News

August 01, 2009 14:00

• Azerbaijan has a programme for returning forced migrants to Nagorno-Karabakh

  Azerbaijani officials have drafted a programme aimed to bring forced resettlers back to their homes in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, after the latter is liberated.

August 01, 2009 12:00

• Today, "Zakaev's armistice" should start in Chechnya

  The armistice - stop of warfare against employees of power agencies, except for self-defence cases, announced by the government of non-recognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI) should come into force today in Chechnya. This initiative was put forward by Ahmed Zakaev, former emissary of Chechen separatists and now presenting himself as "the prime-minister of the government of Ichkeria in exile".

August 01, 2009 11:00

• South Ossetia accuses Georgia of shelling a MoD post

  An observation post of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of South Ossetia was shelled today in the morning from the territory of Georgia. Two grenades were shot at the post from a grenade launcher.

August 01, 2009 09:00

• Two women suffer in explosion in southwest of Chechnya

  In the afternoon on July 31, in the city of Urus-Martan, near the building of the district interior department, an explosion took place, wounding two local women. This became known to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent from a source in the republic's power agencies.

August 01, 2009 08:00

• SFD milk producers protest against low purchase price

  Producers of milk from the regions of the South Federal District (SFD) are protesting against low purchase prices of their products, which for today, according to their version, are by ten percent below the production cost.

August 01, 2009 06:00

• Authorities hide mass fight between Chechens and Russians in Astrakhan Region

  In the Astrakhan Region, in the territory of a closed territorial formation Znamensk, a mass fight burst out between Chechens and Russians with participation of 150 persons. The scuffle was accompanied by shooting and victims. The incident took place back on July 19; however, the information was concealed by local authorities and law enforcement bodies.

August 01, 2009 05:00

• Georgia to watch foreign films only in the Georgian language

  On July 31, the parliament of Georgia passed amendments to the law "On Broadcasting", according to which all foreign-made films should be dubbed into Georgian or provided with captions in this language prior to demonstration in the country; TV serials can be put on air only after translation into the state language.

July 31, 2009 23:40

• Prosecutor's Office of Ingushetia demands tougher punishment to conditionally sentenced bookkeeper

  The Prosecutor's Office of Ingushetia demands to cancel the conditional sentence passed to Salman Archkhoev, an employee of the Department for Housing and Utilities (DHU), accused of embezzling a huge sum of money, earlier by the Sunzha District Court.

July 31, 2009 23:10

• Attempter on Isa Yamadaev is arrested

  On July 30, the Odintsovo District Court of Moscow arrested the suspected attempter on Isa Yamadaev, brother of Sulim Yamadaev, ex-commander of the "Vostok" special battalion. Inspectors are afraid that the unfortunate killer can be liquidated by his crime accomplices.

July 31, 2009 22:40

• Armenia: searched oppositionist surrenders to the police

  In Armenia, on July 30, another oppositionist left the underground and surrendered to law enforcement bodies. Gamlet Ovannisyan, a member of the Armenian National Congress (ANC), who was in search since last March, is going to prove that statements of the authorities on amnesty are deceptive.

July 31, 2009 22:00

• Georgiy Tugushi elected new Georgian Ombudsman

  Today, at the extraordinary session of the Parliament of Georgia, the deputies have elected Georgiy Tugushi, 32, to be Georgia's new 'national defender' (Ombudsman); he is also a member of the Committee of the European Union against Violence and has worked for five years in the Ombudsman's office. 88 MPs voted for him, and 8 - against.

July 31, 2009 21:00

• Kulikov: Sochi guests and residents should know that potable water is full of guck

  Professor Nikolai Kulikov, Doctor of Engineering in speciality "Water Supply and Sewage", author of more than 200 patents on inventions in water usage and a member of the Social-Ecological Board under Sochi Mayor, has stated that water in Sochi is full of dirt, although the local water supply and sewage service is advertising its European level.

July 31, 2009 21:00

• Roundtable held in Rostov-on-Don on one-year anniversary of events in South Ossetia

  The experts and journalists, who took part in the roundtable on the start of warfare in South Ossetia one year ago, spoke not only about the situation in the Caucasus a year after, but also about the modern geopolitical situation.

July 31, 2009 20:00

• Chechen MIA treats execution of Russian colleagues as "tragic accident"

  The incident on July 30, when Chechen militiamen opened occasional fire on the car with their Russian colleagues, having killed two of them, is treated in Chechnya as a "tragic accident", referring to external similarity of one of the casualties with a Wahhabite ideologist.

July 31, 2009 19:00

• In Azerbaijan, convicted editor Mamedov complains of absence of treatment at prison hospital

  Despite the transfer of Novruzali Mamedov, head of the Talysh Cultural Centre and the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Tolyshi Sado" (Voice of Talysh), to the hospital of the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice, he is still deprived of duly qualified medical aid. This is the topic of the statement of the Committee in Defence of Novruzali Mamedov's Rights that has arrived to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent; last summer Mamedov was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment for treason.

July 31, 2009 18:00

• Advocates of arrested Azerbaijani bloggers file complaints against MIA and Prosecutor's Office

  Isakhan Ashurov and Elton Guliev, advocates of arrested youth activists and bloggers Adnan Gadjizade and Emin Milli, accused of hooliganism, have laid an action to the Sabail District Court of Baku against the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and the State Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan. In the opinion of the advocates, these bodies have broken the presumption of innocence principle.

July 30, 2009 23:30

• Human rights activists from Kazan tell about pressure from power agencies

  In the afternoon on July 29, the Independent Press Centre hosted a press conference "Searches, interrogations, provocations, charges of tax crimes and terrorism against human rights defenders in Kazan", related to persecution by law enforcers of the Kazan Human Rights Centre and the inter-regional human rights association named "Agora".

July 30, 2009 23:20

• In Chechnya, three versions exist of attempt on Isa Yamadaev

  The absence of any trustworthy information about the details of the attempt on Isa Yamadaev, committed in the evening on July 28 in Moscow, gives rise to various versions of the incident. Isa's relatives are sure that the attempt was initiated by the authorities of Chechnya, while the republic's law enforcers believe that it was staged. There is also an opinion that the attempt was a part of scenario aimed to discredit the republic's leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

July 30, 2009 23:10

• Georgia and South Ossetia accuse each other of shelling

  In reply to this night's information from South Ossetia about bombardment of Tskhinvali, the Georgian party has reported that Ossetians have shelled the Georgian MIA's post in the village of Zemo Nikozy.

July 30, 2009 23:00

• Melkumyan: in Karabakh settlement we must raise issue on return of Armenian refugees to Azerbaijan

  Grant Melkumyan, leader of the Communist Party of Nagorno-Karabakh, finds it illogical that in debates on Karabakh settlement they talk about Azerbaijani refugees, while there are more than half-million refugees-Armenians from Azerbaijan. In his opinion, it is also necessary to raise the issue about a similar return of Armenian refugees to Azerbaijan and Shaumyan and Martuni Districts of Karabakh.