Briefly

SOUTH CAUCASUS

Cease-fire urged in Nagorno-Karabakh

Top diplomats of the United States, Russia and France on Monday called for an immediate cease-fire between conflicting parties in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. In a joint statement issued by the US State Department, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Russian and French counterparts, representing the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Minsk Group Co-Chair countries, condemned the "unprecedented and dangerous escalation of violence in and outside of the Nagorno-Karabakh zone". Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at loggerheads over the mountainous region since 1988. Peace talks have been held since 1994, but there have been minor clashes.

JAPAN

Pompeo meets with Asian allies in Tokyo

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday visited Toyko to meet with some of Washington's closest allies in Asia, Japan, Australia and India. The visit, which was supposed to include trips to Mongolia and South Korea, was cut short after US President Donald Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19. It was Pompeo's first trip to East Asia since July 2019 and came as ties between the United States and China are at their worst in decades. The one-day visit also included a meeting of foreign ministers of the Quad group: the US, Australia, India and Japan. Pompeo on Tuesday also hailed new Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga as a "force for good" and said he believes Suga will work to strengthen the relationship between Washington and Tokyo.

UNITED STATES

Led Zeppelin prevails in Stairway battle

The US Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up a copyright claim over Led Zeppelin's classic Stairway to Heaven, capping a long-running legal dispute over the song. A lower court in California last March had ruled that the British rockers had not swiped the song's opening riff from Taurus, which was written by Randy Wolfe of a Los Angeles band called Spirit. The decision on Monday by the top court not to hear the case definitively ends the legal challenges which had been closely watched by the music industry. Led Zeppelin had initially won the case in 2016, with the court at the time finding no proof that the 1971 classic breached the copyright of Taurus. Stairway is estimated to have grossed $3.4 million during a five-year period at issue during the civil trial.

FINLAND

US, Russia hold nuke arms control talks

The United States and Russia held negotiations on strategic stability and nuclear arms control in the Finnish capital Helsinki on Monday. According to the Office of the President of Finland, the discussions are the continuation of the latest round of talks on strategic stability and nuclear arms control between the two countries that started in Vienna earlier this year. The two countries' nuclear arms control treaty is due to expire in February 2021. While they have been discussing a new agreement, previous talks have ended with no results, reported Finnish national broadcaster YLE.

Xinhua - Agencies