‘Absolutely unacceptable’ is how Chancellor Angela Merkel described the recent murders of NGO worker Zarema Sadulayeva and her husband  and instructed Medvedev that ‘actions must also follow’.  Medvedev has ordered Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to punish those responsible for the slayings.  The end of last week andthr beginning of this week are particularly bloody in the Caucasus, with over twenty people killed in different shootouts.  The New York Times reports that South Ossetian citizens, for whom ‘a weapon is an essential part of daily life’, are being asked to hand in their arms voluntarily, whilst inhabitants of the war-torn region ask – is it really safe enough?  South Ossetia and Abkhazia will spend $30,000 per month on a US public relations firm hired to improve their image in the West.