Main news of July 31

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

 

WORLD

 

* An early warning center on Czech soil will be part of NATO missile defense, Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas said

* Canadian Air Force fighters intercepted two Russian strategic bombers over the Atlantic Ocean, CBC television reported, citing Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay

* Iran has influence in the Middle East region but does not use it to build an empire, Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani said

* India and the United States have signed in Washington an agreement on using U.S. nuclear fuel rods for nuclear energy plants in India, Indo-Asian News Service reported

 

RUSSIA

 

* March of Dissent rallies demanding freedom of assembly took place in at least 10 constituent territories of the Russian Federation, a Russian Interior Ministry spokesman said

* At least 135 opposition protesters who took part in unauthorized March of Dissent rallies in Moscow and St. Petersburg were detained

* The head of a local government in a central Russian district where 12 people died in wildfires resigned

* Wildfires are threatening more than 200 villages in the Russian regions of Voronezh, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, as well as in the republic of Mordovia, the head of the National Center for Crisis Situations said

 

 

SPORTS

* Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova will head into the semifinals at the Stanford Cup, beating her compatriot Elena Dementieva 6:4, 2:6, 6:3.

* Russian runner Maria Savinova won gold in the women's 800 meters at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona