Main News of June 8

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

RUSSIA

*A Russian TV presenter on Saturday claimed that his show was pulled off air because of its take on the recent news that President Putin is getting divorced.

*A senior Russian foreign ministry official has responded to the United Nations’ decision not to accept Russian peacekeepers in the Golan Heights by reiterating that Russian troops can replace Austrian forces when they withdraw.

*Russia plans to launch for more satellites for the GLONASS navigation system by the end of this year, the Aerospace Defense Forces head said on Saturday.

*Hundreds of people chanting pro-nationalist slogans gathered in a small town in central Russia on Saturday to hold an unsanctioned rally called up by far right activists following a local brawl.

WORLD

* If you ever happen to drive down a small street in New York City named Samuel Dickstein Plaza, you will be moving in the shadows of a controversial piece of US-Soviet spy history.

*Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Saturday that he has appealed NATO asking to investigate an online footage calling for violence against Georgian soldiers in Afghanistan.

*A 19th-century Russian trading outpost in California that was once the locus of a rare friendship between Russian settlers and the indigenous Kashia tribe will host a tribute this weekend to a little known piece of Russian-American history that lives on in both countries today.

SPORTS

*Serena Williams held off a spirited challenge from defending champion Maria Sharapova on Saturday to win her first French Open title since 2002.