressed,” he repeats, swallowing the sentence with a sigh. Next to him Artemis, 58 a kindergarten coordinator who has spent 30 years in Steparankert, says the real problems were going to start in the coming weeks when the refugees outstay their temporary accommodation. “The Azerbaijanis said they want to integrate Nagorno Karabakh but how do you blockade a people for 10 months and then launch a military operation and then ask them to integrate?” She asks, as she prepares for a new leg of the journey to the Armenian capital where she hopes to find shelter. “The blockade was part of the ethnic cleansing. This is the only way to get people to flee the land they love.” “There is no humanity left in the world.” Back in the central square of Goris, where families pick through piles of donated clothes and blankets and aid organisations hand out food, the loudest question is: what next? Armenian officials are busy registering families and sending them to shelters in different corners of the country. But there are unanswered queries about long-term accommodation, work and schooling. “I can’t really think about it, it hurts too much,” says Hasratyan’s eldest daughter Lilet, 16, trembling in the sunlight as the family starts the registration process. “All I can say to the world is please speak about this and think about us. “We are humans, people made of blood, like you and we need your help. “ Read More More than 70% of Nagorno-Karabakh's population flees as separatist government says it will dissolve ‘Centuries of history lost’: Armenians describe journey to safety after fall of Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh: Tearful 16-year-old describes ‘bombing’ while she was in school Why this week's mass exodus from embattled Nagorno-Karabakh reflects decades of animosity
2023-10-01 00:18
Fans claim to know exactly what 'updates' Dwayne Johnson wants to his wax statue in Musée Grévin
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson addressed criticism of his wax statue at the Musée Grévin in Paris by sharing a humorous video by a comedian
2023-10-24 15:43
Eric Edson: Robbery suspect evaded Vermont cops for 2 weeks while escaping on bike, tractor and kayak
Eric Edson was arrested on September 7 after he robbed a store in Burlington in August
2023-09-09 01:09
BuzzFeed’s Tasty Introduces “Botatouille” The First-of-Its-Kind AI-powered Culinary Companion
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2023--
2023-05-23 21:35
Robert hits 311-foot homer in 9th to snap scoreless tie and give White Sox 1-0 win over Red Sox
Luis Robert Jr. hit a 311-foot home run just beyond the Pesky Pole to break a scoreless, ninth-inning tie, and Dylan Cease struck out 11 in seven shutout innings to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 1-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox
2023-09-24 06:57
Country Garden Services to Buy Back Shares to Boost Confidence
Country Garden Services Holdings Co. said it’s planning a stock buyback to shore up investor confidence after renewed
2023-08-02 09:08
Hampson's 2-run HR caps 11th inning rally and sends Marlins past Nationals 8-5
Garrett Hampson hit a two-run homer to cap a four-run rally in the 11th inning, and the Miami Marlins defeated the Washington Nationals 8-5
2023-09-02 10:38
Evan Ferguson hits treble as Brighton hammer Newcastle
Evan Ferguson hit his first career hat-trick as Brighton and Hove Albion capped a memorable week by inflicting a third successive Premier League defeat on Newcastle United with a thumping 3-1 success at the Amex Stadium. Teenage striker Ferguson curled home a superb second from range to add to a simple first-half finish before completing his treble with the aid of a hefty deflection off Fabian Schar. The 18-year-old’s heroics came a day after Albion were drawn to face Ajax, Marseille and AEK Athens in their maiden Europa League campaign. Success for the Seagulls, who also pulled off a transfer coup on Friday by signing Ansu Fati on loan from Barcelona, was a third from four this season following last weekend’s loss to West Ham. Newcastle were only beaten five times in the top flight during the whole of last term but were unable to halt their recent slide on the back of setbacks against Manchester City and Liverpool, despite Callum Wilson’s late consolation. Striker Alexander Isak wasted two early opportunities before the Magpies were blown away to temper the excitement following their mouthwatering Champions League draw. Eddie Howe’s men were on Thursday pitted against AC Milan, Paris St Germain and Borussia Dortmund in European football’s premier competition, while Brighton’s maiden continental campaign will also include heavyweight opposition. Newcastle began brighter from an attacking perspective and Isak twice threatened during a shaky start from the Seagulls. The Sweden striker was denied inside 55 seconds by Jan Paul van Hecke’s last-ditch tackle following Bruno Guimaraes’ fine through ball before shinning wastefully wide after Pervis Estupinan’s poor clearance led to Sandro Tonali cutting the ball back from the right. Brighton, who paraded 20-year-old Spain forward Fati and fellow new signing Carlos Baleba ahead of kick-off, were dominating possession. Yet Roberto De Zerbi’s hosts again escaped in the 16th minute when Miguel Almiron’s low cross from the right deflected off Lewis Dunk and was turned behind by goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. Newcastle were then punished for mistakes of their own 11 minutes later. Rushed clearances from keeper Nick Pope and midfielder Tonali led to the former spilling Billy Gilmour’s stinging effort and Ferguson was on hand to slot home the rebound. With his team still awaiting their first attempt on target, Howe brought on England striker Wilson as part of a triple substitution in the 58th minute. Isak’s pace remained a constant concern for the hosts but they soon secured breathing space courtesy of Ferguson’s magic. The Republic of Ireland international was afforded time and space deep inside Newcastle’s half and duly dispatched a fine curling effort into the bottom right corner from distance. Anthony Gordon wasted a golden opportunity to halve Newcastle’s deficit by sidefooting wide before Brighton put the result beyond doubt. Ferguson, who made his professional debut for Irish club Bohemians aged just 14, again took aim from outside the box, only this time his bending effort benefited from a significant flick of Schar to fly beyond the stranded Pope. The match-winner was withdrawn to a standing ovation nine minutes from time after making it 10 Premier League goal in just 12 starts. In spite of the scoreline, Newcastle’s sold-out following continued to vocally back their side. They were given scant reward on a punishing evening two minutes into added time when substitute Wilson burst forward and escaped Van Hecke to poke home. Read More Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk charged by FA after red card at Newcastle Eddie Howe reacts to Newcastle’s dramatic defeat by Liverpool Jurgen Klopp calls 10-man Liverpool’s win at Newcastle ‘rare and super-special’ Erling Haaland on fire again for Man City and Tottenham continue fine start Marco Silva says it should be ‘impossible’ to allow controversial Man City goal Steve Cooper: Forest were spurred on at Chelsea by Old Trafford frustration
2023-09-03 02:45
Christina Ricci hailed for seemingly shredding Ashton Kutcher in loaded post
Christina Ricci is believed to have criticized Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis for pleading for leniency for Danny Masterson
2023-09-11 20:10
South China Sea: Why the Philippines and China are on a collision course
A new sense of urgency is pushing Manila and Beijing to greater assertiveness in the South China Sea.
2023-10-23 17:07
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