September 22, 2023

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts. www.catholicnewsagency.com - The “destruction” of an enclave of 120,000 Armenian Christians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region is imminent, warns Siobhan Nash-Marshall, a US-based human rights advocate. Though internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh is made up almost entirely of Christian ethnic Armenians who claim self-sovereignty under the auspices of the Republic of Artsakh. On Wednesday, ethnic Armenians in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh agreed to lay down their arms and dissolve their military forces following a short but intense Azerbaijan offensive on September 19. The attacks, which included rocket and mortar fire, were perpetrated by Azerbaijan under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev. In just over one day, over 200 Armenian Christians were killed, including 10 civilians, and many more were injured, the New York Times reported. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh region for decades. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255446/destruction-of-ethnic-armenians-is-imminent-warn-experts The United States Senate began confirming military appointments one by one on Wednesday to bypass a pro-life blockade led by Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville, which has been holding up the usually routine process since February. The blockade had caused a backlog of more than 300 appointments. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255442/senate-confirms-military-appointments-bypassing-pro-life-blockade-by-tuberville A group of pro-life students who participated in a demonstration at North Carolina A&T University last week during a visit to campus by Vice President Kamala Harris say they were escorted off campus by police for their own safety after being harassed by a large crowd. According to members of the group, they engaged in positive dialogue with students