Four days after Armenian and Azerbaijani forces resumed fighting over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, both sides show no signs of backing down (AP), despite international calls for a cease-fire.
 
The official death toll has surpassed one hundred, and the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan blamed each other for violence in the region, which is run by ethnic Armenians but viewed internationally as part of Azerbaijan. France accused Turkey, which has vowed to support Azerbaijan, of sending Syrian mercenaries (Reuters) to the region. Turkey denied the claim. Russia, an Armenian ally, joined France’s call for a cease-fire and offered to host talks (Al Jazeera) on the conflict. Armenia and Azerbaijan have rejected such calls so far.

A Japanese court ordered the government and the company that operated the Fukushima nuclear plant to pay $9.5 million total (Kyodo) to more than three thousand residents. In 2011, a tsunami caused meltdowns and hydrogen blasts at the plant, forcing tens of thousands to flee. 
 
Papua New Guinea: More than 150 people filed a complaint (SMH) to the Australian government against mining giant Rio Tinto for failing to prevent poisonous waste from leaking from a mine the company abandoned two decades ago.
 
This CFR timeline explores Rio Tinto’s activities in Papua New Guinea and other ecological disasters involving multinational corporations.

Protests erupted across India after two women died following separate incidents of alleged gang rape (CNN) in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Both women were Dalits, the lowest group in India’s caste system, who face severe discrimination.
 
Afghanistan: The European Parliament called for an immediate cease-fire (TOLO) in Afghanistan as violence between the Taliban and Afghan government forces continues, despite ongoing peace talks. Taliban negotiators have so far rejected calls for a cease-fire.
 
CFR’s Max Boot explains potential pitfalls in the intra-Afghan peace talks.

The United States sanctioned (Al Jazeera) six Syrian individuals and eleven entities connected with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government. The sanctions come on the third anniversary of air strikes by the Assad regime that killed more than thirty civilians. 
 
United Arab Emirates: The country announced its bid for a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council (Al-Monitor) for the 2022–2023 term.

A Congolese activist, Emery Mwazulu Diyabanza, and four others are on trial in France (AP) for allegedly trying to take an African artifact from a Paris museum. Diyabanza said he never intended to steal the item, but wanted to draw attention to how European museums profit off of artifacts taken from Africa.
 
CFR’s Why It Matters podcast examines how art and cultural artifacts are looted during conflict.
 
Sierra Leone: The country’s anticorruption commission summoned former President Ernest Bai Koroma for questioning over alleged wrongdoing (Reuters) in connection with contracts awarded during his time in office. On Tuesday, Koroma and more than one hundred people were barred from leaving Sierra Leone.

The European Union sent a formal notice (Guardian) to the United Kingdom’s government in response to a British bill that could override parts of the Brexit deal, including those related to the Irish border. The UK has one month to respond.
 
Russia: Dissident Alexey Navalny blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for his poisoning (DW) in August. Germany, where Navalny received treatment, previously said he was poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent. Russia has denied involvement.

The Greenland ice sheet is losing mass at a rate not seen since the end of the last ice age, according to a new study published in Nature. Scientists estimate that if the entire ice sheet melts, sea levels would rise by twenty feet (WaPo).
 
Argentina: More than 40 percent of the country’s population is living in poverty (MercoPress), up 5 percent from the same time last year, according to a new report by the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina. Researchers blamed pandemic-related jobs losses for the increase.

American Airlines and United Airlines will begin furloughing (Axios) more than thirty thousand employees today. Airlines have been pressing Congress and the White House for federal aid to protect jobs as part of a broader pandemic relief package, but a deal has yet to be reached.
 
This CFR In Brief looks at how U.S. aviation giants will emerge from the pandemic.