Main News of April 8

WORLD

* Former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher died on Monday at the age of 87 following a stroke, her spokesman announced

* Italian police have found a painting by famous artist Marc Chagall, which was stolen from an American yacht moored in Italy a decade ago, in a private collector's home, local media reported

* Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday praised the US decision to postpone an intercontinental ballistic missile test in order to avoid further escalation of the conflict on the Korean Peninsula

* Whistleblowing website WikiLeaks has published online a huge new batch of 1.7 million classified US records, including diplomatic and intelligence reports from the years 1973 to 1976, the website reported

RUSSIA

* The recent wave of inspections of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Russia is not aimed at restricting their activity but rather at controlling their foreign funding, Russian President Vladimir Putin said

* An opposition journalist from the Moscow Region who sustained permanent head trauma after a brutal beating five years ago died on Monday after choking on a bit of food, his supporter told RIA Novosti

* Russian President Vladimir Putin appealed on Monday for calm on the Korean Peninsula, warning that the escalation of tension in the region could lead to a nuclear disaster far worse than the Chernobyl incident

* A group of Russian Cossacks announced Monday the creation of an Australian branch and four new traditional units there

* Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed off on a law making the use of obscene language by media outlets punishable by fines, the Kremlin said

POLITICS

* Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday praised the late former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as a "colorful" politician

* European Union officials have welcomed the pardoning of Ukraine's former Interior Minister Yury Lutsenko and former Environmental Protection Minister Georgy Filipchuk, and called on Kiev to address more cases of what it sees as selective justice

BUSINESS

* Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel opened Russia’s pavilion at the world’s biggest industrial fair in the German city of Hanover

DEFENSE

* Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Monday criticized as totally unacceptable the existing practice of 100 percent prepayment for state defense contracts

* Russia and Brazil will discuss the possibility of the joint development of an advanced surface-to-air missile system, Parana, at the LAAD 2013 defense exhibition in Rio de Janeiro, Russian state-owned defense firm Rosoboronexport said

CRIME

* Several senior police officers, including the former head of the Makhachkala police department, are suspected of involvement in high-profile crimes in Dagestan, spokesman for the Russian Investigative Committee Vladimir Markin said

* A special police force in the central Russian city of Kostroma busted an illegal casino with a daily income of 500,000 rubles ($16,000), the Interior Ministry’s regional department reported