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The presidential election in Azerbaijan are taking place in the atmosphere, where free and fair elections are impossible, runs the statement of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (Den Norske Helsingforsko Mite), now at disposal of the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In Sochi today, a sentence was passed to eight OMON (Special Militia) fighters, accused of mass beating tourists in the children's boarding house "Druzhba" (Friendship). They will have to spend from three to five years in a colony.

On October 13, in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, city residents twice blocked the traffic in the Ahmet-Khan Sultan Avenue demanding to resume electricity supply to their houses.

Today, about two o'clock in the afternoon, at an entrance of the house, where the office of the Board of Elders of the Balkar People (BEBP) is located, an attack was made on Dalkhat Baidaev, a member of the Board, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The mass media funded from the state budget do not allow Azerbaijani voters to have a complete idea about presidential candidates and make a proper choice when voting. This is the main conclusion made on October 15 after a month-long monitoring of three TV-channels and four newspapers by the international organization in defence of the press named "Reporters without Borders".

Karina Moskalenko, advocate in the case of assassinated journalist of "Novaya Gazeta" Anna Politkovskaya, says that somebody tried to poison her in Strasbourg. According to the lawyer, pretty much "substance looking like mercury" was found in her car.

As a result of the earthquake on October 11 in the territory of the Chechen Republic several thousands of buildings and private households suffered. The statistics of the damage caused by the calamity is updated as additional information arrives from the regions.

Residents of Sochi plan to hold a rally "In defence of Sochi dwellers who fell victims of lawlessness, arbitrariness and corruption of city bureaucrats". The action will take place on October 25, on the All-Russian Day of People's Anger - a number of Russian regions plan to hold actions of social protest on this day.

In the evening on October 13, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Georgia has disseminated its official statement that on the previous day the country's air space was twice broken by Russian military aircrafts.

Journalists of "Elistinskaya Panorama" are still not admitted to the Parliament of Kalmykia - National Hural, referring to the absence of the necessary accreditation.

On Sunday, October 12, advocate Isakhan Ashurov visited his client, Einullah Fatullaev, former editor-in-chief of the "Real Azerbaijan" newspaper, who is serving his term in colonies No. 12 situated in Gyuzdek village. The visit was caused by the fact that on October 10 Mr Fatullaev was placed into a punishment cell (dungeon).

Bamatgirey Mankiev, former deputy of the National Assembly of the Republic of Ingushetia of the previous convocation, who now heads the "alternative" Ingush parliament, has stated that the new structure will raise the problems of kidnappings committed by members of power structures.

Public organizations of Georgia and Russia and international human rights bodies urge the parties of the Geneva summit to be held on October 15, 2008, on the conflict in South Caucasus to make human rights a priority within international efforts aimed at settling the conflict.

Today, Kabardino-Balkaria marks the third anniversary of tragic events on October 13, 2005, when armed people made an attack on Nalchik. Parents of the casualties want to know where their sons were buried.

In Chechnya, early elections of deputies of national parliament of the second convocation are over. In the opinion of independent observers, the results of the "nation's will show" are no surprise.

On October 11, a wave of an earthquake rolled over a number of regions in North and South Caucasus. The underground shocks were felt in Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, South and North Ossetia and in the Stavropol krai, as well as in Armenia and Georgia. The epicenter was in Chechnya, its magnitude was 8 points. The biggest damage was inflicted on Chechnya.

The underground quakes which have occurred in waves today across North Caucasus killed 12 persons in Chechnya. These are the data from the republic's Ministry of Health. No casualties are reported from the other regions.

The Afghanistan war veterans who entered their sixth day of hunger strike in the Dagestan capital do not intend to drop their demands, despite the death of one of the participants and hospitalization of another one.

The key issue in settling the Karabakh conflict is the status of Nagorny Karabakh, which must be resolved by a free declaration of will of the Karabakh people, states Eduard Nalbandian, Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Today, the forum of opposition parties has called on Azeri voters to ignore the October 15 presidential election. The opposition already considers the election undemocratic.