A basketball school is set to be established in the Chechen Republic. It will bear the name of Uvais Akhtaev—a renowned Soviet basketball player of Chechen descent and one of the tallest players in the history of the sport.

The Supreme Court of Russia’s North Ossetia republic has rejected an appeal filed by the defense of 27-year-old Vladikavkaz resident Zarina Tomaeva, leaving her in pretrial detention. Her lawyers had sought to have the preventive measure changed to house arrest, citing her deteriorating health.

The lawyer for the man detained following a dispute with a foreign female tourist at the Agarani Estate hotel in Kakheti has presented his version of the events leading up to the altercation. The defense maintains that the conflict began well before the events shown in the video circulating online and was provoked by the actions of the tourists themselves.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the deaths of at least 9,450 military personnel from the Southern and North Caucasian Federal Districts have been publicly confirmed. These figures come from *Kavkazsky Uzel* (Caucasian Knot), which maintains an independent tally based on public announcements from government bodies, security agencies, and other official sources.

Georgian police continue their investigation into the conflict that occurred on the evening of July 18 at the Agaranis Mamuli Hotel in Telavi, where a wedding was taking place and a group of Russian tourists were vacationing. One of the guests at the celebration, Giorgi Chigladze, has been arrested in connection with the case. He is accused of intentionally causing minor bodily harm. The parties involved and their representatives continue to publicly present conflicting versions of the events.

Risan Saralieva from the village of Geldagan mastered welding and artistic metal forging—traditionally considered a male craft in Chechnya—and turned it into her own business. Today, she makes furniture, railings, swings, and decorative structures, with some orders costing up to 700,000 rubles.

Dagestan, which had remained one of Russia’s fastest-growing tourist destinations for several years, has recorded a drop in tourist traffic for the first time in that period. In the first half of the year, the republic was visited by 719,000 people—15% fewer than the year before.

Armenian Deputy Economy Minister Arman Khojoyan denied reports that a shipment of Armenian apricots spoiled during transportation to Spain. According to him, such shipments have never even begun.

Israeli authorities decided not to put the issue of recognizing the "Armenian genocide" to a vote in the Knesset following intervention by Azerbaijan. According to *Maariv* and *Haaretz*, the move was prompted by concerns regarding strategic relations with Baku, a key partner for Israel in the security and energy sectors.

In 2025, Russian courts set a new record for the number of convictions under "terrorism" charges. A total of 1,776 sentences were handed down during the year—an all-time high since the inception of Russia's modern Criminal Code. Under Articles 205–205.5 of the Criminal Code, 2,078 individuals were convicted—more than double the figure from the previous year, when 1,021 people received guilty verdicts. These findings come from a study conducted by the human rights project "First Department" (Pervy Otdel) and analysts at Parubets Analytics.