09.07
Main News of July 9
WORLD
* Russias ambassador to the United Nations told reporters that Syrian rebels had likely used sarin nerve gas in a deadly attack near Aleppo in March
* Venezuelas President Nicolas Maduro said that his country had received a request for political asylum from fugitive ex-CIA employee Edward Snowden and awaits his arrival
* Astronauts from the United States and Italy were conducing a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) to prepare the research lab for a new Russian laboratory module set to arrive in December
* United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the reported killings of more than 50 people at protests outside a military command post in Egypt
RUSSIA
* Up to 10,000 first-time violators of financial laws should qualify for amnesty, Russias chief prosecutor said
* Russian website owners must delete defamatory material if ordered to by a court ruling, Russias Constitutional Court ruled, following a complaint by a man who said he was defamed by an Internet forum
* The Bolshoi Theaters director was dismissed seven months after an acid attack on his artistic director and a series of scandals that tarnished the reputation of Russias most renowned ballet company
* Moscow has not received any official notification from Britain that Russian officials suspected of involvement in the death in custody of a high-profile lawyer have been banned from entering the UK, Russias foreign minister said
* Russias first two military research units made up of science students have taken up their posts, a Moscow college chief said
* A Russian jihadist convicted of a 2009 train bombing that left 28 dead and scores injured was tortured and killed in jail, his father and a human rights group claimed
* Russias new aerospace defense system will ensure guaranteed detection of enemy ballistic and long-range cruise missiles at blastoff, a top military official said
* A deadly street fight in a small town in central Russia has exposed smoldering ethnic tensions, with hundreds of locals shouting for resident Chechens to be evicted, and police sent in to quell the unrest
