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A rally in Baku has criticized the policy of Azerbaijani authorities in addressing the Karabakh problem and called on the government to launch a military offensive.

The suicide statistics in the Armenian Army indicates an unresolved discipline problem; however, tougher sanctions for driving to suicide are not enough to reduce the figures, Arthur Sakunts and Zhanna Aleksanyan, rights defenders, believe. Khachatur Gasparyan, a psychologist, has urged to pay attention to the relationships of soldiers with officers.

The court has arrested an activist, Anro Dzhandjgava, for five days, and fined David Napetvaridze, another protester at the building of the National Library of Georgia.

Since November 24, Azerbaijani militaries have fired more than 3500 shots on the troops contact line, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) has stated.

Policemen have searched the natives from Chechnya detained and checked their mobile phones; found nothing illegal, and released them, a police source has reported.

Stories about travels in Northern Caucasus have become an important part of the book "People on the Map. Russia: From Edge to Extremity" by a Moscow journalist, Vladimir Sevrinovsky. The Caucasus seems monolithic only from outside, but the difference among the Caucasian republics is no smaller than among the countries of Western Europe, the author has noted.

A court in Tskhinvali has arrested Gennady Bestaev, a citizen of Georgia, for two months on suspicion of drug smuggling.

Gross violations by policemen of their instructions during the dispersal of protests in Tbilisi on June 20-21 should be thoroughly investigated; and the rules of using special means and equipment should be tightened, the NGO "Young Lawyers' Association" believes. However, Georgian authorities are fully approving the brutal crackdown on demonstrators, Shota Utiashvili, a political analyst, believes.

The public repentance of the Moscow woman, who had criticized Ramzan Kadyrov, is backed up the "Chechen Ministry for Apologies", Instagram users believe. Some commentators have reproached the woman; others pointed to the freedom of speech.

A soldier wounded by shelling from the Azerbaijani side is in grave condition, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) has reported.

On Friday, more than 50 law enforcers checked documents of parishioners of a Makhachkala mosque. They ensured safety in crowded places, the Dagestani Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has stated.

Shakhla Gumbatova claims that the decision pronounced by the Presidium of the Bar Association of Azerbaijan to suspend her power is unfair. Activists believe that the Azerbaijani Bar Association wants to prevent Shakhla Gumbatova from protecting the rights of people persecuted for political reasons.

Law enforcers planted weapons to two residents of Makhachkala and tortured them, claim relatives of the detainees, who have gathered today in front of the building of the Prosecutor's Office for Dagestan.

In her video appeal, Iman Kurbanova, a resident of Moscow, expressed her repentance of critical posts about the leader of Chechnya and the republic's Mufti. According to the young woman, her parents explained to her that such statements were unacceptable.

Today, activists and oppositionists have organized a protest action in front of the National Library near the Georgian parliament building. Three oppositionists were detained in the course of clashes between protestors and law enforcers.

The positions of the Azerbaijani troops were shelled at in the Karabakh conflict zone and in three villages on the border with Armenia, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan reports.

The first phase of the housing programme for refugees from Azerbaijan is designed for the people who face the risk of eviction from dormitories, the Migration Service of Armenia reports. Refugees included in the lists claim that the money promised by the authorities is not enough to buy housing in Yerevan.

Eleven NGOs have called on the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe (CoE), the PACE and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to use all their political influence for solving the problems that arose because of the closure of the border with South Ossetia, and to release the detained doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili.

The All-Armenian "Hayastan" Fund has launched its annual charity telethon, whose funds this year will be allocated to the development of water supply and solar energy in about 100 communities of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) and Armenia.

The authorities of Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, have allocated more than 2 million roubles for the New Year decoration of the City Duma and for a performance for Duma members with the participation of Father Frost (Russian Santa Claus) and Snegurochka (Snow Maiden).