Main News of September 8

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

RUSSIA

* Acting Moscow head Sergei Sobyanin predictably won Sunday’s mayoral election in the Russian capital, but his main rival, opposition leader Alexei Navalny, came second with an unexpected third of the vote, according to exit polls. A preliminary vote count, however, gave Navalny almost 26 percent.

* A controversial and charismatic anti-drugs campaigner claimed victory in a mayoral election in Russia’s fourth largest city Sunday

* Millions of Russians will take to the polling booths on Sunday to cast their votes in regional and municipal elections. The most important race is happening in Moscow, where Acting Mayor Sergei Sobyanin faces off against Russia’s protest leader Alexei Navalny

 

WORLD

* Syrian rebel groups with links to Al-Qaeda have reportedly seized a Christian village northeast of Damascus.

* German intelligence sources suggest that last month's alleged chemical weapons attack in Damascus was not ordered by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Bild am Sonntag has reported.

* The United States and South Korea have mapped out a joint plan that outlines measures to deter North Korea’s nuclear threat, Yonhap news agency said Sunday citing a government source.

 

SPORTS

* Wrestling has been reinstated as an Olympic sport after beating two other candidate disciplines in an International Olympic Committee vote on Sunday

* The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has chosen Japan’s capital Tokyo to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.