News

According to latest reports, the terror act in Volgograd has affected 55 people; of them, 27 persons are still in Volgograd hospitals; and four are being treated in Moscow, said the press service of the Ministry of Public Health of Russia.

Independent experts and oppositional politicians are sceptical about the new Cabinet of Ministers, approved by President Ilham Aliev on October 22. They believe that the preservation of the majority of former ministers indicates the absence of the government's aspirations for reforms and an attempt to strengthen its position.

Around 100 Kudepsta residents came to the industrial base and blocked the exit of heavy machinery in protest against industrial activities in the resort area, Igor Vasiliev, the chairman of the local self-government unit (known as TOS) reports.

On Wednesday, court marshals began evicting the members of the Toromonyan family out of their house No. 33 in Sanatornaya Street. Some of them felt bad and called an ambulance; also a police unit was called to the venue, the members of the family with many children have reported.

The Russia's Supreme Court (SC) has ruled to dismiss the application lodged by the Sochi lawyer Roman Shikarev asking to cancel the decision of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak to use the Akhshtyr Quarry as a landfill for construction wastes.

Two months have expired since the disappearance of Omar Valibagandov, born in 1975, a resident of Makhachkala; however, there is no decision on opening a criminal case. Meanwhile, the circumstances of the incident indicate that Valibagandov suffered from violence, was injured, and was then in the hands of law enforcement officials, says the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

In the Kirov District of Makhachkala, law enforcers continue carrying out searches under the counterterrorism operation (CTO). Some residents claim being ill-treated by the law enforcers. This was reported by Gulnara Rustamova from the NGO "Pravozaschita" (Advocacy).

On Tuesday, near the main building of the Southern Federal University (SFU) of Rostov-on-Don, a picket was held. The reason for holding the picket was the visit to the SFU of the Moscow School of Political Studies to deliver lectures. The purpose of the action is to draw attention of the university administration to the problem of careful selection of subcontractors for international educational programmes.

The Azerbaijani Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed the complaint filed by Djamil Gasanli, ex-presidential candidate of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF), against the decision of the Central Election Commission (CEC) concerning the official results of the voting on the presidential election.

In Azerbaijan, the opposition newspaper "Azadlyg" (Freedom) faced the threat of termination of its publication. Already on October 23, the newspaper can be stopped, because of its debts to the state publishing house "Azerbaijan"; and the edition office faces the threat of blocking of its bank account because of non-payment of a fine.

The Olympic torch has exploded in the hands of a schoolgirl at the stage of the relay in Kostroma. The schoolgirl got superficial burn to her hand and was able to complete the relay stage.

The Moscow City Court has for the sixth time postponed the consideration in the case of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, an observer of the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta" because of the ongoing quarantine at the SIZO (pre-trial prison), where the defendant Sergey Khadjikurbanov is kept in custody.

Completion of the Olympic construction in Sochi will have a negative impact on the economies of the CIS countries, primarily, the economies of Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. The above and other countries will face the decrease in the flow of remittances from migrants working in Russia. This was reported by the working group of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The terror act in Volgograd on October 21 was committed in the 14th anniversary of the events in Grozny, when, according to witnesses and human rights defenders, the Grozny marketplace, the maternity hospital and one of the city mosques were attacked by missiles. So far, the armed underground has not taken responsibility for the explosion in Volgograd.

According to a number of Russian experts, the explosion in Volgograd jeopardizes the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Winter Games. In turn, the West fears of possible terror acts of extremists aimed at guests and participants of the Olympic Games. This was reported by the British newspaper "The Telegraph".

On October 20, in Sochi, families with many children gathered in an office building located in Gorky Street to unite and together solve the problem of obtaining land plots. The meeting was attended by more than 50 persons, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Administration of the penitentiary colony IK-14 of the Novosibirsk Region, where Asadula Kaptarov is serving his sentence, prevents fulfilment of religious precepts and seizes religious literature. This was stated by a grandmother of the sentenced man. Officials of the IK have explained that prisoners did not request to open space for prayers.

The count of victims of the bus explosion in Volgograd has 14 children. Of them, 12 are in the hospital. This was reported by an official from the emergency services of the region. There are many students among the victims. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has learnt about it from eyewitnesses.

Quality of documentary films and TV shows, submitted to the documentary film contest "Kunaki" this year, has increased significantly. However, not all works complied with the idea of the festival. The next year, the organizers intend to reduce the number of works submitted for the contest and tighten the requirements for quality.

Lawyer Andrei Krasnenkov, who represents interests of Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, has filed complaints to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) asking to institute criminal cases against the judges, who considered the civil lawsuit against the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", and against human rights defenders from the HRC "Memorial".