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Leaders of the regions of the North-Caucasian Federal District have criticized the recommendations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Great Britain to refrain from visiting the regions of the district and offered tourists to personally make sure that visiting Northern Caucasus is absolutely safe.

The Moscow tourist Alexandra Peterimova, who was carried away on May 3 by a water stream when crossing a river in the highland Abkhazia, has not yet been found. The body of the drowned tourist Vadim Maslyakov was brought today to Sukhumi.

On the eve of the presidential election upcoming this October, the authorities of Azerbaijan step up repressions against political and civil activists. Since the beginning of 2013, about 40 persons have been arrested for participating in protests, political and human rights activities arrested, Oktay Gyulalyev, the coordinator of the social alliance "Azerbaijan without Political Prisoners", said at a press conference on May 3 in Baku.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Armenia has registered 6612 local observers from 26 organizations aiming to monitor the elections to the Board of Elders of Yerevan – by 362 observers more than at the recent presidential election, a source from the CEC told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The return of Georgian products to the Russian market will start with honey – the shipments thereof will start immediately after the May holidays, said Zurab Chekurishvili, the head of the Georgia's "National Foodstuff Agency".

On May 3, a rally had been planned in the village of Karata, the administrative centre of the Akhvakh District with a demand of resignation of the head of the local municipal formation Ismail Magomedsharipov. However, law enforcement authorities disrupted the event.

Stefan Füle, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, urged the leadership of Azerbaijan to ensure that the presidential election upcoming this October are held in accordance with the country's commitments before the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) and the Council of Europe.

Within the first international gathering of owners of BMW motorcycles, bikers from different countries arrived in Vladikavkaz, in the capital of North Ossetia they were joined by local motorcyclists. The bike rally "Moscow-Vladikavkaz" lasted for three days.

The cases of life-long prisoners will be reviewed; the issue will be considered by the Parliament of Georgia, said Eka Beseliya, the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, after visiting Gldani Prison No. 8.

In Tbilisi, the "Club of Young Politicians" has held a rally to mark the Victory Day, where its members called to sue President Mikhail Saakashvili, who had belittled, according to the members of the Club, the importance of Georgia's participation in the struggle against fascism.

Over the past few years, the situation in the field of the freedom of expression in the media of Armenia has improved, said members of journalistic organizations. However, in their opinion, to ensure the freedom of speech, a new law regulating the media should be adopted.

In Pyatigorsk, on May 1, Timur Magomedov, a resident of the Stavropol Territory was kidnapped, said his relative Ilmutdin Kairbekov, a resident of Buynaksk, who turned for help to the Dagestani Regional Public Association (DRPA) "Pravozaschita" (Advocacy).

At the military unit deployed in Tartar, a regular soldier was wounded as a result of an accident. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan.

The Russian Federation was ranked the ninth among the worst ones in the "Impunity Index" compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). In recent years, journalists in North Caucasus were protected less of all, the organization reports.

Cities and districts of the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR) hold celebrations to mark the 56th anniversary of return of Karachays to their historic homeland. Today is declared to be a day-off in the republic.

The civil society in Kabardino-Balkaria is represented by more than 800 public organizations, of which no more than 80 organizations really work; however, even they do not affect the power structures in making certain decisions. This was stated by participants of the scientific and practical conference "Formation and development of civil society is a way to inter-ethnic and inter-religious peace".

Representatives of the State Limited Liability Company (LLC) "Mechanic" and the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) of Georgia, detained on the case of corruption in the MoA, are charged of embezzlement and misuse of funds. This was reported by advocate David Khazhaliya.

In 2013, the organization "Reporters without Borders" (RWB) included Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, in its annual list of the enemies of freedom of information. In Chechnya, the fear of the regime has become the cause of self-censorship, which "is switched on at full capacity", and, in general in Russia, attacks and attempts on journalists "are regularly repeated," the RWB reports.

Today, the challenge to the panel of judges of the Court of Appeal in the case against Avaz Zeinalov, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Khural", who was sentenced to nine years of imprisonment for tax evasion and receiving a large bribe, was rejected. On May 13, the consideration of the appeal against the sentence will be continued by the current composition of the panel of judges.

In Nalchik, participants of the today's rally spoke against tyranny of law enforcement agents and human rights violations in Kabardino-Balkaria. The protest action was attended by about twenty persons, not including journalists and policemen on duty.