Russia & CIS

A court in Moscow has softened its stance on Russian army ground forces ex-deputy chief Vladimir Chirkin, and changed his corruption sentence from 5 years in prison to a 90,000-ruble ($1,200) fine, Interfax reported.

The main result of the outgoing year is the fact that the Russian population is still optimistic no matter what. The main lesson of 2015: emotions are not good when making important decisions. If Russia is economically strong, she will not have to ask the West for anything - the West will come to give

How are you today? How was your weekend? What was your vacation like? Normalno.

Forecasts for 2016: Putin winds Obama around his finger. The international coalition wins complete victory over the Islamic State. The current wave of migrants to Europe comes to naught. Europe lifts sanctions against Russia, and Putin becomes No. 1 peacemaker on the planet. A directly opposite scenario is seen unfavorable for the United States

Joint Working Group on human rights issues, composed of representatives of civil society and authorities, will hold its next meeting on Dec.24, the group told APA.

The meeting is planned to be held in early 2016.

The recent meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Bern did not produce any significant effect.

The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation will further ease their economic exchange through a joint monetary accord, says Iranian Minister of Communication and IT Mahmoud Vaezi.

"There is no ground for concern."

Prime Minister Artur Rasizade has met a delegation, led by chairman of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Ismayil Kahraman.

A ceremony of signing Azerbaijani-Afghan documents was held on Dec.22 following the expanded meeting with participation of Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and his Afghan counterpart Mohammad Ashraf Ghani.

Defense Ministry has disseminated an information.

Some commercial banks completely stopped crediting after second devaluation decision.

The Armenian leader was offended by the allies.

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan approved the new rates of state duties for issuing licenses for different types of activity.

The Interior Ministry has issued a statement on a group of fisherman believed to have drowned in the Caspian Sea.

Mohammad Ashraf Ghani is on an official visit in Baku.

President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has arrived in Azerbaijan on an official visit.

In accordance with the Presidential decree.

Bloomberg says the pace at which central banks from Argentina to Azerbaijan surrendered their grip on exchange-rate policy this year is bringing back memories of the 1997 Asian currency crisis.