The latest: St Petersburg’s Landmark Cathedral Destroyed by Fire

25.08.2006
St Petersburg’s Landmark Cathedral Destroyed by Fire
A fire broke out in a 19th century cathedral in St. Petersburg Friday evening, bringing down the main cupola on top of the stately church in Russia’s former Imperial capital.

25.08.2006
Russia Still Undecided on Sending Peacekeepers to Middle East — Minister
Russia is still considering the possibility of sending troops to join the UN force in Lebanon along the border with Israel, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said early Friday. Ivanov also dismissed reports that Hezbollah was using Russian anti-tank missiles as “complete nonsense,” adding that Russia has been given “no proof that Hezbollah had them.”

25.08.2006
Killer of Peruvian Student Gets 16 Years in Hate Crime Case
A court in southwestern Russia found a young man guilty of murdering a Peruvian student in October 2005 and sentenced him to 16 years in a high-security prison.

25.08.2006
Russian Scientists Forecast Global Cooling in 6-9 Years
Global cooling on Earth could start in 6-9 years, reach its peak around 2055-2060 and have serious consequences before it is replaced by a period of warming in the early 22nd century, a Russian Academy of Sciences’ astronomical observatory’s report says.

25.08.2006
RFE/RL Correspondent, Rights Activists Jailed in Turkmenistan
A Turkmen court has sentenced Radio Free Europe correspondent and two human rights activists to six and seven years in prison, respectively. The charges against Ogulsapar Muradova and Annakurban Amanklychev remain unknown.

25.08.2006
Latvia Should Forget The Word “Occupation” - Former Russian President Yeltsin
Latvia should forget the word “occupation”, and then its relations with Russia will improve considerably, former Russian President Boris Yeltsin said.

25.08.2006
Police Detain Russian Orthodox Protesters of Madonna Concert
Police have detained 10 Russian Orthodox activists, who distributed leaflets urging people to boycott Madonna’s concert in Moscow. The protest took place in the center of the city near Red Square.

25.08.2006
Death Toll in Moscow Market Blast Rises to 11
One more victim gravely injured in a blast that tore through a Moscow market earlier this week died in the hospital on Friday, raising the death toll to 11.

25.08.2006
Israel Gives No Evidence That Hezbollah Fights With Russian Weapons — DM
Israel never provided Russia with evidence that Hezbollah militants used Russian-made anti-tank missiles in Lebanon, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Friday.

25.08.2006
Moscow Authorities Ban Madonna Concert — Police
Moscow authorities have turned down the request to organize the concert of the U.S. pop star Madonna on Sparrow Hills, a police official told reporters on Friday.

25.08.2006
Strong Quake Hits Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula
A strong earthquake struck off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula early on Friday, Russian news agencies reported quoting local seismological centers.

25.08.2006
Talks of Sanctions Against Iran Premature — Russia
Talk of imposing sanctions on Iran after its response to the world powers’ demand to freeze uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities was as yet “premature”, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Friday.

25.08.2006
Russian Synagogue Attacker Blames Anti-Semitic Websites
A 21-year-old Russian man who stabbed nine people in a Moscow synagogue said at his retrial Thursday that he had been “zombified” by anti-Semitic literature that he had read online, news agency ITAR TASS reported.

25.08.2006
Media Watchdog Sounds Alarm Over Reporter’s Detention in Russia’s Restive Chechnya
An international media watchdog group expressed concern Thursday for a missing newspaper reporter in violence-plagued Chechnya, who it said had been abducted.

25.08.2006
Russia Returns Mobile Phones Seized From Motorola
Russia has returned 117,519 mobile phones worth $15 million that had been seized from the Motorola company at a Moscow airport months ago as part of a probe reportedly initiated by unscrupulous officials and rivals. The company hailed the move saying it would allow Motorola to continue investments in Russia, which the company had slowed for much of the year.

25.08.2006
Russian Court Cuts 7-Year Sentence for Yukos Lawyer by 6 Months
The Moscow City Court on Thursday slightly reduced a seven-year prison sentence against a lawyer with the embattled Yukos oil company, a court spokeswoman said.