The 13-nation military exercise "Noble Partner 2018" kicked off in Georgia's Vaziani military base on Wednesday (1 August) with the participation of over 3,000 soldiers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Britain, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States.
The Vatican said it had changed its universal catechism to reflect Pope Francis' total opposition to the death penalty. Previously the catechism, a summary of Church teaching, had allowed the death penalty in rare cases.
The October election is seen as a test of the popularity of the Georgian Dream government. The ruling party has not yet chosen its candidate, and party chairman Bidhizina Ivanishvili earlier hinted the party may decide to support a non-partisan candidate.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said in a comment that what is happening in Armenia "bothers us, including as regards the conduct of the normal work of those organisations in the CIS area, in which Armenia participates".
EUSR Toivo Klaar met president Ilham Aliyev in Baku on Monday
Speaking during a display of Russian naval power on the Neva River in St Petersburg, President Putin hailed the vital role of the Russian Navy in guaranteeing strategic parity
Earlier Robert Kocharian, who was Armenian head of state from 1998-2008, was charged in connection with the crackdown on opposition protests following the disputed presidential election in 2008, which left several people dead.
Turkish president, Recip Tayip Erdogan and Russian president Vladimir Putin held a 75 minute meeting in Johannesburg on Thursday, on the margins of the summit of the BRICS nations.
The charges are related to incidents in 2008 when government forces violently broke up mass protests against election fraud following presidential elections which saw a victory for Serzh Sargsyan.
Turkey has aspirations to become one of the world's ten largest economies, and the country has been pursuing an assertive foreign policy, challenging the domination of the UN by the five permanent members of the security council, and expanding its diplomatic footprint in Africa.
