Main News of August 07

RUSSIA

* Commenting on an open letter by a Russian rock star, President Vladimir Putin said the authorities and businesses should share responsibility for corruption in Russia

* Prosecution asked for three years in jail for three Pussy Riot members over a punk prayer in Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral calling for then-Prime Minister Putin to quit

* A prosecutor has called for the sentence handed to former Menatep owner Platon Lebedev to be reduced at a hearing

* Moscow and Minsk are preparing to introduce joint agreements on entry bans to Russia and Belarus as well as exit restrictions, the Belarusian Interior Ministry said

* The pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi (Ours) initiated legal action to expel opposition figurehead Alexei Navalny from the board of directors of Russia’s largest airline Aeroflot

BUSINESS

SPORTS

* Russian high jumper Ivan Ukhov soared to Olympic gold, clearing 2.38 meters to pip Erik Kynard of the United States to the title

* Ilya Zakharov of Russia took diving gold in the men’s three-meter springboard Tuesday, breaking 20 years of Chinese dominance in the event

* China’s women smashed Japan to win team gold in Olympic table tennis

SCIENCE

* A Briz-M booster has failed to bring two satellites into a calculated transition orbit after the launch, the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said

* Vladimir Popovkin, the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, denied staff changes in the agency following Monday’s loss of two telecommunications satellites

* NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has transmitted some 300 low-resolution images illustrating its descent

RELIGION

* A monk at the Valaam Monastery in northwestern Russia explained why he had kissed Vladimir Putin’s hand during the Russian president’s visit, the monastery’s spokesman Mikhail Shishkov said