News

Elena Ivanova, a resident of the city of Nevinnomyssk, Stavropol Territory, states that her daughter - Ruzana Ivanova, born in 1997, - disappeared in the morning of November 10 in Makhachkala. A few days later the Ivanov family received a demand of 50,000-rouble ransom for her liberation.

The documentary by Valery Balayan "Love Me, Please" dedicated to Anastasia Baburova, who was assassinated on January 19, 2009, together with lawyer Stanislav Markelov, has been taken away from the programme of two festivals held in Moscow. The organizers referred to "security considerations" as the main reason of cancellation.

On November, 13, a circular table meeting "Problems of education in the context of national security" was held during which a reform on Nagorno-Karabakh educational system was discussed. High-level personnel of Nagorno-Karabakh educational sphere, representatives of institutes of higher education, colleges, senior schools and civil activists had been invited to the meeting.

On November, 14, a meeting devoted to the culture of the Abasin people was held in one of the Moscow restaurants within the framework of "Face to Face" lecture centre. Bella Shahmirza, organizer of the meeting, said that over 100 people identifying themselves as members of more than 20 ethnic communities were present.

In the afternoon of November, 14, a militia officer in Dagestan who was undergoing treatment connected with arm fracture in Khasavjurt municipal hospital was killed by unidentified people, standby unit of Khasavjurt Department of Interior Affairs reported.

Today, in a special operation, conducted by law enforcers in the city of Buinaksk, Dagestan, three militants were killed. This was reported by law enforcement structures of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD).

Today, activists of the All-Russian Public Organization "Voice of Beslan" have held a picket in Vladikavkaz with a demand to pass a law on the status of victims of terror acts and investigate the terror acts committed in the territory of the republic.

Young artists, designers, journalists and students of the Rostov Region have presented several dozens of works on the topic of fighting corruption within the contest of social advertisements "Clean Hands", said the spokesperson of the press service of the Committee on Youth Politics of the regional capital.

Unidentified persons attacked Igor Pykhalov, author of books on Soviet history and Internet project "For Stalin!" whose work on Stalin's deportation of Chechens and Ingushes caused mixed reaction, including in the Caucasus.

The Chief Department of the MIA in the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) has organized the work of the telephone "trust line" to be used by citizens to report information about prepared or committed crimes, as reported by Vladislav Prokofiev, head of the department of records and regime of the above Department.

On November 12, workers of the Taganrog Automobile Factory, located in the Rostov Region, stopped their work for several hours, demanding payment of outstanding wages.

On November 12, in Tbilisi, the book by Thomas de Vaal, a senior expert on the Caucasus at the Carnegie Centre "The Caucasus: Introduction to Conflict" was presented.

The Legal Committee of the Parliament of Georgia has drafted a bill "On Free Media Outlets", which refers to transparency of media ownership.

Ali-Hadji Evteev, ex-Mufti of North Ossetia, who resigned after his scandalous interview about his vision of Islam, has left Russia, as reported on November 12 by a source from the Ministry for Nationalities of North Ossetia.

The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) is creating a computer game named "Police", where the main heroes will be policemen, fighting against the crime, including a Russian spy acting in Georgia.

In Karachay-Cherkessia, in the village of Uchkeken, Malokarachaev District, a Republic's medrese for orphans and children from poor families was opened.

At its regular meeting held on Saturday, the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan considered 31 applications received in connection with the recent parliamentary elections.

The Prosecutor's Office and the regional branch of the Penitentiary Service have stepped up their control over the detention facilities located in the Rostov Region. Local human rights activists mark changes for the better with observance of human rights in local prisons and jails.

As reported by the spokesman of the republic's MIA, tonight unidentified persons opened fire on militiamen in the Lakskiy District of Dagestan; there were no casualties or victims.

Today, the members of the organization named "Beslan Mothers" have expressed their protest against the repair and construction works carried out in School No. 1, which was attacked by terrorists in September 2004.