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Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, has scheduled for February 22 a visit to the closing ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games. This was reported by the Japanese news agency "Kyodo". Earlier, media have reported that Shinzo Abe will not be able to visit Sochi because of involvement in the activities of the national parliament.

The Olympic anti-doping laboratory in Sochi has been accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and it is ready to work during the Winter Olympic Games. This was reported by Yuri Nagornykh, Deputy Minister for Sport. The anti-doping laboratory is to take doping tests from athletes from January 27 till April 15, 2014.

During the week from January 6 to January 12, 2014, at least 14 people fell victim to the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus; 10 of them were killed and four others were 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 Armenia, the health state of Shant Harutyunyan, the leader of the "Tsegakron" Party, remains severe. This was reported by advocate Inessa Petrosyan after she visited her client. According to her, the very conditions in the medical institution, to where Shant Harutyunyan was transferred from SIZO (pre-trial prison), do not contribute to his recovery.

The Government of Dagestan has developed a programme aimed to support the Russian population of Dagestan in 2014-2017; however, because of this year's budget cuts, the programme will get only minimal funding. This was reported by Marina Abramkina, the acting head of the Tarumovka District of Dagestan.

Sakinat Gadjieva, a resident of the village Gimry of the Untsukul District of Dagestan, whose relatives filed a complaint about her disappearance, claims that she has managed to escape from her kidnappers. According to the young woman, the kidnappers kept her together with her young son in a private house and asked about militants.

On January 11, Karabulak hosted the ceremony to award the winners of the contest "Heroes of Civil Society" organized by the human rights organization "Mashr". Tatiana Gantimurova, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, became one of the winners of the contest.

Starting from January 11, in Sochi, staff members of Limited Liability Company (LLC) "Stroy-Project" are busy to eliminate sewage breakthrough in the area of the alternative road to Kurortny Avenue. The sewerage system has been damaged through the fault of builders of the alternative road. This was reported by agents of the customer of the facility construction.

Starting from April 2013, the village of Nor-Aikadjur of the Martakert District of Nagorno-Karabakh is cut off from supply of drinking water. According to the villagers, they have to bring drinking water from the neighbouring villages. The village administration and the district authorities promise to solve the problem in the nearest future.

A policeman was wounded in an attack on a mobile post of the road-and-post service (known as DPS) in the Baksan District of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), a source from the local Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Mukhammad Magomedov, an activist of the Dagestani Public Organization "Union of the Just" and a co-organizer of the rally in Moscow against Caucasophobia scheduled for January 26, is suspected of involvement in an extremist organization. According to Magomedov, he is now under recognizance not to leave.

The Stavropol authorities have cancelled the counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime, which was introduced in several districts of the Territory after a series of murders of men, whose bodies were found in cars. This is reported by the press service of the operative headquarters of the FSB for the Stavropol Territory.

The murders of six people in the Stavropol Territory have to do with militants' attempts to disrupt the Olympics in Sochi, local law enforcers believe. Experts have also noted that investigators fail to disclose important circumstances of these resonant crimes.

In the city of Adler, policemen of the Tsentralny ROVD (District Interior Division) of Sochi detained Yakov Babakov, a native of Dagestan, whose brother had recently converted to Islam, said Babakov's relatives.

The 2014 Olympics is "an attractive target for terrorists"; therefore, the Americans willing to visit the Sochi Olympics "should be careful about their safety", the US Department of State has stated. By urging its citizens "to be vigilant", the US Office reminds them about the terror acts in Volgograd, which is about 680 kilometres away from Sochi.

Members of the organization named "Former Political Prisoners" have criticized the acquittal by the Gori City Court of former employees of the Ksani Prison No. 15.

At the hearing of the case on the demolition of the monumental pump-room built in Sochi parkland, the Tsentralny District Court dismissed the prosecutor's suit.

Relatives of Sakinat Gadjieva, a resident of the village of Gimry, Untsukul District of Dagestan, who disappeared on January 9 along with her 4-year-old child, cannot locate her whereabouts.

The Adler District Court of Sochi has dismissed the suit lodged by the Directorate for Construction and Reconstruction of Highways of the Black Sea Coast of the Federal Road Agency 'against the Adler District Administration, demanding to repeal its resolution on recognizing the above house uninhabitable.

Today, Yerevan has hosted a march in support of Shant Harutyunyan, the leader of the "Tsegarkon" Party, and other detainees after the "Million Mask March". Over 300 marchers have demanded to lift the ban imposed on detainees to see their relatives, subject them to fair trial and release them.