A brief look at the stories making headlines in the Russian-language press

Putin at D-Day MOSCOW (AP) -- President Vladimir Putin will take part in this year's commemoration of the 60th anniversary of D-Day, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. D-Day -- June 6, 1944 -- was one of the key phases of World War II, when combined U.S., Canadian, British and French forces landed in huge numbers on the Normandy coast of France, launching assaults on Nazi forces. Court Outlaws Book MOSCOW (Reuters) -- A Moscow court Tuesday banned as extremist a book described as a credo for the Wahhabi form of Islam, often accused by authorities for inciting separatist insurrection in Chechnya. The court banned from distribution the ""Book of Monotheism"" by Mohammed ibn Suleiman al-Tamimi in response to a prosecutor's request, Interfax reported. A prosecution statement, quoted by Interfax, said the book ""contains the tenets of the ideology of Wahhabism and conveys a negative outlook toward those … who do not adhere to the ideas of Wahhabism and are not members of their brotherhood.

The promise of lazy summer days, heralded by the May holidays, are prompting vacation packages to sell out quickly.

Can a foreigner buy things on credit in Moscow?

NASA on Tuesday rejected a Russian cash-saving suggestion that would have seen astronauts spending a year in orbit, saying more work needed to be done on possible harmful effects of weightlessness.

Austria's No. 2 utility, EVN, has won a City Hall contract worth $209 million to upgrade one of Moscow's three garbage incinerators, pleasing waste collectors but leaving environmentalists unimpressed.

The ruble dropped to a three-month low against the dollar Tuesday, as officials continued to talk down the national currency and the Central Bank signaled it would throw its weight behind the dollar.

SUAL, Russia's No. 2 aluminum producer, plans to agree with the Britain's Fleming Family & Partners ""in several months"" on pooling assets and may offer shares to investors this year, SUAL's controlling owner said Tuesday.

Every Western health craze, from step-aerobics to tae-bo, sooner or later makes its way to Russia. So it's no surprise that a long-standing dietary lifestyle choice for people in Europe and the United States-- organic food -- is now making its presence felt here in the land of salo and sausage.

Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday announced a referendum on the European Union's constitution, taking a major policy U-turn and launching a battle to decide Britain's relationship with Europe.