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The four persons killed during a special operation in the village of Bylym, Elbrus District of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), had been involved in a number of high-profile crimes, the operational headquarters for the KBR reports. They planned in the near future to commit several terror acts and attacks on law enforcers, the National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC) of the Russian Federation reports.

The international human rights organization "Amnesty International" (AI) has demanded from the Ministry of National Security (MNS) of Azerbaijan to investigate the allegations that the journalist and human rights activist Parviz Gashimli was exposed to torture and inhuman treatment while at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) of the MNS.

Doku Umarov, the leader of the Russia's banned organization "Imarat Kavkaz", is planning to commit terror acts during the Winter Olympics in Sochi Russian, the National Post newspaper wrote with reference to its sources in the Canadian intelligence service.

The four casualties of the special operation held in the village of Bylym, Elbrus District of Kabardino-Balkaria, include the 32-year-old Takhir Atakuev, the owner of the blocked house. His wife and a baby were let out of the house before the assault, a villager told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

An extraordinary congress of the Circassian people can be convoked in response to detentions of Circassian activists in Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia and Adygea. This was reported by Mukhamed Cherkesov, Chairman of the Circassian (Adyg) public organization "Adyge Khase". Activist Ruslan Kambiev, who was detained earlier, reports on the support actions that took place in Turkey and the USA.

At night on December 16, in Sochi, after a long illness and after being beaten in April 2010, the 65-year-old journalist Arkady Lander died. This was reported by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Participants of an opposition rally held in Baku have demanded that the government should cancel the decision to raise tariffs for oil products and abandon intentions to raise the prices of other energy products and utilities. The protestors have also called for transparency in trading operations of the state oil company "SOCAR".

During the week of December 9-15, 2013, at least 15 people fell victim to the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus; of them, nine people were lost and six more were wounded. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

In Sochi, a rally was held in front of the city administration. People protested against permanent collapses of light, water, gas, and heating supply. According to various estimates, the protest action was attended by 50-100 persons.

Independent journalists of Northern Caucasus are subjected to pressure; and a number of methods to discredit them are used: in particular, they are accused of supporting extremists and Wahhabism. Russian authorities should include journalists in the number of persons to be released on amnesty. This was stated by participants of the international conference "Freedom of speech: Russian realities, problems and prospects".

French President Francois Hollande will not attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Sochi. This was announced by Laurent Fabius, the head of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), in his interview to the Radio Station "Europe 1".

The Krasnodar Regional Court has scheduled the consideration of the appeal against the court's decision on the recognition extremist the book entitled "Semantic translation of holy Koran in Russian" by Elmir Guliev, for December 17.

On the outskirts of Tbilisi, Georgian authorities have set up tents for homeless people, where they could take refuge from the cold. Magda Popiashvili, the head of the press service of the Georgia's Ministry for Regional Development, said that in total they installed 13 tents, which house 104 people.

Today, Yerevan held a protest against the law "On Mandatory Accumulative Pension System". The action, organized by the initiative groups DEM.AM and "Against 5-percent compulsory payments", was attended by dozens of people dressed as Santa Clauses and waving flags with the inscription "Against!"

A delegation of Meskhetian Turks from the USA has visited the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) and met the Diaspora members willing to move to other countries, said Bektas Ampashulin, the leader of the "Vatan" national cultural centre of Meskhetian Turks in the KBR.

As stated by Anahit Gyulazyan, the head of the Mayoralty office of the city of Spitak, today, 25 years after the devastating earthquake in Northern Armenia, the city is still facing the unsolved problems of unemployment and temporary housing.

The "Sledge" Centre in Sochi, which will host the Olympic competitions in sledge, bobsleigh and skeleton, is completely ready for the races, said Ivo Ferriani, the president of the International Federation of Bobsleigh and Toboggan.

The December 13 detentions of activists and leaders of Circassian public organizations are associated with the forthcoming Olympic Games in Sochi, said Ibragim Yaganov, the chairman of the Public Movement "Khase".

Builders have destroyed the access ways to the Sochi Township named Esto-Sadok by their heavy trucks, having spoiled Beryozovaya Street, locals assert. According to residents, they endure hardships since Sochi was announced to be the Olympic capital.

This year has marked an increased number of HIV/AIDS cases among residents of the Chechen Republic in comparison with 2012, says the local Ministry of Public Health.