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On January 11, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan approved the final totals of the elections on December 23, 2009 to the country's local government bodies.

Not far from Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, militiamen opened fire on a suspicious car, when its driver did not react to demand to stop. The car blew up and three suspected militants inside were dead.

Should the Russian justice fail to cancel the outcomes of the October 11 elections in Astrakhan, Oleg Shein, Deputy of Russian State Duma and a candidate for the post of Mayor of Astrakhan at the elections, is going to address his complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

Residents of a number of small settlements located in the Staropromyslovskiy District of Chechen capital report about the check of their passports held there. There were no detainees, however, local residents got worried.

On Friday, January 8, consultations were held by members of NGOs with the administration of President of Georgia on to discuss the issues related to electing the Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of the country.

In Tbilisi, on January 8, the human wreck in the collapsed building of the Ministry of Defence of Georgia made three persons - the workers killed by the ruins. According to rescuers, there were four persons inside the building at the moment.

In Sochi, tenants of House No. 25 in the Ostrovskogo Street are revolted with felling perennial and bushes, finding it illegal.

Armenia will send its military contingent to Afghanistan to take part in the mission of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). It comprises 36 infantrymen, three liaison officers and one army doctor.

The hurricane struck the republic on January 2 and 3, and the city of Shushi suffered most, as the wind blew off roofs of some apartment blocks and individual houses, broke electricity lines and fell trees there.

The cottage settlement, now in construction in Ingushetia for residents of the landslide zone of the Malgobek District, will be opened by February 23, 2010. 507 seismic-resistant cottages of the can withstand 9-point earthquake.

Today, on January 9, it is 52 years after passing decree on restoration of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ChI ASSR), which was abolished in 1944 after deportation of Chechens and Ingushes to Kazakhstan and Middle Asia. Now, Chechnya marks this date as a national holiday.

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Cyril will visit Georgia despite the existing political problems between the two countries. This was stated by Archbishop of Volokolam Hillarion, head of the Division for Foreign Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchy. He has noted that spirituals have nothing to do with politics; on the contrary, the churches will bring the Russian and Georgian nations closer together.

At night on January 7, in the Urus-Martan District Chechnya, which is still under the counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime, armed people set on fire two small shops, which provoked fire in a number of kiosks located nearby. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent learnt about it from residents of the village of Gekhi, where the incident took place.

Today, the first direct air flight from Tbilisi to Moscow after the August 2008 conflict in South Ossetia was accomplished. The craft left the Tbilisi International Airport for Moscow at 12:30 a.m. The airline - "Airzena - Georgian Airways" - received a permit from the Russian Ministry of Transports to make flights also on January 9 and 10.

Today, Gail Mamedov, Judge of the Baku Appeal Court, made a decision to postpone consideration of the complaint lodged by young bloggers Adnan Gadjizade and Emin Milli till January 22. The reason was in the need to ensure participation of the victims - Babek Guseinov and Vusal Mamedov - in the session.

On January 8, the square adjoining the monument to Commander Vardan Mamikonyan in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, was the venue of a rally in support of Nikol Pashinyan, a candidate for MP and political prisoner. The event was held by the Armenian National Congress within the agitation campaign for parliamentary elections in the majority constituency No. 10 of Yerevan.

Vitaly Khripun, a warrant officer, who took his contract service in South Ossetia and in December 2009 deserted to the territory of Georgia, is now living in Tbilisi, waiting for awarding him a refugee status. He told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that he felt no regret of leaving his post and explained the reasons of his decision and described the general situation in the border.

On January 5, the Ministry for Taxation of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (NAR) began inspection the documentation of the local Resource Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.

On January 14, the city of Batumi in Georgia will be the venue of the international energy summit. It is expected that Presidents of several countries will be among the participants.

On January 5, over 150 residents of the Sabirabad District of Azerbaijan held a protest action in front of the building of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) in Baku against violations during municipal elections. The protesters are going to address President's administration and ask to consider their claims.