‘We’ll see’
President Vladimir Putin could seek another term in office if Russians vote next week in favor of constitutional amendments that would “zero out” his previous four terms, he said in an interview.
“I do not rule out the possibility of running for office, if this comes up in the Constitution. We’ll see,” Putin said as translated by Reuters. “I have not decided anything for myself yet.”
Arctic heat
The town of Verkhoyansk in eastern Siberia has broken its all-time heat record with temperatures hitting 38 degrees Celsius and may have set a new record for any location above the Arctic Circle.
The town of around 1,300 residents holds the Guinness World Record for the highest recorded temperature range of 105 C, fluctuating from minus 68 C to 37 C.
‘Extremist’ publisher
Anti-Kremlin activist Pyotr Verzilov has been questioned on charges of extremism and violence against the authorities in connection with last summer’s opposition protests in Moscow, he told the Mediazona news website which he publishes.
The outlet previously reported that unidentified men seized Verzilov, who is also a member of punk band and art collective Pussy Riot, after breaking down his apartment door early Sunday and held him for more than 12 hours.
Dijon unrest
France said it would charge four men in connection with violence blamed on Chechens in the eastern French city of Dijon, as local people marched calling for the resignation of the top local official.
Three of the four suspects are Russians, while the fourth is French of Russian origin, prosecutor Eric Mathais told journalists. They were among six people arrested Thursday in connection with three nights of violence sparked by an assault on a 16-year-old Chechen boy.
Lenin in Germany
A divisive new monument to Soviet leader Lenin was unveiled in Germany, more than 30 years after the post-World War II communist experiment on German soil ended with the collapse of its deadly Berlin Wall and Stasi secret police.
The tiny Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD), which installed Lenin's likeness in the western city of Gelsenkirchen, says it is the first such statue ever to be erected on the territory of the former West Germany, decades after the eastern German Democratic Republic communist state collapsed.
AFP contributed reporting to this article.
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