WIth diplomatic progress on Nagorno-Karabakh still glacial, the BBC has a nice bit of on-the-ground reporting today, balancing the usual mix of cautious optimism and bellicosity from Baku and Yerevan with glimpses of the tense communities, ghost towns and concrete trenches of the disputed territory. Notwithstanding Azerbaijan’s recent military build-up and rumors of Russian arms shipments to Armenia, the Beeb concludes that for now “there appears to be no imminent prospect of war.”

Maybe somebody should get the word to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev, whom Mosnews.com quotes today as declaring his country “is ready to restore its territorial intergrity by military means any time.” Perhaps Baku’s president-for-life isn’t subscribing to the World Service.