* The sixth congress of the pro-presidential United Russia party was held in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk

GROZNY

GROZNY, November 27 (RIA Novosti) – Parliamentary elections in the North Caucasian Republic of Chechnya have opened in a calm atmosphere, the local interior ministry said Sunday. "The night before the elections was calm. No serious incidents were registered. The situation in the republic is under full control," the ministry said. "At 08:00 a.m. Moscow time (05:00 GMT), 430 polling stations opened in the republic. A total of 345 candidates will be competing for 58 seats in the two-chamber parliament – the Republican Council and the People's Assembly. About a thousand of Russian and a dozen of international observers are monitoring the parliamentary polls in the republic. The elections will be recognized as valid, if 25% of the electors turn up at the polling stations. The polls will close at 15:00 GMT.

HANOI, November 27 (RIA Novosti) – A group of ships of Russia's Pacific Fleet started a friendly visit to Vietnam Sunday. Representatives of the local administration and military command, the Russian Embassy in Vietnam and the Consulate General in Da Nang met the Russian sailors.

YEREVAN, November 27 (RIA Novosti, Gamlet Matevosyan) – A referendum on constitutional reform opened in Armenia, the republican central electoral commission said Sunday.

VLADIVOSTOK, November 27 (RIA Novosti, Anatoly Ilyukhov) – Vladivostok, in the Far East of Russia, hosted festive activities of the Russian Pacific Fleet on the occasion of the tercentenary of Russian marines, the fleet's press service said Sunday. Marines held a ceremonial parade and commemorated heroes laying a wreath to the monument to marines of the Pacific Fleet.

ASINOVSKAYA (Chechnya), November 27 (RIA Novosti) – Electors in the North Caucasian Republic of Chechnya who came to the polls this Sunday said they pinned great hopes on a new parliament. "I expect the [parliamentary] elections to enable people to live freely, have jobs, get wages and, most importantly, to live in peace," a resident from the village of Asinovskaya in western Chechnya said at a polling station. Many voters at the polls said all their relatives and acquaintances intended to come to the polls. The central electoral commission of Chechnya reported that a total of 12.1% of the republic's electors had cast their votes in the parliamentary elections by 10:00 a.m. (07:00 GMT).

TSENTOROI (Chechen Republic), November 27 (RIA Novosti) – The parliamentary elections will conclude the process of forming state institutions of power in the republic, the first vice-premier of Chechnya said Sunday. Ramzan Kadyrov said the republic needed a parliament to adopt laws. With its parliament in place, Chechnya will become a part of Russia like other regions, he said. "Our aim is to end the war. All the tasks can be considered as accomplished when there is no war and people are not killed in Chechnya," Kadyrov said.

MOSCOW, November 27 (RIA Novosti) – Yulia Chepalova from Russia came second in a 10-km freestyle ski race at the Kuusamo World Cup third event in Finland.

GROZNY, November 27 (RIA Novosti) – The parliamentary elections in the North Caucasian republic of Chechnya can be considered as valid, with the 25.7% electoral turnout as of 14:00, the republic's electoral commission chairman said Sunday. "The parliamentary elections can be considered as valid because the required 25% margin was reached," Ismail Baikhanov said.