Main News of August 8

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Russian President Vladimir Putin has wished former US President George W. Bush a speedy and complete recovery after his heart operation earlier this week, the Kremlin said.

* The United States formally charged two 19-year-old students from Kazakhstan with obstruction of justice over their alleged efforts to impede the investigation into the Boston Marathon bombing in April, officials announced.

* A US appeals court has upheld a ruling dismissing the Russian government’s claim to the Stolichnaya trademark in the United States, according to court documents.

* Germany, Bulgaria and three former Soviet republics have agreed to join efforts with Russia to build a heavy-ion collider in a Moscow suburb, according to a letter of intent, signed Thursday.

* US federal authorities have denied an aquarium in Georgia permission to import 18 Beluga whales that were captured in Russia, according to a letter from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

* The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has suspended the extradition proceedings in the case of a Latvian suspected computer hacker wanted in the US on cyber crime charges, his lawyer said.

RUSSIA

* Russia’s Defense Ministry expressed hope that upcoming US-Russian talks at a ministerial level would have a “constructive nature” despite several issues that hinder progress in bilateral ties.

* Russia has destroyed more than 30,000 metric tons of chemical warfare agents, or about 76 percent of its chemical weapons stockpile, Russia’s industry and trade minister said.

* Deputies from Russia’s State Duma and senior officials could be questioned by investigators looking into a decade-old case against jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, sparking renewed fears that fresh charges against the once powerful businessman are imminent, Vedomosti newspaper reported.

* Female officers will serve for the first time in air defense units stationed at a Russian military base in Abkhazia, the Southern Military District's press service said.

* Russia’s Audit Chamber published a damning report on the condition of Russia’s river transport system, describing unfit vessels operating under outdated regulations.

* The funeral of Pavel Adelgeim, the Orthodox priest stabbed to death in the northwest Russian city of Pskov earlier this week, took place in the presence of about 1,000 mourners at the Church of the Myrrh Bearers, where he served for the last decades of his life.

CRIME

* A Moscow court extended until October 18 the pretrial detention of Bolshoi Ballet soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko, accused of having organized an acid attack on the ballet's artistic director, Sergei Filin, the RAPSI legal news service reported from the courtroom.

* A Moscow court ordered former Rosbank CEO Vladimir Golubkov, accused of accepting a $160,000 bribe, to be transferred from house arrest to a pretrial detention center until October 16, his lawyer said.

* The head of a subsidiary of state-run hydroelectric power holding company RusHydro has been detained on suspicion of embezzling over 800 million rubles ($24.2 million), the Russian Interior Ministry said.

* A criminal case was opened over the suspected food poisoning of 110 workers employed by a Turkish construction firm in Moscow, Russian prosecutors said.

SPORTS

* IAAF president Lamine Diack said that Russia’s controversial legislation banning the promotion of homosexuality to minors "has to be respected" but will have no impact on the upcoming world athletics championships in Moscow.

* Russian football team Rubin Kazan has joined compatriots Spartak Moscow in a playoff round of the Europa League, by eliminating Danish team Randers 4-1 over two legs.

* Russian national football team captain Igor Denisov has agreed to sign a four-year contract with Dynamo Moscow, becoming the first player to leave the newly frugal Anzhi Makhachkala, a source at Dynamo told R-Sport.

* Russian qualifier Alex Bogomolov has sprung the surprise of the day at the Canadian Open tennis tournament in Montreal, beating world No. 3 David Ferrer in straight sets.