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After in November 2008 journalists and public figures of Adygea sent a letter to President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev about the investigatory of the road accident involving the head of the Republic's "Rospotrebnadzor", on April 26 this year an answer came from the Chief Investigatory Department for the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) saying that the inquiry is within the competence of the Prosecutor's Office of Adygea. The Office, however, had stated earlier that journalists cannot interfere into the inquiry since they had nothing to do with the case.

Today, power engineers of Karachay-Cherkessia have planted, in the course of the action "Electric Grid in Defence of Environment", 360 young trees.

An explosive device was activated on May, 4, in the highway near the settlement of Nizhnie Makharhimahi, Dagestan, while a police car was passing, then unidentified people opened fire upon the policemen, one person perished, a source in law enforcement bodies of the republic reported today.

The investigation of the criminal case of murder of Anna Politkovskaya, observer of "Novaya Gazeta", has been prolonged till September, 7, 2011, official representative of Committee of Inquiry Vladimir Markin reported.

On May, 1, the Committee of the USA for international religious freedoms (constituted by the US Congress in 1998) issued its annual report on religious freedoms in 28 countries of the World.

On Tuesday, May, 3, the religious holyday All Souls' Day ("Radonitsa") in North Osetia, a commemoration requiem for the lost hostages and special squad soldiers, victims of terror of September, 2004, passed off at school No 1 of Beslan.

According to a survey undertaken by the organization "Transparency International", a slight progress was registered in the sphere of struggle against corruption in Armenia in 2010. The experts of the organization state that the police and the courts still remain the most corrupt bodies in Armenia.

On May, 4, during search in a suspected man's flat the personnel of law enforcement bodies confiscated a trotyl block of 200 gram weight, about five kilogram explosive on basis of cyclonite, a detonating cord, 15 mobiles, four passports, two portable radio transmitters and different seals and warrants on driving vehicles, law enforcement bodies of the capital reported.

On May 3, the World Press Freedom Day, human rights defenders held an action in support of independence of mass media near the building of the parliament in Tbilisi.

In Georgia, the social movement "Solidarity with Illegal Prisoners" demands resignation of Khatuna Kalmakhelidze, Minister for Corrections, Probation and Legal Aid of Georgia, because of death of a prisoner.

In Nazran, juveniles committed an abduction of a 14-year-old schoolgirl with the aim to enforce her into marriage. Now, the issue is considered to register the teens by the police. The Ingush MIA has addressed young people asking them to give up this way of marriage and warned about criminal responsibility for abductions.

During eight recent months, 60 blocks of flats were burnt down in the centre of Astrakhan; 28 persons perished. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by Oleg Shein, a State Duma Deputy from the Astrakhan Region and the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" (Fair Russia) Party.

The international organization "Reporters Without Borders" (RWB) has published a list of "enemies of the freedom of the press" as of the end of 2010. It includes heads of states and governments, kings, paramilitaries and mafia-like structures - in total, 38 positions.

Eliso Chapidze, a member of the Board for Journalistic Ethics, believes that last year Georgia really improved some indicators on the media freedom as fixed in the report of the Freedom House. However, she pointed out that last year several journalists were beaten; and the House failed to mention the events of March 2010, when the "Imedi" TV Company showed a simulated story about invasion of Russian troops to Georgia.

In 2010, the number of complaints addressed to the Children's Ombudsperson of the Rostov Region made 1052, or a 27-percent increase over the level of the previous two years: 769 complaints in 2009 and 749 in 2008. In 2010, practically all violations of minors' rights were remedied, the Ombudsperson's office reports.

A local resident has revealed the details of sale out on April 29 of meat of the bull-calves, which died from drug against mites. The meat was bought by meat wholesalers, who took the dangerous foodstuff to marketplaces. The Russian Federal Service for Consumer Supervision ("Rospotrebnadzor") has forwarded a request to the Prosecutor's Office.

In Volgograd, an initiative group of young mothers, who are fighting for children's rights, has addressed Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and invited him to meet with them and discuss the problem of acute shortage of places in kindergartens of the region.

On May 3, a special operation in the mountain-woody Vedeno District of Chechnya resulted in murder of Abdullah Kurd (also known as Doger Sevdet), an emissary of al-Qaida and coordinator of terror acts in Northern Caucasus. This was reported by the National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC).

Tamara Karasteleva, human rights activist from Novorossiisk Committee of Human Rights (NCHR), had to leave the county, expert of this organization Vadim Karastelev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. He said that this decision was taken after his wife received a summons to Criminal Investigation Department for a talk from law enforcement bodies.

A trial on the case of Jabbar Savalan, a youth activist of the Party National Front of Azerbaijan (PNFA) and active Facebook user, under the chairmanship of Ilgar Mamedov came to an end in Sumgait City Court of Azerbaijan today. The court found him guilty according to clause 234.1 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan (illegal storage of drugs) and sentenced him to 2,5 years of imprisonment.