News

Today, Sochi pupils have started their classes – this early beginning of the school year has to do with the upcoming Winter Olympic Games; however, the traditional "First Ring" will sound for the first-year pupils on September 2, said the Department of Education and Sciences of the Sochi City Administration.

In Volgograd, participants of a rally against increased housing and utility urged to recognize the work of the regional, city and district officials in charge of maintaining order in the communal sphere unsatisfactory and dismiss them.

About three hundred residents of the villages of Tarki, Kyakhulay and Alburikent gathered today at a meeting in Karaman to discuss the situation around the land plots of the Kumtorkalin District and adopt an appeal to the Acting Head of Dagestan.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan has registered the incumbent head of state Ilham Aliev as a presidential candidate for the election to be held on October 9.

The arrest of Yadigyar Sadygov, the adviser to the chairman of opposition "Musavat" Party, has been extended until September 27. This was decided on August 24 by the Lenkoran District Court.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan has postponed indefinitely the approval of the nomination of Ilgar Mamedov, the leader of the civil movement "Republican Alternative" (ReAl), who is under investigation and arrest, as a presidential candidate.

In Yerevan, policemen have detained 16 protesters against construction in Komitas Avenue. A journalist was beaten in the police car, the "NEWS.am" reports.

In the opinion of many locals and human rights activists, the introduction of a number of restrictions in Sochi for the period of preparation and holding of the Olympic Games violates the rights of city residents and visitors alike.

The defence of the students Rafik Avagyan and David Barsegyan, sentenced in Nagorno-Karabakh to 11 and 10 years in prison for treason and espionage, has appealed against the verdict.

Activists of several civil society organizations and political parties have submitted a notification to the Mayoralty of Sochi about a 400-strong rally on environmental issues on September 7.

Natalia Alieva, a resident of the village of Semender, has completely denied her guilt of aiding the members of illegal armed formations (IAFs), said Israfil Gadadov, a lawyer from the Bar "Kavkaz".

The fourth school of Hafizes (people who know Quran by heart), launched in construction in August 2012, was opened on August 23 at the south-western Chechnya, in the city of Urus-Martan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on introduction of a number of restrictions in Sochi at the time of preparation and holding of the Winter Olympic Games-2014. In particular, rallies and assemblies will be banned the city.

On August 23, the lawyer of the Dagestani weekly "Chernovik" lodged his statement to the local FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Dagestan on the fact of a hacker attack, undertaken since August 22 against the paper's website.

On August 23, a mourning rally took place in Central Embankment of Volgograd. The action was attended by about 50 people – war veterans, townspeople, survivors of the bombing, politicians and public figures.

Activists of eleven Georgian NGOs have put forward the candidacy of Ms Tamar Zhvaniya, the head of the UNDP's election projects, for the post of the head of the Central Election Commission (CEC).

Today, Professor Jamil Gasanli from the Baku State University has been elected as the backup presidential candidate of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF).

The Coordinating Council of the Association "All-Ingush Civil Council" has asked the Russian President Vladimir Putin to react to the statement of the Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev about the election procedure in several republics of Northern Caucasus.

The panel of judges for administrative cases of the Volgograd Regional Court has restored the Mayor of Dubovka Alexander Lyashenko in the capacity of a candidate for the post of the Dubovka District to be elected on September 8.

The situation in the countryside Karaman (Black Stones) in the Kumtorkalin District of Dagestan has stabilized; and the today's night and morning passed without incidents, said the local police.