News

A ritual of shooting at a Caucasian wedding party was considered to be "a kind of a symbol for protection against the evil eye," but the ancient tradition had long turned into an element of fun and courage, noted experts on the Caucasus. The tradition of saluting takes part not only at wedding parties.

The authorities of Chechnya have reported on the issuance of genetic passports for next 86 relatives of the people disappeared during military campaigns. Local residents complain that it takes a lot of time to get those documents.

A man who stayed in Poti as a tourist was carried away to the sea during a storm, while a woman who accompanied him was rescued, reported rescuers.

The ceasefire regime in the Karabakh conflict zone was violated 94 times during a day, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) reported.

Three years after the death of journalist Rasim Aliev, Azerbaijan still faces persecutions of the freedom of speech, the activists, who gathered to pay tribute to Aliev's memory, have stated.

Giorgi Mamaladze, sentenced to nine years in prison for an attempt to poison the Patriarch's Secretary, has asked the Georgian President to pardon him; however, he refuses to plead guilty.

The withdrawal of Russian troops from Abkhazia and South Ossetia may signal the normalization of relations with Russia, Mamuka Bakhtadze, the Prime Minister of Georgia, has stated. The Russia's presence in these territories affects "extremely negatively" on people's lives after the "Five-Day War", the UK representative to the United Nations has stated.

A resident of the Nozhai-Yurt District of Chechnya killed a child and wounded two men by attacking them with a knife.

The Shali City Court has dismissed the defence's petition asking for the time of the session to release Oyub Titiev from the metal cage.

The Azerbaijani Centre for Electronic Security (CES) has found violations of the law in the activities of four oppositional websites, in particular, libel and insults. Media experts treat these actions as illegitimate.

Within the last 24 hours, the Azerbaijani Army's positions in the Karabakh conflict zone were shelled for 83 times, the country's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has stated.

The report of the international commission headed by Heidi Tagliavini on the Georgian-Russian war in August 2008 fails to present some important facts, due to the limited time for collecting evidence, and leaves many questions unanswered, Georgian experts believe.

Investigators conducted searches at the mechanic-repair plant located in the village of Mkhchyan in the Ararat Region and found a lot of weapons. They have detained Ambik Gevorkyan, who is registered as the owner of the plant, and Genrikh Abramyan, the brother of former Prime Minister of Armenia Ovik Abramyan.

August 8 is a year since the disappearance of the famous Chechen singer Zelimkhan Bakaev. The 25-year-old Bakaev disappeared in Grozny; and a year after his disappearance, a source from investigating bodies has confessed that there was "no progress" in the case.

Combat helicopters Ka-52 "Alligator" of the Russia's Southern Military District (CMD) have conducted training at the "Naggvalou" training ground in Abkhazia.

The investigator, who has initiated a criminal case against Oyub Titiev, the head of the Grozny office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" and who was questioned today at the court session, denies the obvious things, said the defender's advocate.

25 veterans of the war in Afghanistan have gathered in central Makhachkala, stating that they had been waiting for housing from the state for 20 years. They threatened to go on an endless hunger strike.

The General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) was not convinced by the guarantee of 61 MPs from Yerevan and Stepanakert, who asked to release Robert Kocharyan, the second president of Armenia, from arrest.

On August 7, the commemoration of Yusup Temirkhanov, organized by the authorities of Chechnya, was attended by much fewer people than his funeral, local residents have stated.

At the farewell ceremony for Orkhan Djemal, who was killed in the Central African Republic (CAR), his friends said that when working in hot spots, the journalist was not afraid to ask uncomfortable questions to armed people and was ready to die. The friends called Orkhan Djemal a man of action, always ready to help.