POLITICS
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the opposition not to substitute democracy with anarchy and avoid using populist ideas to achieve political gains. (Vedomosti, Izvestia)
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
The Russian government may have to dig into the Reserve Fund as early as in the second half of 2012 to finance the budget outlays, experts from Russia’s largest bank Sberbank estimate. The Finance Ministry says the predictions are “ungrounded.” (Vedomosti)
An unprecedented state program for forest protection may soon be adopted in Russia. The program, which is estimated at 427 billion rubles ($13.4 bln) until 2020, will help fighting forest fires and illegal forest clearing. (Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Russia’s AvtoVAZ car maker is planning to start sales of its much-touted Lada Granta sedan with automatic transmission in September. (Vedomosti)
Russian tourists may have to wait for a promised mandatory travel insurance coverage of 1 million rubles (over $30,000) as the Finance Ministry and the Economic Development Ministry got into a deadlock over the amount of insurance coverage. (Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
China has promised to grant $20 billion in loans to African countries and invest an additional $2 bln in joint projects. Experts believe that the move indicates Beijing’s desire to gain “powerful leverage” on the continent. (Kommersant)
WORLD
The fall of the Assad regime in Syria could lead to violent religious clashes and, ultimately, to disintegration of the country, experts believe. There is also a possibility that the Syrian chemical weapons arsenals may end up in the hands of radical Islamists connected to al-Qaeda. (Kommersant)
The recent deadly attack by a suicide-bomber on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria could be a new tactic in the cloak-and dagger wars between Israel and radical Islamists, supported by Iran. Experts believe, though, that Israel will not retaliate for the death of its six citizens with a military strike against Tehran. (Moscow News)
SPACE
The planned launch of a cluster of three Glonass satellites this fall could be postponed for some time as the Russian Federal Space Agency believes that the work of the existing Glonass grouping is stable and efficient. Russia currently has a total of 31 Glonass satellites in orbit, with 24 operating to provide global coverage, four in reserve, two under maintenance and one undergoing trials. (Izvestia)
SOCIETY
Over 60 percent of Muscovites support the proposed relocation of government offices outside the Russian capital, pollster Levada Center reported. At the same time the majority of Moscow residents oppose the plans to expand the boundaries of the capital. (Kommersant)
Closed preliminary hearings in a widely-publicized trial of members of the all-female Russian punk group Pussy Riot start in a Moscow court on Friday. The three group members have been charged with race-hatred hooliganism as part of an organized group and may face up seven years in jail if convicted. (Moscow News)
CRIME
The mufti of Russia’s Volga Republic of Tatarstan, Ildus Faizov, was injured in a car bomb blast while his former deputy former deputy Valiulla Yakupov was shot dead near his house on Thursday in the first major attack against religious leaders outside the North Caucasus. Investigators believe it was a coordinated plot by Russian radical Muslims on the eve of Ramadan. (Kommersant, Vedomosti)
The Russian Interior Ministry has completed the investigation of a drug-trafficking case involving the contraband of cocaine from Ecuador to Russia on board cargo ships carrying imported bananas. The international drug ring, which operated for a number of years, included citizens of Russia, Columbia, Peru, Spain, Ecuador, Latvia and some other countries. (Kommersant)
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