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Today, the Rostov Regional Court has upheld the ruling of the Sovietskiy District Court of Rostov-on-Don to arrest Vladislav Ryazantsev, the coordinator of the movement "Left-Wing Front", for hooliganism for 15 days. Ryazantsev announced his intention to challenge the court ruling.

Igor Kharchenko, an activist of the public organization "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch) and a member of the "Yabloko" Party, who was detained today in Krasnodar, has been accused of disobeying a legitimate order of a policeman, said the Department of Internal Affairs.

The Austrian National Olympic Committee (NOC) has received a letter containing threats to abduct two Austrian female athletes, who go to compete at the Olympic Games in Sochi, Peter Mennel, the Secretary General of the NOC, has reported today.

Out of two hundred refugee families, who were sent in 2011 to live in the Georgian settlement of Potskho-Etseri, only five families continue living there. The rest of the families have moved to other parts of Georgia or returned to Abkhazia, the remaining refugees have reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law reinforcing criminal responsibility for extremist activities, according to the today's statement of the state system of legal information.

35,000 Dutchmen have signed a petition demanding from the top officials of the Netherlands not to attend the Olympic Games in Sochi, because of the Russian law, which infringes, in their opinion, the rights of sexual minorities.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has urged the Organizing Committee (OC) of the Olympic Games in Sochi to take urgent measures to address the problem of unavailability of accommodations for the journalists, who came to work in the Mountain Cluster of the Games.

The initiative to involve Krasnodar educators in the Olympic Torch Relay is a recommendation, but a refusal to go may have consequences for a teacher, said the lawyer Igor Trunov.

Parents of many children and parents of children with disabilities are going to start their protest hunger strike on February 4, as they stated at a press conference on February 3. Their demands include increase of monthly child allowances and provide free public transportation.

In Krasnodar, on February 3, on the eve of the welcoming ceremony of the Olympic Flame, six activists of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch) were detained.

A section of the Olympic Torch Relay was held today in the city of Maikop, the capital of Adygea. The festive event was held at elevated security measures; however, there were plenty of people in the streets, residents report.

On February 2, in Istanbul, at the building of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Turkey, a rally of the Circassian public against the Olympics in Sochi was held with the attendance of over 700 people.

Today, the ecologist Evgeny Vitishko has been sentenced in Tuapse to 15 days of administrative arrest. Evgeny was detained in the morning when leaving the building of the criminal-executive inspection. At detention, policemen alleged that Evgeny Vitishko was suspected of committing a theft, the lawyer Alexander Popkov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Today, the prosecutors showed the jury of the Moscow City Court (MCC) the video record from the surveillance camera at the entrance to the house of the observer of the "Novaya Gazeta" Anna Politkovskaya, who was assassinated in the fall of 2006.

Murat Borlakov, a resident of Karachay-Cherkessia, delivered today to the Ust-Djegutin ROVD (District Interior Division), has died there under unclear circumstances, according to his relatives. In demand to clear out what happened, his relatives and friends blocked Federal Highway A-155 Vladikavkaz-Dombay.

Although the risk of terror acts during the Olympic Games in Sochi is real, the capital city of the Games is safe, said the President of the United States Barack Obama.

Alexei Navalny, a blogger and the leader of the unregistered "People's Alliance" Party, has spread information that the authorities of Krasnodar urge the bosses of the local Department of Education to ensure the presence of 30% of city teachers at the celebration of the Olympic Torch Relay on February 4.

Those who go to court to sue "Sochi-2014" Organizing Committee (OC) demanding to repeal the provision in the rules on issuance of fan's passports, allowing to refuse to issue one without explanation, have no chance to win the trial, said Galina Arapova, the Director of the Centre for Defence of Media Rights.

In the course of the armed conflict in North Caucasus, during the week from January 27 to February 2, 2014, at least seven people suffered: five of them were killed and two wounded. These are the results of the calculations made by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

A branch of the public all-Russian organization "Children of War" was launched in Sochi. The first action of the branch was a picket held in support of the demand to pass a law on this category of citizens.