News

The Taganka Court of Moscow arrested seven natives of Northern Caucasus, who participated in the conflict with trainees of the GIBDD (road traffic police) that occurred on January 5.

In the course of the court session that was held today at the Tbilisi City Court on the case against Irakli Okruashvili, ex-Minister of Defence, nine witnesses retracted their statements.

The "National Unity" Party, the "Social Democrat Hanchakyan Party", the "Constitutional Law Union" Party and the "Christian Democratic Union" Party have expressed their support for the candidacy of incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan at the presidential election.

In the Kabardino-Balkarian State University (KBSU), 80 young persons from Syria who arrived in Nalchik on the eve of the New Year started their studies. This was reported by Anatoly Kodzokov, the head of the Foreign Relations Department of the KBSU.

In the Dusheti District of Georgia, heavy snowfall cut off 30 villages from the outside world. Traffic on the roads to the villages is very difficult, and there is a danger of avalanches.

The suspected militants killed in the Baksan District of Kabardino-Balkaria could be identified only after genetic analysis, since their bodies are too badly burned. This was reported by the law enforcement bodies of the republic.

In Karachay-Cherkessia, investigators identified suspected organizers of Zorb entertainment, and the question of filing charge against them is under consideration. This was reported by Sergey Shuvaev, Senior Assistant on Media Relations of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) for the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR).

The investigation into the case against Alexei Budik, former staff member of the penal colony IK-1 accused of beating a prisoner has been completed. The criminal case with the approved indictment was brought to the court. This was reported by the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) for the Rostov Region.

The trial on the criminal case against Hilal Mamedov, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Tolyshi Sado" (Voice of Talysh) is to be started in Baku on January 9.

Tonight, in Sochi, the boiler plants that serve three heavily populated area of the city have stopped working. This was reported by a staff member on duty of the control service of the Municipal Unitary Enterprise (MUE) "Kotelnye Sochi". About 50,000 city residents are deprived of heating.

North Ossetia has established the operative group to coordinate interaction and elimination of consequences of avalanche that occurred in the military unit. This was reported by the representative of the Southern Military District of the Ministry (SMD) of Defence (MoD) of the Russian Federation. The place of the incident is being supplied with tents, stoves, diesel generators and firewood.

Today, in Dagestan, Khalilurakhman Shamatov, the leader of the "Association of Scholars of Ahlus Sunnah", announced that his son Bashir Shamatov, who was considered disappeared since January 7, was found in good order.

One person perished and another one was injured as a result of the incident with Zorb a sort of entertainment activity that happened in the area of Dombay. Tourists from the Stavropol Territory fell down in the Gonachkhir Gorge in an inflatable orb.

The Chief Prosecutor's Office of Georgia stops the prosecution of Irakli Okruashvili for all of the four episodes of criminal proceedings earlier filed against him.

As a result of an armed clash that occurred in the Karabudakhkent District of Dagestan, a soldier of internal troops was wounded. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by a source in the Investigating Committee of the Russia Federation (ICRF) for Dagestan.

Voters should take an active part in the upcoming presidential election. This was stated by Raffi Ovannisyan, a presidential candidate, Chairman of the opposition "Heritage" Party. He believes that the thesis of the absence of competition at the election is incorrect.

In the region of Mtskheta-Mtianeti, heavy snowfall cut off 18 Georgian villages located in the valley of Khada from the outside world.

On January 7 and tonight, the Armenian armed forces violated the ceasefire. This was reported by press service of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan.

For the first time, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Georgia has reported the information about military men wounded in the course of the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan. According to the information of the Georgian MoD, starting from 2010, 93 persons were wounded.

In Azerbaijan, the public movement "Republican Alternative" (ReAl) declared its intention to nominate its candidate for the presidential election of 2013, if during the next month the opposition forces fail to work out a common pre-election platform and to nominate a single candidate.