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The complicated ecological situation because of the "Electrozink" factory, social support of veterans of local wars and retired military servicemen, departure of the population from the mountain part of the republic, life of forced migrants and broken ties with relatives living in Georgia - these are the main problems enumerated by residents of the capital of North Ossetia on March 21, when they met activists of the Project "Peace to the Caucasus", among which there were members of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.

In South Ossetia, activists of the opposition have postponed their rally, earlier appointed on March 20 and 21, till some uncertain future. This was reported by Grigory Dzasokhov, the organizer.

Power agencies of Chechnya have no data that Dokku Umarov, leader of the militants in Northern Caucasus, was assassinated, although in the end of last week some media spread information that Umarov could have been killed back on March 10.

Today, from late at night a section of the Irchi Kazak Street in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, where the counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime was introduced, was completely blocked by several ATCs (armoured troop-carriers) with unjacketed machine guns. Numerous law enforcers and FSB agents of Dagestan arrived to the area in KAMAZ trucks. According to the FSB, Emir of Grozny Salambek Akhmadov was liquidated, and one of law enforcers was wounded.

The young generation of Georgians practically cannot speak Russian; nevertheless, according to latest sociology polls, the number of Georgian residents who want better Russian-Georgian relations has radically increased. This was stated by ex-prime-minister of Georgia Zurab Nogaideli, now the leader of the oppositional movement "For Fair Georgia" in the course of the recent space TV bridge Moscow-Tbilisi, where the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was present.

The Supreme Court of Karelia has postponed announcement of the verdict to six defendants on the case about the mass fight in Kondopoga. Earlier the court planned to announce the verdict on March 15; however, it did not happen, and the new date is March 22.

On Saturday, March 20, under petition of inquiry bodies of the Krasnodar Territory, Sergey Motin, head of Operative-Search Bureau (OSB) No. 11 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Russia, was taken into custody on suspicion of large-scale contraband.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) holds a worldwide mass action "Earth Hour". This year, on March 27, the city-resort of Pyatigorsk, the capital of the NCFD (North-Caucasian Federal District), will join the action. Citizens of the cities-participants of the action will be invited to switch off all the illumination for one hour - from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Moscow time with the aim to contribute to the planet's healthy climate. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has learnt about it at Information and Analytical Division of the Pyatigorsk City Duma.

On March 21 in Tbilisi, a conference named "Concealed Nations, Crimes-in-Progress: Circassians and Peoples of Northern Caucasus between Past and Future" passed a resolution and addressed the parliament of Georgia with a request to recognize the genocide committed in the 19th century by Russian Empire against Circassians.

Currently, Armenian Lake Sevan has about 200 tons of lake herring and 300 tons of trout. The works are on to clean the lake and preservation the fish stocks.

Residents of Chechnya assert that the tactics used by local power agencies in fighting supposed militants does not change and still comprises threats and pressure on relatives and putting their houses on fire. The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" learnt about it from relatives of Magomed Khashuev, a medrese teacher from the city of Shali.

On March 19-22, the working group of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation for development of public dialogue and civil society institutes in the Caucasus is holding in North Ossetia a series of public debates within the Project "Peace to the Caucasus".

Tonight a meeting took place in Astrakhan of the members of the commission of the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of the Russian Federation with the participants of the political hunger strike. The commission leaders promised to study the protesters' claims, and the hunger strike was suspended.

The Georgian TV Company "Imedi" has asked pardon for the public and diplomatic corps for the hoax news programme "Chronicle" showing a simulated military invasion into Georgia, which was put on air on March 13 and caused panic among the population of the country.

The builders of Olympic objects in Sochi, who were on strike because of non-payment of their promises wages, also complain of impossibility to receive medical servicing.

The Frontier Department of the FSB in South Ossetia has stated detention by Russian frontier guards of four infringers of South-Ossetian frontier.

The Committee on Torture Prevention and Inhuman Treatment of the Council of Europe (CE) has called the authorities of Armenia, taking into account the seriousness of the events on March 1, 2008, to hold a public investigation of them. The Committee doubts the truthfulness of the inquiry held by the authorities.

On March 3, the militia of Azerbaijan detained two Jehovah's Witnesses and fined each of them by the sum equal to the average salary for three weeks that is, by 200 manats (about 250 US dollars).

Today, people in Azerbaijan start celebrating Novruz Bairam - a holiday of spring and New Year. In antiquity in the East, March 21-22 were considered to be the first days of New Year which came in spring. This year, according to the Shemakha Astrophysical Observatory, in the territory of Azerbaijan the spring arrives on March 20 at 9:31 p.m.

This May, the mayoralty of Volgograd plans to launch delivery of high-quality potable water to the village of Gumrak, where residents supper from its sharp deficit for several decades.