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In Armenia, it's not yet the time for the freedom of speech, Boris Navasardyan, President of the Yerevan Press Club, said today at the press conference dated to the World Press Freedom Day.

Today in the morning, residents of several villages of the Ochamchira District, located in Eastern Abkhazia, blocked the railway and stopped 13 cars that moved to take up to 700 tons of coal from Ochamchira.

The World Press Freedom Day - May 3 - was traditionally marked by representatives of Azerbaijani democratic public by paying visits to tombs of perished journalists Elmar Guseinov and Nadzhaf Nadzafov.

On the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day marked today, the Reporters Without Borders (RWB) have published a new list of those whom human rights defenders regard to be "press persecutors". Along the Chairman of the Peoples Republic of China Hu Jintao and President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the list now contains Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov.

Today, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin has signed an instruction on payment of lump sum compensations to the citizens injured at the terror act in Nalchik on May 1. For this purpose the government of Kabardino-Balkaria will get up to 10 million roubles.

Today, Murad Magomedaliev, a resident of Novy Kostek village, Khasavyurt District, kidnapped together with his brothers Mukhtar and Magomedrasul back on April 29 in Kizlyar by unidentified armed persons, has come back home.

The leader of the "Alliance for Georgia" Irakli Alasaniya has submitted an application to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) about his intention to run for the post of Tbilisi Mayor.

The today's explosion in the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, where, under the latest data, one person was killed and 22 others were hospitalized, has caused active debates in the Internet. Many users express fears that the Nalchik tragedy may be followed by terror acts in other regions of Northern Caucasus on the day of the 65th anniversary of the Great Victory.

The militiamen who were guarding the Nazran sports complex were shelled by a man from his pistol; he was shot dead by response fire.

On May 30, 16 parties and three electoral blocks will take part in elections of local government bodies. Nine of them have nominated their candidates for the post of Tbilisi Mayor, as the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was reported at the press service of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC).

General-Lieutenant Alik Sarkisyan, head of the police of Armenia, begged citizens' pardon for his earlier statement that the police had not applied violence to Vaan Khalafyan, who was summoned for interrogation.

According to the latest data reported by a source in power agencies of Kabardino-Balkaria, the count of injured persons at today's explosion at the hippodrome in Nalchik makes 21 persons.

According to Shota Utiashvili, head of the analytical department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, a special joint commission will be set up for searching missing citizens of South Ossetia.

On April 29, Jean Radvani, head of the Moscow-based French-Russian Centre of Social and Humanitarian Sciences, presented the book "Geopolitical Atlas of the Caucasus". The presentation of the new edition took place at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences during the seminar on ethnography of the Caucasus.

The republic has launched a check of the work of Imams of mosques and Kadis (Islamic judges) for the conformity to the posts and knowledge of theological sciences. For example, by the results of such check, the Spiritual Department of Moslems (SDM) has dismissed Mukhaid Tsakaev, Imam of the mosque located in Ulyanovskoe village of the Naur District.

On April 30, another attack was undertaken on Ibragim Yaganov, Chairman of the Public Movement (PM) "Khasse".

Today, preliminary investigation has been completed in Krasnodar Krai on the case of beating of Vadim Karastelev, head of Novorossijsk Committee on Human Rights, who represents the interests of former militia major Alexei Dymovski.

About a hundred young people were detained today in Baku for an attempt to hold an action of commemoration of the victims of the April 30, 2009 mass massacre in the Azeri State Oil Academy (ASOA). Late at night most detainees were released. But 10 persons were sent to Nasimin district court for taking them to administrative punishment.

Umakhan Udamanov, resident of the village of Sultanianghiurt, Kizikurt district, Dagestan, whose son Shamil Udamanov is considered missing since 2007, has stated to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that he intends to apply for help to the presidents of Russia and Dagestan, Dmitry Medvedev and Magomedsalam Magomedov.

Today, the jury has adopted an indictment against a group of Astrakhan militiamen headed by Rinat Salekhov, chief of Astrakhan oblast internal affairs department on combating organized crime, the members of which are accused of murders, gansterism, money laundering and falsification of evidence.