According to the Arab News Agency, the Afghan government and the Taliban have finally reached a written agreement for the first time after a 19-year long war, which was confirmed by representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban, who said they had reached a preliminary agreement for peace talks. Afghan government negotiator Nader Naderi told a foreign news agency that the procedure, including the initial announcement of the talks, had been finalized and that talks on the agenda would begin soon. On the other hand, a Taliban spokesman confirmed the progress of talks with the government via Twitter. A joint statement from the Taliban and government representatives said a joint working committee had been tasked with drafting an agenda for peace talks. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also congratulated both sides on the progress and said the United States would work harder to persuade all sides to reduce violence and ceasefire.
Iran has directly threatened the United Arab Emirates, saying that if the United States used the territory of the United Arab Emirates to attack Iran, Iran would attack Dubai. A senior UAE official told the Middle East Eye News website that Iran had threatened the UAE with a direct attack. Iran has said that if the United States used the territory of the United Arab Emirates to attack Iran, then be prepared for a retaliatory attack by Iran. In a message sent to Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Iran said it would "directly blame" the killing of its nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizada.
Mohsen Fakhrizada, Iran's most important nuclear scientist, was killed along with six of his bodyguards on the outskirts of Tehran on Friday evening. Iran has accused Israel of killing the nuclear scientist. The Middle East Eye reports that as soon as the UAE Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning the killing of the Iranian nuclear scientist, the incident would escalate tensions in the region. Immediately after the statement, Iran used personal connections to send a direct threat to UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. On the other hand, Israel has alerted all its embassies and ambassadors in the Middle East that they could be targeted by Iran to avenge the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizada.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the ABC Television Network, the world's most prestigious film award-winning organizations, have confirmed that this year's event will be held as usual. Motion Pictures and the ABC Network confirmed in June this year that the 2021 Oscars would be held in April instead of February, according to Variety. After the awards ceremony was postponed, it was thought that the event might be held virtually, but now the management has confirmed that the awards event will be as usual. According to the showbiz website Variety, representatives from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the ABC Television Network have confirmed that the ceremony will be held as usual. It will be held at Dolby Theaters in Los Angeles, California. This year's awards ceremony will be held on April 25. Nominations for 93 Oscars this year will be announced on March 15, while the academy will release the final list of shortlisted films by April 15.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar are close to reaching a preliminary agreement to end the three-year-old conflict.
Al Jazeera television quoted sources as saying that the development came after President Trump's adviser Jared Kushner's visit to the Gulf countries. He is making a last-ditch effort to resolve the Gulf dispute before Trump leaves office in January. Jared Kishner met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman earlier this week and arrived in Doha on Wednesday to meet with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. The Wall Street Journal quoted US officials as saying that the talks should focus on allowing Qatari planes to use Saudi and UAE airspace. US TV Bloomberg reports that the possible initial agreement will not include the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt. All three countries sided with Saudi Arabia and opposed Qatar. In June 2017, the two countries severed trade and diplomatic ties with Qatar, along with the Riyadh government, and have since banned Qatar from using its air, sea and land borders. These countries accused Qatar of supporting terrorism and Iran. The Doha government has repeatedly denied the allegations and agreed to hold talks. These countries had set thirteen conditions for lifting the blockade on Qatar, including the closure of the Al Jazeera media network. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Gulf states have now relaxed their terms to lift the blockade on Qatar, and Saudi Arabia wants to find common interests in resolving the dispute. The British expert says the good news is that Saudi Arabia and Qatar are working to resolve the dispute. Unlike Saudi Arabia, the ideological rift in the Gulf is greater between Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani confirmed two weeks ago that Doha welcomes any dialogue based on respect for Qatar's sovereignty.
Azerbaijan says about 2,800 of its troops have been killed in recent fighting with Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Azerbaijan has for the first time released details of military casualties in the recent fighting with Armenian forces. According to the foreign news agency AFP, a statement issued by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said that "2,783 members of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces were killed in the war of patriotism, while 100 other soldiers are missing." Earlier, Armenia claimed that 2,317 of its soldiers had been killed in the fighting, as well as claimed that at least 93 Azerbaijanis and 50 Armenians had been killed.
It should be noted that Azerbaijan and Armenia had clashed with separatists in Karabakh since independence from the Soviet Union in 1990, killing 30,000 people in the early years.
Negotiations to resolve the dispute between the two countries from 1994 to the recent war have not made clear progress, but there have been several ceasefire agreements. Armenian-backed Armenian separatists seized control of the Negrono-Karabakh region from Baku in the 1990s, but Negrono-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. Later, France, Russia and the United States acted as mediators, but in 2010 the peace agreement was terminated once again. Fresh clashes in Negro-Karabakh began on September 27 and ceasefire efforts were being made by France, Russia and the United States. Armenia and Azerbaijan announced a ceasefire agreement on November 9 after the worst fighting and it was celebrated as a victory in Azerbaijan. Under the agreement, Armenia lost control of seven districts it had seized in fighting in the 1990s. The Armenian prime minister called it a tragedy and said there was no choice but to give up. Following the ceasefire agreement, there were violent protests in Armenia against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, calling him a traitor and demanding his resignation. He urged the protesters to refrain from armed protests and hoped that the opposition would also reject the move. Under the ceasefire agreement, Russian and Turkish forces will monitor Nagorno-Karabakh while Armenians will leave the disputed region.The Russian and Turkish defense ministers signed a memorandum of understanding and agreed to set up a joint monitoring center in Azerbaijan. It should be noted that the area of Negorno-Karabakh is spread over 4,400 square kilometers and 50 kilometers is connected to the Armenian border.
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