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Russia needs no help from the NATO in ensure security of the Sochi Olympics – it is enough to operate the Security Headquarters, where the participating countries of the Olympic Games will be presented, said the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

On Tuesday, in Magas, the capital of Ingushetia, about ten thousand people welcomed the Olympic Torch Relay in the main street. They came from many villages and towns of the republic.

The "Fund for Fighting Corruption" created by the oppositionist Alexei Navalny has launched a new project "Encyclopaedia of Expenses – Price of Olympiad", which tracks the costs of organizing and hosting the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. Ilya Djus, the official representative of the Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, has treated the research of the Fund as "incorrect".

Human rights violations, increased pressure on the Salafi community and formation of people's militia – these are the unsatisfactory results of Ramazan Abdulatipov, who is heading the Republic of Dagestan exactly for one year. This is a joint opinion of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", the Human Rights Watch (HRW), the International Crisis Group (ICG) and the human rights organization "Mothers of Dagestan".

The authorities of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) had to shorten – because of bad weather – the route of the Olympic Torch Relay in the territory of the republic. Local mountain climbers fear that severe weather conditions may complicate the scheduled lift of the 2014 Games Flame to Mount Elbrus.

The refugees living in Ingushetia intend to hold, on the opening day of the Olympic Games in Sochi – on February 7 – a flash mob, aiming to draw the authorities' attention to their unresolved housing problems, said Zarema Evloeva, one of the organizers of the action.

Grozny residents argue that civil servants, employees of budget-funded organizations and university students of the republic were forcibly recruited to participate in the celebrations on the arrival of the Olympic Torch Relay in Chechnya.

Thomas Bach, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has stated that during the Winter Olympics in Sochi members of sexual minorities, whether guests or athletes, will face no discrimination. An LGBT activist Nikolai Alekseev is also sure that the Olympics will pass without any scandals of homosexual nature.

Relatives of the residents of the Khasavyurt District, who had been detained after the explosion in front of the GIBDD (traffic police) building in Pyatigorsk, have filed an application to the HRC "Memorial" in Dagestan for assistance in establishing their whereabouts and admission of advocates to them, said Elena Denisenko, the HRC's lawyer in Dagestan.

The statements of Ramazan Abdulatipov, who has been leading the Republic of Dagestan exactly for one year, were not in line with his practical activities. Major questions arise in relation to his cadre policy; while creating districts in the territory of the republic does not look an optimal management decision, said the experts questioned by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In the Azerbaijani town of Evlakh, a 45-year-old Nizami Kerimov made a self-immolation attempt in front of the district centre of social protection of population in protest against the refusal to pay him the targeted social benefits, said his sister. The victim's condition is grave; he is conscious but cannot speak, doctors report.

Boris Loktionov, the state prosecutor, said at the trial for the journalist's murder at the Moscow City Court (MCC) that the motive behind Anna Politkovskaya's murder was in her publications. The defendants' advocates have reiterated their clients' innocence.

At least 14 people suffered from the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus during the week from January 20 to January 26, 2014; of them, nine persons were lost and five wounded. These are the results of the calculations made by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

In Dagestan, the welcoming ceremony of the Olympic Flame was held at the "Anji Arena" Stadium, in the presence of about 20,000 spectators, the spokesman of the relay organizing committee told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In Dagestan, at the "Anji Arena" Stadium the ceremony of honouring the Olympic Flame was over. Students of the Kaspiysk Medical College were sent to the event as spectators in order to increase the audience, young people report.

Investigators have detained an employee of a private security company and declared his two more colleagues wanted on suspicion of killing two policemen in the Stavropol Territory, representatives of law enforcement bodies of the region have reported.

At the trial dealing with the murder of the journalist Anna Politkovskaya, five members were excluded from the jury. This was announced at the first session on the merits on Monday at the Moscow City Court.

The International human rights organization "Freedom House" (FH) with the headquarters in the United States has published its annual report on the situation of political rights throughout the world. According to the FH, by the end of 2013, none of the South-Caucasian countries is free.

Pavel Astakhov, Russian Commissioner for Children Rights, has reported to the experts of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on the situation of children in Chechnya. He has stated the absence of violations. The assessment of the situation expressed by Pavel Astakhov does not coincide with the earlier expressed opinions of officials and human rights defenders, who paid attention to the lack of places in kindergartens in Chechnya and refusals to let children to stay with their mothers in case of parents' divorce.

Sexual minorities have denied the statement made by Anatoly Pakhomov, Mayor of Sochi, who declared the absence of gays in the capital of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. One of the gay clubs is situated not far from the house, where Anatoly Pakhomov lives. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by regular visitors of the gay clubs.