Main News of April 27

WORLD

* Twenty-nine people, including nine children, were injured in four successive bomb attacks that took place on Friday in the city of Dnepropetrovsk, eastern Ukraine, the emergencies ministry sai-

* The crisis in Syria is impossible to settle if the international community ignores the positions of Russia and China, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

* Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili responded to remarks of his Russian counterpart by saying that he will step down if Russia returns control over former Georgian republics, Georgian media said

* A Dutch court has upheld a law banning foreigners from entering "coffee shops" to buy marijuana and hashish, the BBC reported

* A power explosion rocked the Syrian capital of Damascus with at least three people killed and ten injured, Syrian Addounia TV reported

RUSSIA

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev instructed mobile operators to allow customers in Russia to retain their mobile phone numbers after changing their mobile operator

* There are some problem areas in Russia’s relations with the United States but they should not be dramatized, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

* President Dmitry Medvedev said Russian authorities and business should encourage economic mobility of the population

* Russia’s Supreme Court turned down a lawsuit from 12 voters against the outcome of the presidential elections that saw Prime Minister Vladimir Putin win by a landslide on March 4, the court’s web site said

* Outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev accepted a formal offer to take up the leadership of the ruling United Russia party

* The Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, passed a bill on direct elections of governors who are currently appointed by local parliaments on recommendations from the president

* Organizers of an opposition rally planned for May 1 in Moscow have decided to cancel the event, Anastasia Udaltsova, wife of Left Front coordinator Sergei Udaltsov, wrote

* Activists from a fundamentalist Russian Orthodox organization held a protest before the opening ceremony of an international gay and lesbian film festival in Moscow, the Ridus information agency reported

* A prominent Muslim figure who pledged to "cover Moscow in blood" if the authorities refuse to establish Islamic law has fled Russia, the BBC Russian service reported

SCIENCE

* A Soyuz reentry capsule with three members of the International Space Station (ISS) crew landed safely in Kazakhstan on Friday afternoon, the Russian-based ISS mission control center said

SPORTS

* Russia has suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Finland in a key warm-up match for next month’s ice hockey world championships

DEFENSE

* India formally commissioned a new frigate into its navy, following a handover ceremony at a shipyard in Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad