News

On January 30, the Astara District Court of Azerbaijan found Mikail Talybov, a local resident and a user of the social network Facebook, after a re-examination of his case, innocent of slandering the Closed Joint-Stock Company (CJSC) "AccessBank".

Vladikavkaz residents react differently to restrictions imposed in the city in connection with the Olympic Torch Relay. Some of them find the measures reasonable; others disagree with them.

At night on January 31, a great storm occurred near the Olympic facilities located in the Imereti Lowland of Sochi. The seashore reinforcement and Tsimlyanskaya Street were flooded, said residents of the street.

On Thursday, in Nalchik, the Torch Relay was held at the "Spartak" Stadium. The city youth welcomed the symbol of Winter Games with a flash mob – several hundreds of them lined up in the shape of the five Olympic rings.

On Thursday, the Russian team at the 11th Paralympic Games in Sochi was approved, where Russia will take part in six sports. 83 athletes will represent Russia at the Paralympics: in ice sledge hockey, biathlon, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, wheelchair curling and in alpine skiing, the RIA "Novosti" reports.

On Thursday, the Olympic Torch Relay was also welcomed in North Ossetia. According to estimates of law enforcement bodies, more than 17,000 spectators gathered at the "Spartak" Stadium in Vladikavkaz. The festive event was accompanied by strengthened security measures.

The initiators of terror acts committed on December 29 and 30, 2013, in Volgograd have been identified by the Buynaksk militants Asker Samedov and Suleiman Magomedov, said the Russian National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC).

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled on the complaint "Z. and Khatueva vs. Russia", by recognizing the responsibility of Russian power structures for the kidnapping and probable death of Zhamalaily Yanaev, a native of Chechnya, who disappeared at the airport in Beslan, as Yulia Klimova, an employee of the press service of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", has reported.

Starting from February 1, special electronic filters will control the roads of Sochi, intended to read information from the accreditation certificates attached to motor vehicles, said Andrei Zhukov, the head of the transport directorate of the 2014 Games. The devices are designed to ensure the non-stop movement of the Olympic transport vehicles.

Ramzan Abdurakhmanov, a resident of the Urus-Martan District of Chechnya, was found guilty of inciting terrorism and sentenced to two years in prison. This was reported by a source in the republic's MIA, adding that this is the first case in Chechnya, when a person was convicted of public calls to extremism.

In the last weeks before the Winter Olympics, Sochi authorities have tightened measure aimed to catch and kill stray dogs and cats, city residents report. However, local animal defenders believe that the money allocated by the administration of Sochi for killing animals should have been used to sterilize them.

The Tbilisi City Court has sentenced three former top managers of Gldani Prison No. 8 to nine years of imprisonment each. Other five defendants were acquitted; one was sentenced to two years in prison; and two others – to six years each.

Maarif Veliev, a Karabakh War invalid, made a self-immolation attempt in the Azerbaijani town of Barda and is now is in hospital, said Etimad Asadov, the head of the public association "Karabakh Veterans". The town authorities refute the information about the self-immolation attempt.

In the opinion of First-Rank Captain Konstantin Sivkov, Doctor of Military Sciences and Vice-President of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, the statement about no need of NATO's help in securing the Sochi Olympics is logical and reasonable. Sergey Melkov, Doctor of Political Sciences and Co-Chair of the Association of Military Political Scientists of Russia, also believes that Russia is capable to ensure the safety of spectators and athletes.

In Dagestan, the earlier detained correspondent of the French Le Figaro, who came to write an article about Zarema Bagavutdinova, an activist of the Dagestani Regional Public Organization (DRPO) "Pravozaschita" (Advocacy), is back at large.

Policemen of the Karabudakhkent ROVD (District Interior Division) of Dagestan are collecting written obligations from the members of the local Salafi that they undertake to notify the law enforcement authorities about their intention to travel outside the region, said Elena Denisenko, the employee of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" in Dagestan.

Without specifying the reasons, the Mayoralty and the Ministry of Culture of the German city of Kassel cancelled the exhibition "Welcome to Sochi-2014", said Vasily Slonov, the author of the works, a painter from Krasnoyarsk. The opening of the exhibition of satirical posters about the Winter Olympics in Sochi had been scheduled for January 31.

The cruise liner Thomson Spirit has moored at the Imereti Port of Sochi ready to accommodate guests of the Winter Olympics. Floating hotel can house more than 1200 people.

At the session of the Moscow City Court (MCC) that considers the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, an observer of the "Novaya Gazeta", the jurors were shown the pistol that killed her. Besides, the court questioned the journalist's daughter Vera Politkovskaya.

At the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi the Russian national team will consist of 78 athletes from 17 regions, Vitaly Mutko, the Russian Minister of Sports, has announced today; in total, the Russia's delegation will include 195 persons.