Main News of August 25

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

RUSSIA

 

* Moscow police said that 10 protesters were detained Sunday for rallying on Moscow’s iconic Red Square to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia - and the protest rally of Soviet dissidents that got the original participants jailed, exiled or forcibly committed to psychiatric institutions.

* The opposition Moscow mayoral candidate Alexei Navalny was briefly detained Sunday over alleged violations during a rally, police said.

* Russian Cossacks rallied, yelled homophobic slurs and sang their traditional song on Saturday in an Urals city to protest a show by their high-heeled and androgynous namesakes from a Ukrainian band.

* The Russian Interior Ministry said on Saturday it would deploy about 56,500 police, troops and security personnel in Moscow during the September 8 mayor elections.

* Waters of Russia’s Far Eastern Amur River continue to rise, gaining three centimeters in the past 24 hours, the regional government said on Sunday.

 

WORLD

 

* Moscow urged Washington on Sunday “not to repeat past mistakes” when dealing with the alleged use of chemical weapons by embattled President Bashar Assad’s government

* The West is still using “double standards” in considering the international status of breakaway Georgian provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Russia’s Foreign Minister said in televised remarks Sunday

* The United States is moving towards war with Syria, a senior Russian lawmaker said Sunday lashing President Barack Obama as “clone” of George W. Bush in his drive for war

* Over 485,000 people have been affected by Typhoon Trami in central and south China, the country’s Xinhua news agency has reported

* The Syrian government has never used chemical weapons in any form, the country’s information minister said in a broadcast shown by the state TV on Saturday

* Iran has warned Washington against military intervention in Syria amid growing concerns about the Syrian government's alleged use of poison gas against civilians in the suburbs of Damascus, the Fars news agency has reported

 

SPORTS

 

* Chelsea and Anzhi Makhachkala have agreed on terms for the transfer of Brazilian midfielder Willian to the English Premier League side, the Blues reported Saturday.