In one of their deadliest recent attacks, rebels in Ingushetia on July 4 ambushed a convoy of Chechen policemen in a wooded area on the road between the villages of Chemulga and Arshty in the republic's Sunzha district, killing nine policemen and wounding ten others.Agence... MORE

The Turkish Parliament's adoption of an amendment made during a late night debate on June 25 to the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK), which has paved the way for the trial of military personnel in civil courts, marks an important step towards curbing military power... MORE

Amnesty International said in a report released on June 30 that ongoing human rights abuses in Chechnya, Ingushetia and other parts of the North Caucasus give the lie to claims made by the Russia authorities that the region is generally reverting to "normal" after years... MORE

On June 22, at 8.30 am, a suicide attacker crashed his explosives-filled Toyota into the vehicle carrying the president of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, as the presidential motorcade was passing by in the city of Nazran. So far, the investigators failed to establish the driver's identity.... MORE

The Ukrainian parliament on June 23 scheduled the next presidential election for January 17, 2010. Although the motion was passed by an overwhelming majority of 399 votes in the 450-seat unicameral chamber, it came as a result of the long confrontation between Prime Minister Yulia... MORE

Militants in Dagestan today attacked the headquarters of the police in the city of Derbent, just south of the republic capital Makhachkala and near the border with Georgia, Russian and Western news agencies reported. According to the Associated Press, three policemen and a civilian died... MORE

On June 15, the Dagestani branch of Rossvyazkomnadzor, the Russian state agency that oversees the media, filed a lawsuit to shut down the Makhachkala-based independent weekly Chernovik because of its alleged support for extremist views, and on June 18 the paper had its first court... MORE

Armenian authorities have begun releasing dozens of political prisoners more than 15 months after suppressing massive opposition demonstrations against the official results of a disputed presidential election. They have ensured, however, that not all jailed supporters of the top opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian are set... MORE

Russian energy super-giant Gazprom has taken severe blows in the still-deepening recession, and the worst setbacks have happened in its most profitable market - the European Union. Various assessments show that the volume of its export to Europe shrunk by 35-40 percent in the first... MORE

While Ankara was preoccupied with determining the authenticity of the recent document indicating that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) might attempt to topple the government, the chairman of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Deniz Baykal, suggested changing provisional article 15 in the constitution in... MORE