News

March 17, 2012 19:00

• Restart of ammunition disposal at "Ashuluk" raises concerns with MfE and ecologists

  The houses of residents of the Astrakhan Region, located near the "Ashuluk" military testing ground are not seismically resistant, said the spokesman of the Chief Department for the Astrakhan region of the Russian Ministry for Emergencies (MfE).

March 17, 2012 17:00

• Hunger-strikers in Astrakhan are now 12 in number

  In Astrakhan, the termless hunger strike in protest against the outcomes of the March 4 presidential election, started on March 15, continues. The number of the participants of the protest action is now 12.

March 17, 2012 16:00

• Organizers of photo exhibition in Yerevan dedicate it to struggle for better social conditions

  The struggle to improve social conditions of Armenians is the topic of the exhibition of documentary photos "Great Expectations", which opened in Yerevan on March 16.

March 17, 2012 15:00

• In Georgia, students demand to depoliticize students' self-government

  On March 16 in Tbilisi, students from various universities held a protest action, demanding the de-politicization of the bodies of students' self-government and reduction of tuition fees.

March 17, 2012 14:13

• "Caucasian Knot" correspondent attacked in Sochi

  In Sochi, Svetlana Kravchenko, a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot", was attacked during performance of her professional duties. The culprits took away her video camera.

March 17, 2012 14:00

• Gudauri opens the longest Caucasian ropeway

  The city of Gudauri has commissioned the longest and the fastest gondola-type ropeway in the Caucasus. Its first passengers were the President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili, the country's First Lady Sandra Elisabeth Roelofs and the Mayor of Tbilisi Gigi Ugulava.

March 17, 2012 12:00

• Azerbaijan: after riots in Guba four journalists were arrested

  According to unofficial sources, within the last three days four more persons have been arrested in the context with the events in the city of Guba, where the unrest burst out on March 1 with a demand of resignation of the head of the Guba District. Local law enforcement bodies neither confirm nor deny this information.

March 17, 2012 11:00

• New commission is set up in Lermontov for repeated elections

  On March 16, a decision was made at the sitting of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of the Stavropol Territory to form a temporary city election commission in Lermontov. The new commission will organize the repeated elections to the City Council.

March 16, 2012 23:00

• Public group in defence of journalist Ismailova set up in Azerbaijan

  A public coordination group for protecting the rights of Khadidja Ismailova, a journalist of the Azerbaijani Service of Radio Liberty, was founded in Azerbaijan. Besides, a journalistic preventive response group was set up, led by the well-known columnist Shakhveled Chobanoglu, which will start its own investigation into the crimes committed against Ismailova.

March 16, 2012 22:19

• "Caucasian Knot" sums up its contest for best Facebook posts about Russian presidential election

  The contest of stories and comments hosted on the social network Facebook on the topic "The Choice of the Caucasus" held among its readers by the Internet medium "Caucasian Knot" is over. As a result, most of the votes were cast for the comments posted by the reader with the nickname Abu Hurayra, and by Isa Musaev and Yulia Alyatina.

March 16, 2012 22:00

• "Caucasian Knot" defines winners of contest of comments to materials on Russian presidential election

  The contest of comments to the materials of the "Caucasian Knot" on the Russian presidential election – "The Choice of the Caucasus" – is over. On March 7-15, readers voted for the messages pre-selected by the editorial board. As a result, most votes were cast by the comments made by users with nicknames "Musulmanin", "Povolzhie" and nart82, who will receive prizes.

March 16, 2012 20:00

• About 20 persons picket representative office of Krasnodar Territory in Moscow

  Several solo pickets were held in front of the representative office of the Krasnodar Territory in Moscow. As reported by Alexei Todorenko, the applicant of the action and the chairman of the NGO "For Krasnodar", in total 20 persons by replacing each other took part in the picket.

March 16, 2012 19:00

• Grozny starts raids aimed to reveal utility debtors

  Since March 14 on, employees of the "Chechkommunenergo" Company began large-scale raids aimed to identify malicious utility bill debtors. Local residents find their actions illegitimate.

March 16, 2012 18:00

• Human rights organization stops its office in Georgia for lack of funds

  The Kakheti regional branch of the NGO "Human Rights Centre", located in Gurjaani, Georgia, was closed because of termination of funding, said its director Ucha Nanuashvili.

March 16, 2012 16:00

• In Ingushetia, relatives of Leila Kholukhoeva complain about power agents' pressure

  Relatives of Leila Kholukhoeva, a resident of the Nasyr-Kort District of Nazran, who had stated the persecution of her family by employees of the GOVD of Nazran and Malgobek ROVD (City and District Interior Divisions, respectively), fear for their safety. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told about it by Ms Kholukhoeva's relatives themselves.

March 16, 2012 15:00

• Charity campaign in Chechnya gathered thousands of books for prisoners

  In Chechnya, several thousand books were gathered within a charity campaign to help prisoners. The books will be sent to correctional institutions of the republic, said a source from the Committee for Youth Matters of the Chechen Government.

March 16, 2012 14:00

• Delegation of Council of Federation goes to Syria on resettlement of Circassians to Russia

  Today in the morning, a delegation of the Council of Federation of the Russian Parliament, which included representatives of Adygea, Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, has flown to Syria. The delegates plan to study the situation around a possible resettlement of the Circassians who wish to return to their historical homeland, said Adam Bogus, the acting chairman of the movement "Adyge Khase – Circassian Parliament" of Adygea.

March 16, 2012 12:00

• Toma Tsechoeva: trial on Chitigov's torture at Ingush MIA goes without violations

  In Ingushetia, the trial of Nazir Guliev, the former head of the Karabulak OVD (Interior Division), and his deputy Ilyas Nalgiev, who are accused of torturing Zelimkhan Chitigov, will continue at the Karabulak City Court on March 19. The two previous sessions – on March 12 and 15 – heard the defence witnesses.

March 16, 2012 11:00

• South Ossetia: actors demand new Drama Theatre instead of burned down one

  The actors of the burned down building of the State Drama Theatre of South Ossetia are unsatisfied with the progress of reconstruction work and demand to build a new modern building with preservation of the architectural appearance of the old theatre. In defence of their position, as the actors told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, they are ready to go out to a rally.

March 15, 2012 23:00

• In Vladikavkaz, court finds blogger guilty of libel

  Today, the federal judge of the Lenin District Court of Vladikavkaz pronounced the decision in favour of journalist Lora Tskaeva, who filed a lawsuit against Alexander Pikalev, the cleric of St. George's Cathedral, the blogger of the "Livejournal".