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Representatives of the national minorities living in Armenia are most of all worried about the problems of education and culture. This was stated by Vardan Asatryan, head of the Department on National Minorities and Religions of the governmental office of Armenia.

Today, ecologists have stopped an attempt to start construction of a highway in the wildlife reserve "Bolshoi Utrish" in the Krasnodar Territory, having blocked the construction machinery.

On December 31, 2008, President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili signed a decree on releasing 246 prisoners.

Today, President of Russia Dmitri Medvedev has signed the Federal Law "On Making Changes in Some Legal Acts of the Russian Federation", which defines the order of alienation of land for construction of Olympic objects in Sochi. In particular, the Law stipulates a possibility not to alienate land plots from the owners for constructing Olympic objects, but to lease them for restricted usage.

Last year Armenia received about 600,000 tourists. It is by 20 percent more than in 2006, as reported by Mekhak Apresyan, head of the Department for Tourism of the Ministry of Economy of Armenia.

In Georgia, Ombudsman Sozar Subari, while speaking on December 30 at the extraordinary sitting of the parliament, made a statement that before the dispersal of the rally in November 2007 the heads of the power ministries of Georgia had a secret meeting in the study of Vano Merabishvili, Minister of Internal Affairs, where they had planned their actions on dispersal of the protesters.

Today in the morning, a dry-cargo ship "Kardelia" flying the flag of Cambodia and sailing to Georgia with three thousand tons of wheat was damaged near the Black Sea port Kavkaz in the Krasnodar Territory. 12 citizens of Azerbaijan and Georgia are onboard the ship.

In 2008 in Russia, at least 87 murders were committed on motives of interethnic enmity and at least 378 persons were wounded as a result of racist attacks. These are preliminary figures of the "Sova" Information and Analytical Centre, which, in the opinion of the authors, will surely increase.

On January 2, about 40 persons rallied near the Israeli Embassy in Azerbaijan to voice their protest against Israel's actions of in Gaza Strip.

On January 2 at about 8:00 p.m. Moscow time a military was wounded in shelling of a security post at the building of the FSB Department for Ingushetia in Magas; and about 6:00 p.m. Moscow time in the city of Karabulak near a multi-flat house, an small-power explosive blew up, as a result of which an occasional passer-by was wounded.

Ecologists claim that many highly placed functionaries in Krasnodar krai are sure that "president himself" keeps the track of construction of the Sukko-Utrish highway on the territory of the resort town Anapa. The functionaries make a conclusion that the "project is going to be implemented in any case, whatever the protests of the community".

Today the first instance court of the communities Kentron-Nork-Marash in Armenia, chaired by judge Gayane Karakhanian, has granted the application of the investigation agency to extend the custody of Sarkis Atspanian, citizen of France who took part in the Karabakh war, by two more months.

Mamuka Areshidze, director of the "Caucasian Strategic Studies Center", has handed to the "Memorial" organization the request of Georgian authorities to locate captured soldier Sergo Melia.

The Georgian Labor Party has started to collect signatures for impeaching Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. Shalva Natelashvili, leader of Laborites, stated at the December 29 press-conference that the parliamentary group of the party had started the procedures necessary for impeaching Saakashvili.

Sviatoslav Markelov, lawyer of Elza Kungaeva's family, has protested against the court ruling to release Yuri Budanov from prison before term. He has sent a complaint to Viacheskav Lebedev, chair of the Russia's Supreme Court, reports the administration of the Chechen Ombudsman to "Interfax".

The only charge count recognized by Ruslan Musaev, a suspect on the case of preparing an attempt to murder Ramzan Kadyrov, president of Chechnya, is forgery of a university diploma. This has been reported to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Shamil Arifulov, Musaev's lawyer.

Broadcasting of the radio stations "Liberty", the "Voice of America" and the BBC on the local frequencies will be stopped from January 1, 2009. This decision has been taken today at the meeting of the National TV and Radio Council (NTRC) of Azerbaijan.

On December 25, the Supreme Court of Kalmykia granted the cassation appeal of Semen Ateyev, journalist of the newspaper "Sovietskaya Kalmykia Segodnia", with regard to protection of honor and dignity.

Aivar Bolov, deputy chief of RF department of execution of punishments for Kabardino-Balkaria, has categorically refuted information that prisoners from Ingushetia held in Nalchik pre-trial prison are harassed by the prison administration and are periodically placed to the punishment cell.

The Committee to Protect the Rights of Journalists has called on the Russian authorities to conduct a fair investigation of the attack on Zhanna Akbasheva in Karachaevo-Circassia.