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Khavazh Geroev, an employee of the Security Council of Ingushetia, was heavily wounded in a terror act and hospitalized. His car was blown up by means of a bomb.

As reported by Kaloy Akhilgov, press secretary of President of Ingushetia, on February 11-12, as a result of a special operation aimed to liquidate members of illegal armed formations (IAFs) in the vicinity of Arshty and Datykh villages, Sunzha District of Ingushetia, four local residents were lost and two others received wounds.

National teams of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan take part in the 21st Winter Olympiad in Vancouver, which opened on February 12; and the national team of Russia includes three representatives of the Southern Federal District (SFD).

Today, members of the Georgian organization "Journalists for Freedom of Speech" have handed over a petition to the Embassy of Switzerland in Tbilisi with a request to the government of this country to help Vakhtang Komakhidze, a Georgian journalist to receive political asylum.

In Moscow, on February 12, within the All-Russia Contest of the Union of Journalists of Russia (UJR), a ceremony of rewarding the winners of 2009 was held. The prizes were awarded for best publications, actual picture stories, new television programs, books and journalistic actions. The "Caucasian Knot" became a Laureate of the Prize "For Defence of Interests of Professional Community".

A couple of hours prior to the opening ceremony of Vancouver Olympiad, held on February 12, the Georgian Olympic team suffered a tragic loss: at the morning training session Nodar Kumaritashvili, a sledge racer, crushed himself to death in an accident it was broke to death.

The government of Armenia has approved a bill "On Making Additions in the Law 'On International Treaties'", assuming Armenia's possibility to cancel international treaties prior they come into legal force.

On February 14, Kalmykia will mark the national spring holiday - Tsagan Sar (White Month). Traditionally, celebratory actions and molebens will be held in all the khuruls (monasteries and prayer houses) of the republic.

Residents of Chechnya report that they are demanded to pay tax on their domestic animals. According to their version, officials assert that President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov has personally ordered to take taxes on domestic cattle and poultry.

In Georgia, over fifty thousand families remain without electricity. On February 12, the cities of Poti and Kutaisi suffered from hurricane, when the wind reached 30 meters per second. Weather forecasters warn that today bad weather will cover the whole country.

The Project entitled "Place Where Generations Meet" (of the Programme "Dialogue Is Rendezvous Place"), executed by the Sholokhov Library - a branch of the Novocherkassk Central Library System - and supported by the Foundation "Memory, Responsibility and Future" (Germany) and the Federal State Institution (FSI) "Fund of Mutual Understanding and Reconciliation" (Moscow), assumes teaching old people in information technologies by volunteers.

Today, the Moscow City Court (MCC) has delayed the consideration of the rehabilitation claim lodged by Ruslan Musaev, one of the acquitted figurants in the case on the attempt on President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov committed back in May 2007.

Because of strong snowfalls and wire icing, electric power supplies are broken in the Buinaksk, Karabudakhkent and Sergokalin Districts of Dagestan. About nine thousand residents are still without electricity; they promise to restore supplies by February 15.

In the evening on Friday, February 12, the National Assembly of Azerbaijan with 92 votes for and 7 votes against approved the amendments to a number of legislation acts imposing restrictions on collection and dissemination of information.

Today, the consideration of the appeal complaint lodged by young bloggers' Emin Milli and Adnan Gadjizade was again postponed by the Baku Appeal Court.

The Meschanski District Court of the city of Moscow has accepted to consideration a claim from a resident of Makhachkala Shamil Sheikhov about protection of honour, dignity and business reputation and demand to collect compensation in the sum of 100 million roubles in equal halves from Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Chairman of LDPR (Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia) and vice-speaker of the State Duma of Russia, and from the editorial board of the newspaper "LDPR". The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told about it by Mr Sheikhov himself.

The litigation on the case of Tsotne - the son of the first president of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia - will resume at the Tbilisi City Court on February 18 at 1:30 p.m., said his advocate Keti Bekauri.

The case of Einullah Fatullaev, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Real Azerbaijan", who was convicted in Azerbaijan, is causing many doubts and gives rise to worry for his life. This was stated by Andres Herkel, Rapporteur of the PACE Monitoring Committee.

President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov said that he is ready to remain the head of the republic until he is on demand in this position. His term as President of Chechnya expires in 2012.

The blog of the web designer Artemiy Lebedev, known for his use of obscene lexicon, causes no harm to public morals. This was the conclusion of the OVD (Interior Division) of the Tver District of Moscow, having studied his LiveJournal and refused the initiative group "Volgogradskiy Proryv" (Volgograd Breakthrough) to open a criminal case against Lebedev for his use of abusive expressions in his blog.