Man sentenced for killing kitten.

ARKHANGELSK, August 14 (Itar-Tass) -- A regional court in Russia's
northern Arkhangelsk region sentenced a father for seven months of
corrective labor for killing a kitten before the eyes of his daughter.

The regional prosecutor's office told Tass on Thursday Sergei
Vakhromov, a resident of Konosh district, was found guilty of maltreating
animals.
He was drunk and killed the kitten in front of his five-year daughter.
"The court ruled to sentence him to seven months of corrective labor
and withdraw 10 percent of earnings to the state budget," the office said.

.Court to decide on Khodorkovsky's custody extension.

MOSCOW, August 14 (Itar-Tass) -- A Moscow district court will decide
on Friday whether to keep former YUKOS CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his
companion Platon Lebedev in a Moscow investigation prison or have them
sent back to jail where they serve an 8-year sentence.
Prosecutors asked Khamovniki district court to keep the men in Moscow
for another three months in connection with a second criminal case against
them. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev are accused of major fraud and money
laundering and may face up to 22 years in jail each.
Khodorkovsky's lawyer Vadim Klyuvgant said conditions in Moscow
investigation cell were worse than in Siberian jail and blamed prosecutors
for deliberately creating the toughest custody conditions for the
defendants.
Khodorkovsky objected to the extension. "It is impossible to escape
because I'm serving a sentence for the first criminal case. If they have
information that an escape is being prepared, they must report it to the
Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), but I believe it's a lie," he told
the court.
"The only charge I acknowledge is the participation in unfair
privatization of industrial assets: unfair but legal," the former YUKOS
CEO said.
Prosecutor Valery Lakhtin asked to extend the investigation prison
custody yet another time up to November 17 because "Khodorkovsky and
Lebedev hid money and securities received from stolen oil in British
banks" and there is no agreement on legal cooperation with Great Britain.
"They are resolutely set to impede investigation and may use the
stolen money for the purpose," he added.
Prosecutors accuse Khodorkovsky and Lebedev of misappropriating crude
oil of subsidiaries worth 892.4 billion rubles and laundering 487.4
billion rubles and 7.5 million US dollars in 1998-2004.
In 2005 the two were sentenced to eight years each for fraud and tax
evasion.


.Spanish court issues compromising judgment for Russian yachtsmen.

MADRID, August 14 (Itar-Tass) -- A Spanish court passed a compromising
judgment on Thursday for three Russian yachtsmen who were sentenced
conditionally and fined for resisting police on Palma de Mallorca.
"It was a compromising judgment, i.e. it was agreed by the court with
the parties," Russian Consul General in Barcelona Yuri Kovalko told Tass.
"It is very important that the Russian side and its lawyers succeeded
to have the charges changed from attacking police to resisting law
enforcers," he said.
Russian yachtsmen Denis Rozhkov, Nikita Khrekov and Roman Konstantinov
were conditionally sentenced from three to six months and to various fines.
Kovalko said the conviction will expunge in two years, according to
Spanish legislation.
The three yachtsmen of the RUS7 team participating in the Copa del Rey
regatta were arrested in Palma de Mallorca after an incident with police
on July 28. According to Executive Director of the Russian Sailing
Federation Oskar Konyukhov, the yachtsmen were returning to their hotel
when they were surrounded by eight policemen, who began to beat them with
batons without providing any explanations. The yachtsmen were handcuffed,
held in a cell for 24 hours, and charged with attacking police. They filed
a counterclaim against the policemen.
Before the trial Sergei Kotsyuba, a spokesperson for the RUS7 team,
said the parties had held consultations and "managed to bring their
positions closer". He expressed hope for a compromise. "The most important
thing is that the court ruling doesn't affect the yachtsmen's sport
careers," he said.
The three yachtsmen are to travel to Portugal where another regatta is
scheduled for August 18-23.

.Earthquake reported near Kurile Island.

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKI, August 14 (Itar-Tass) -- An earthquake force
4.4 Richter scale was registered in the Pacific Ocean near the Kurile
Island of Paramushir, the local geophysical service told Tass on Friday.
There were no casualty or damage reports.
The earthquake was registered at 09:29 hours local time (00:29 hours
Moscow time) and the epicenter was located 140 kilometers southeast of the
city of Severo-Kurilsk at a depth of 5 kilometers below the seabed.
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