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In total, 238 contracts to the sum of 481.8 billion roubles have been signed at the 8th International Investment Forum in Sochi. The organizers of the Forum report that the majority of them were signed by representatives of the Krasnodar Territory, which will accumulate more than two thirds of the total involved investments.

Reshad Gasanov, Judge of the Azizbek District Court of Baku, has refused to replace the imprisonment of Ganimat Zakhidov, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Azadlyg" (Freedom) for a more lenient punishment, not related to deprivation of liberty. The respective petition of Zakhidov's advocates was considered on September 18 at the travel session of the court held at Penitentiary Establishment No. 17, where the editor-in-chief is serving his term.

Four militiamen have suffered today from a shelling of an UAZ patrol car in central Nazran, as reported by sources in law enforcement bodies of Ingushetia. The victims were hospitalized.

School No. 1 in Beslan, where terrorists 5 years ago took children as hostages, should become a memorial complex of the federal value; and its conservation should be done for the funds of the Russian Federation. This is the opinion of Ella Kesaeva, head of the All-Russian Public Organization "Voice of Beslan".

The farewell ceremony to Ismail Bostanov, Deputy Head of the Spiritual Department of Moslems of Karachai-Circassia and Stavropol Territory, who perished in an attempt on him committed on September 20, was held in his native village of Znamenskoe. Bostanov's murder was committed on the final day of the sacred Moslem month of Ramadan. The culprits could not be found hot on the trail.

The criminal case against journalist Besik Pipiya, head of the representative office of the RIA "Novosti" in Tbilisi, has been stopped because of absence of crime attributes. This was reported by Mr Pipiya himself and his advocate Levan Buadze.

Relatives of Nariman Mamedyarov, who disappeared on September 10 in Makhachkala, had planned to send him out of the republic. Fizuli Asaliev, Mamedyarov's stepbrother, said about it to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. According to his story, in September they expected that Mamedyarov's recognizance not to leave would be lifted.

Russian frontier patrol ship "Novorossisk" has reached the coast of Abkhazia and immediately started its on duty mission of guarding the marine border of this breakaway republic.

Today, at about 2 a.m., near the city of Kizilyurt, some 60 kilometres off Makhachkala, eight freight-cars of a cargo train loaded with pipes and building materials went off the track because the railway was flooded. No victims are reported.

The situation in Ingushetia should not and cannot be a barrier to potential investors, President Yunus-Bek Evkurov believes; during the International Investment Forum in Sochi he guaranteed safety to the companies, which want to work in the territory of this North-Caucasian region.

The Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) of Russia has reported solving the murder of Senior Justice Advisor Maksud Maksudov, Deputy Public Prosecutor of Makhachkala for supervising law enforcement in corrective-labour establishments.

At the Sochi Investment Forum, Russian regions have signed contracts to the total sum of about 481 billion roubles. As reported by the organizers of the Forum, almost two thirds of all the investments will go to the Krasnodar Territory.

This year, the Uraza-Bairam ('Id al-Fitr) holiday that marks the end of the Moslem sacred fasting month of Ramadan falls on Sunday, September 20. The authorities of the republics of Northern Caucasus have declared days-off for the time of the holiday.

Today, a number of Georgian media placed information that businessman Boris Berezovsky secretly visited Tbilisi in September. The authorities deny this fact.

The ceremony of signing the agreement with the Volkswagen Automobile Concern on general partnership with the Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2014 took place at the Investment Forum in Sochi on September 18. The agreement was signed by Dmitri Chernyshenko, President of the Organizing Committee "Sochi-2014" and Dithmar Korcevka, Director General of the Company "Volkswagen Group Rus".

Three militants, one of the leaders of the armed underground among them, were killed in the course of an operative-combat action today in the morning in the Kizlyar District of Dagestan. This was reported by the Department of the FSB (DFSB) of Russia for Dagestan.

In the evening on September 18, Baku hosted the opening ceremony of the 11th International Film Festival named "East-West" with participation of prominent movie industry figures from many countries. The festival will last till September 23.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) - the organizer of "Eurovision" - considers a possibility to put a ban to compete for the countries, where the information about the voters is disclosed.

The wife of Nariman Mamedyarov, who disappeared again in Makhachkala, said that her husband was kidnapped on September 10 according to the same scenario as last year - after his call home, on his way home from work in a fixed-route taxi. According to her story, before the kidnapping Nariman should have evidenced at the trial of Magomed Kurbanov, accused of participating in an IAF (illegal armed formation).

The State Office of Public Prosecutor of South Ossetia has opened an investigation on the fact of burning books from the library of the South-Ossetian State University (SOSU) in Tskhinvali.