Main News of June 11

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Apple unveiled its much-anticipated new iTunes Radio service on Monday, an Internet music feature that allows users to listen to customized radio stations based on their previous music selections

* The Supreme Court of Spain has ordered the extradition of Ilya Khaikin, former board chairman of Vneshagrobank and a director at Diskont Bank, who is wanted in Russia on suspicion of seizing land in Moscow Region

* A Chinese spaceship carrying three astronauts blasted off on Tuesday and reached a designated orbit, mission control said

* Estonia has granted asylum to Russian environmentalist Suren Gazaryan, who found himself on a national wanted list after coming out with reports about “Putin’s palace” and other mansions allegedly owned by top Russian officials

* The first high-level talks between North and South Korea in six years have been canceled after a disagreement over the diplomatic rank of a chief delegate, the Yonhap news agency reported

* Prosecutors believe they have uncovered the real names of German-based agents accused of spying for Russia, who are on trial in Stuttgart

RUSSIA

* This month, 12 protesters are standing trial over clashes with police at a massive 2012 opposition rally in Moscow, with dozens more prosecutions expected. The clashes became a pivotal moment for Russia’s opposition movement, shattering illusions of an easy victory, and the case has grown increasingly convoluted

* Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday it is not right that the US State Department supports opposition activists in Russia

* Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday cautioned the United States against pursuing an imperialist policy

* Russian President Vladimir Putin has defended the right by Russian special services to wiretap but stressed that such practices should take place only when they are sanctioned by a court

* Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that foreign intervention in the Syrian civil war is unacceptable because it would result in a new source of terror in the region

* A Russian cargo spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday for a weeklong flight to study the operation of its liquid-propellant engines in the ionosphere, which spans from 50 to 250 miles above the Earth’s surface

* Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that he was prepared to give Georgia a role in security at next year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi, which borders the Caucasus country’s breakaway region of Abkhazia

* Russia’s lower house of parliament on Tuesday gave its final approval for a controversial “anti-gay” bill, with only one of the 436 lawmakers present abstaining and no votes against, after a day of clashes outside the building and dozens of arrests by police

* Russia’s lower house of parliament on Tuesday approved a bill that would make insulting religious believers’ feelings a criminal offense, punishable by up to three years behind bars

* A new pro-Kremlin movement promising to be a public watchdog of sorts began its official founding congress on Tuesday, announcing that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be invited to join as leader

* A court in south Russia has handed down a nine-year jail sentence to a man who held four people hostage at a local college in March and initially demanded a pizza and a fizzy drink, prosecutors said

* Russia has the world’s largest identified shale oil resources, with the United States and China second and third, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday, citing data from various published studies

* Protests outside the Russian parliament building turned violent on Tuesday as clashes broke out between activists for and against two proposed bills – one restricting the "promotion" of homosexuality, the other “to protect religious believers’ feelings"

* Russia’s largest privately held oil company LUKoil has acquired a 65 percent stake in an oil exploration and production project at block CI-504 off Cote d'Ivoire in the Gulf of Guinea, LUKoil said 

* Russian nuclear power corporation Rosatom is ready to build nuclear power plants in Brazil and finance nuclear power projects there, a deputy CEO said Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro

* Russia's failed Phobos-Grunt Mars moon probe project could be given a second chance in 2022-25, space agency Roscosmos said

* A Russian pilot landed his defective light aircraft four times in one day, including once on a main road, to refuel, local prosecutors said

* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has criticized the West’s “double standards” in dealing with foreign regimes it has branded as dictatorial, and defended Russia’s arms contracts with Syria

* Russia will send over 250 servicemen from the Eastern Military District to take part in the annual Indra-2013 joint anti-terrorism exercise with India, the district’s press service said

* A 19-year-old Russian woman, who a local tabloid said “demeaned” the city of Kazan by posing naked in front of a downtown landmark, faces up to six years in jail for the illegal production of pornography, a spokeswoman for the local prosecutor’s office told RIA Novosti

* Russia will launch a Proton carrier rocket with three additional satellites for its Glonass global positioning and navigation network on July 2, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said

* The Russian Air Force has redeployed some 20 combat aircraft and helicopters from their home bases to forward airfields in western Russia as part of a new round of snap combat readiness check of the Russian military, the Defense Ministry said

* The Russian authorities will consider political asylum for Edward Snowden, who risks prosecution in the United States for his recent blockbuster spy leaks, if he sends a proper request, business daily Kommersant said Tuesday, citing the Kremlin spokesman

* Only 50% of Russian citizens know the correct name of the June 12 national holiday – the Day of Russia, according to a survey by the Levada Center independent pollster

* Russian Progress M-19M cargo spacecraft will be undocked on Tuesday from the International Space Station (ISS) and depart on a week-long orbital flight to conduct a series of experiments, Russia’s Mission Control said