TODAY: Yevkurov stable, investigation into assassination attempt opened; Medvedev about to take on Africa; US and Kyrgyzstan broker new deal on transit at Manas base; lack of OSCE monitors in Georgia may allow tension to boil over; Russia marks Day of Sorrow

Investigation is underway into the suicide bombing that gravely injured Ingush President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov.  The explosion was reportedly caused by a vehicle packed with explosives colliding with the President’s car.  Medvedev has vowed a ‘direct and severe’ response and Putin called the terrorists ‘on a par with the Nazis’.  The BBC reports on why the incident is such a worry for Russia.  Is Ingushetia the ‘new Chechyna’?  asks the Telegraph.  The Guardian has a Q&A.  A Brussels-based think tank has suggested that the lack of UN and OSCE observers in Abkhazia and South Ossetia could increase tensions and could ‘create a dangerous atmosphere in which extensive fighting could erupt again’.