Azerbaijan's second-largest city, Ganja, has been shelled by Armenian forces, as heavy clashes continue over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The enclave is officially part of Azerbaijan but run by ethnic Armenians.

The self-proclaimed authorities there say they hit Ganja's military airport after Azerbaijani forces shelled the region's capital, Stepanakert.

Azerbaijan says no Ganja military sites were hit. More than 220 people have died since clashes began a week ago.

Armenia and Azerbaijan went to war over Nagorno-Karabakh in 1988-94, eventually declaring a ceasefire. However, they have never reached a settlement over the dispute.

Pope says free market, 'trickle-down' policies fail society https://t.co/SXspIzdoJJ pic.twitter.com/aTkVPygG3w

— Reuters (@Reuters) October 4, 2020

In China there are a lot of problems, but at the moment, the Chinese, the party state, has proven an extraordinary ability to change. I mean, I make the joke: In America you can change political parties, but you can't change the policies; in China you cannot change the party, but you can change policies. So in the sixty-five or sixty-six years China's been run by one single party. Yet the political changes that have taken place in China, in this past sixty-six years have been wider and broader and greater probably than any other major country in modern memory. China is a market economy, and it's a vibrant market economy, but it is not a capitalist country. Here's why: There's no way a group of billionaires  can control the Politburo as billionaires control American policy-making. So in China you have a vibrant market economy, but capital does not rise above political authority. Capital does not have enshrined rights. In America capital, the interests of capital and capital itself, has risen above the American nation. The political authority cannot check the power of capital. And that's why America is a capitalist country, but China is not.

The Court of Appeal granted the Nicolas Maduro-backed Banco Central de Venezuela's (BCV) appeal and set aside July's High Court judgement [...] Monday's decision means the case now goes back to the High Court for it to determine more definitively which of the two rival leaders is in charge.

Deepest thanks @NobelPrize for honouring the World Food Programme with the 2020 #NobelPeacePrize.

This is a powerful reminder to the world that peace and #ZeroHunger go hand-in-hand. [_link]

— World Food Programme (@WFP) October 9, 2020

1. Big news out of Canada: Abu Huzayfah has been arresten on a terrorist "hoax" charge. The narrative tension of our podcast "Caliphate" is the question of whether his account is true. In Chapter 6 we explain the conflicting strands of his story, and what we can and can't confirm [_link]

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) September 25, 2020

Story in Gray Zone ...

Fake news hoax exposed: NY Times podcast star lied about joining ISIS

The real Abu Huzayfah al-Kanadi has been identified as a 25-year-old man living in Toronto named Shehroze Chaudhry. He was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on September 25, and faces up to five years in prison under Canada's terrorism hoax laws.

Callimachi has earned fame by marketing herself as a journalistic expert on ISIS and violent Islamist extremism.

FREE UNLOCKED new Radio @TheWarNerd--we talked to Nagorno-Karabakh journalist @LikaZakaryan about life under bombardment in Stepanakert, the capital of Artsakh.

This ep is open to all, courtesy of our great RWN subscribers.https://t.co/Zw2W4S1cYx

— Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) October 13, 2020

Yazidi mothers of ISIS children face impossible choices | Arab Weekly |

After Isis, Yazidi women forced to leave their children behind | The Guardian |

The Middle-East wars and unseen suffering after Western war parties abandoned the region.

Non-lethal Assistance and the Syrian Conflict: Lessons from the Netherlands

Obama authorizes secret support for Syrian rebels | Reuter- August 2012 |

Netherlands puts Syria on notice for human rights abuses | DW - Sept. 19, 2020 |

After assistence and funding of Jihadist rebel groups to overthrow Bashir Assad ...

Dutch minister refuses US offer to help repatriate ISIS women and their children in Syria | Kurdistan24 |

My earlier diary about the Yazidi religion ...

Bombing The Iraqi Minorities Back to the Stone Age

Thank you to all of our incredible supporters who gave us their votes. We couldn't have done it without you. Now, let's keep moving ⏩ pic.twitter.com/2hXTSsaKYe

— New Zealand Labour (@nzlabour) October 17, 2020

Election 2020: 'Back to work,' says Ardern

At the grand strategic level, evidence suggests there is no trade off:
Countries that were unable to control their corona outbreaks have tended to suffer the most economic painhttps://t.co/8eeCfPQsxl pic.twitter.com/R3wHF66n2t

— Adam Tooze (@adam_tooze) October 19, 2020

Abdullakh Anzorov, Paty's killer 'was in contact with jihadist in Syria | The Guardian |

Le Parisien newspaper reported that Anzorov had contact with an as yet unidentified Russian-speaking jihadist in Syria who was located through an IP address that had been traced back to Idlib, a jihadist holdout in north-western Syria (Idlib).

FranceInfoTV said the killer, who arrived in France aged six with his Chechen parents and had been granted asylum and a residence permit until 2030.

A Western alliance making war against the Soviets Russians at their frontier ... a set policy of NATO.

Omar the Chechen: The notorious, red-bearded IS commander | MEE |

A fierce, battle-hardened warlord with roots in Georgia and a thick red beard, Omar al-Shishani is one of the most notorious faces of the Islamic State group.

Shishani comes from the Pankisi Gorge region that is populated mainly by ethnic Chechens.

He fought as a Chechen rebel against Russian forces before joining the Georgian military in 2006, and fought Russian forces again in Georgia in 2008.

He resurfaced in northern Syria in 2012 as the leader of a battalion of foreign fighters, said Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, research fellow at the Middle East Forum, a US think-tank.

Boston bombers: retribution for US wars

Dutch fund Syrian Jihadist spokesperson because these terror groups were allied with the West to remove Bashir Assad as president of Syria.

Dutch Gov't Admits Support for Salafist Jihadists in Syria

According to Goldman's admissions and court documents, between approximately 2009 and 2014, Goldman conspired with others to violate the FCPA by engaging in a scheme to pay more than $1.6 billion in bribes, directly and indirectly, to foreign officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi in order to obtain and retain business for Goldman from 1MDB, a Malaysian state-owned and state-controlled fund created to pursue investment and development projects for the economic benefit of Malaysia and its people.

Libya's rival forces sign permanent ceasefire at UN-sponsored talks | The Guardian |

Rival forces in Libya have agreed a permanent nationwide ceasefire including the departure of all foreign fighters and mercenaries from the country for a minimum of three months.

"The parties have signed a complete countrywide permanent agreement with immediate effect. The parties agreed to the departure of all mercenaries and foreign fighters from Libyan territory, air, land and seas for three months." Military trainers will also leave.

The main frontline is between Sirte on the coast and Al Jufrah in central Libya.

The ceasefire includes the full opening of land and air routes, efforts to curb hate speech, an exchange of prisoners and plans to reconstruct the Petroleum Facilities Guard, an oil company and militia body linked to the eastern warlord General Khalifa Haftar that is seen as a threat to the stable flow of oil from Libya.

...
The surprisingly high level of progress in Geneva means the focus now shifts to whether the external actors will end the supply of arms to the warring factions, and agree to withdraw their troops.

Turkey has sent as many as 4,000 Syrian mercenaries [Jihadists from Idlib] to support the UN-recognised government in Tripoli headed by the prime minister, Fayez al-Sarraj. Mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary organisation, have supported general Haftar, and a steady flow of weaponry has been sent by the United Arab Emirates in blatant breach of the UN arms embargo.

The world of military arms sales is crashing in on itself.

The current war that's raging in the Caucus involves:

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, America, Russia, and Israel. pic.twitter.com/Es5hbu95gz

— Ettie 🇵🇸🕊 (@BengxlChai) October 5, 2020

Arms, oil and Iran - Israel's role in Nagorno-Karabakh | Mondoweiss |

Turkey and Qatar's brotherhood of the boycotted | The National |

Turkish contractors in the Middle East have lost an estimated $3 billion in the past year, the head of the Turkish Contractors Union noted last week. Fashion retailers Mango and Zara are looking to move production out of Turkey because Saudis and other Gulf citizens are refusing to buy clothes made there.

...
When Turkey faced a sharp economic downturn in 2018, Qatar fast-tracked a $3bn currency swap and $15bn in investment. Trade between the two leapt 85 per cent that year. More recently, Turkey has expanded its military footprint, opening a new base outside Doha last year that hosts 5,000 Turkish troops.

"The Turkish military presence in the Arab Gulf is an emergency," the UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Anwar Gargash, said last week.

Sheikh Tamim says he views Erdogan as a father

In Libya, where Turkey and Qatar back the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord, Mr Erdogan last week questioned the credibility of the latest ceasefire, suggesting that the civil war there is set to continue for some time. Sudan's allies in the Gulf have sought to counter any Turkish influence there for years, and the recent decision of the transitional military council in Khartoum to normalise relations with Israel suggests that those efforts are proving successful.

We applaud Sudan's decision to normalize relations with the state of Israel. President @realDonaldTrump's vision of peace, security, and prosperity in this region, and in the world is coming to fruition. pic.twitter.com/Bb3USiaF90

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) October 24, 2020

* Updated result (22:58)
With 90% of the votes counted, Apruebo has 78.24% while Rechazo has 21.76%.

* President Maduro reacts to preliminary results (22:30)
The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, reacted to the preliminary results on the referendum. "The great avenues are now open to build a better society. Long live Chile! Long live Allende!"

Thousands of people celebrate the victory of Apruebo in Plaza Italia/Dignidad.#ChileDespertó[_link] pic.twitter.com/Ha3vzFzdsq

— Chile Today News (@ChileTodayNews) October 26, 2020

Celebrations as Chile votes by huge majority to scrap Pinochet-era constitution  | The Guardian |