Main News of September 14

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

RUSSIA

* Opposition lawmaker Gennady Gudkov was ousted from Russia’s lower house of parliament over charges he said were “payback” for his involvement in anti-Kremlin protests.

* The Russian Foreign Ministry criticized a recent European Parliament's resolution on human rights in Russia as biased and called it an attempt to interfere in the country’s internal affairs.

* The number of deaths among children under the age of five in Russia has decreased by 56 percent over two decades, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in its annual global report.

* Three jailed members of the punk group Pussy Riot were nominated by the European Parliament for a prestigious prize named after Soviet human rights activist Andrei Sakharov.

* At least four Russian tourists were killed after their bus overturned in northern Greece, Russian officials said.

 

WORLD

* The White House denied rumors circulated in the media that the Barack Obama administration had “actionable intelligence” of the recent attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya, which killed four American diplomats including the U.S. ambassador.

* Authorities in Libya have arrested four men in connection with the attack on the U.S. consulate, in which the U.S. ambassador and three embassy staff were killed.

* Pakistan and India have blocked access to an anti-Islam film posted on YouTube, in order to curb violence fomented by the “insulting and provocative” nature of the movie, local media reported.

* UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the world urgently needs a culture of peace to tackle the deadly effects of war, discrimination, xenophobia, terrorism and human rights abuses.

* A total of six Chinese surveillance vessels entered the territorial waters of Japan near the disputed Senkaku islands.

* Tens of thousands of people were evacuated in Guatemala after the Fuego volcano eruption, which specialists estimate to be the most powerful since 1999.

* Europe’s ATV-3 unmanned resupply spacecraft raised the International Space Station (ISS) orbit to over 424 kilometers.

 

BUSINESS

* Russian stocks surged following yesterday’s announcement that the U.S. Federal Reserve System is launching a third round of quantitative easing to encourage economic growth.

 

SPORTS

* Russian league leaders Zenit St. Petersburg suffered a shock 2-0 defeat to a determined Terek Grozny side that sends the Chechen side top of the Russian Premier League.

* Former Phoenix Coyotes forward Viktor Tikhonov has rejoined KHL team SKA St. Petersburg on a one-year contract, SKA general manager Alexei Kasatonov told R-Sport.

* Ex-Anzhi midfielder Makhach Gadzhiev has signed for Tavriya Simferopol on a one-year deal, the Ukrainian side said.