MOSCOW, January 29 (RIA Novosti) – Activists of Russian liberal party Yabloko held a rally in central Moscow to protest authorities' refusal to register its ballots for upcoming regional elections, a RIA Novosti correspondent said Monday.

Election committees in the North Caucasus republic of Daghestan and Russia's second city, St. Petersburg, refused to register Yabloko for the March regional legislature elections, saying that more than 10% of signatures in support of the party list had been deemed invalid.

Yabloko leaders called the decision "politically motivated", and expressed concern that the party will face the same fate in the Moscow Region in the next few days.

More than 40 Yabloko activists gathered Monday near the former Lenin Museum in Moscow to protest against the move, and to urge authorities to return to fair elections.

In 2003, the party, led by Grigory Yavlinsky, won only four seats in Russia's 450-seat Duma, all from single-mandate districts, as it garnered less than the 5% of the vote necessary for its deputies to be elected from party lists. The lower house has become increasingly dominated by pro-Kremlin party United Russia.

Russia's election legislation has been subject to several amendments since the previous polls, which have been vehemently criticized by rights groups, who consider the changes part of the Kremlin's ongoing clampdown on democracy.

Lawmakers have abolished the 20% threshold for voter turnout, and canceled early voting and the "against all candidates" option on election ballots at all levels. The Kremlin has said these changes are needed to safeguard the development of Russian democracy from irresponsible marginal parties.

The threshold for parties seeking seats in the State Duma has also been increased from 5% to 7% in a move "to encourage parties to work harder and unite," according to top election official Alexander Veshnyakov.

// Jan. 29, 2007 - 11:19 GMT

MOSCOW, December 27 (RIA Novosti) – Russia's upper house voted Wednesday to send back a bill on transferring the Constitutional Court from Moscow to St. Petersburg over one provision banning the court from convening in other cities.

Although members of the Federation Council rejected the bill by 103 against 21, they approved the idea of moving the court to Russia's second largest city.

The lower house, the State Duma, passed the bill December 20. In the final, third reading, Duma deputies adopted a provision to ban the Constitutional Court from gathering anywhere but St. Petersburg, and decided that the court should have a representation in Moscow.

The committee for constitutional legislation in the upper house recommended that the Federation Council turn down the bill and form a conciliatory commission, Yury Sharandin, the committee chairman, said.

// Dec. 27, 2006 - 07:56 GMT

MOSCOW, July 6 (RIA Novosti) – Russia is not planning to legalize soft drugs, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

// Jul. 06, 2006 - 13:41 GMT

IRKUTSK, January 12 (RIA Novosti, Alexander Batalin) – About 3,000 people, including 720 children, were left freezing in their Siberian apartments early Thursday after a main water pipe burst, the local Emergency Situations Ministry said.

// Jan. 12, 2006 - 06:17 GMT

MOSCOW, January 1 (RIA Novosti) – Thousands of Muscovites flocked to Red Square to celebrate New Year, the best-loved holiday in Russia, despite a biting wind and air temperatures that suddenly fell to minus 6 Celsius Saturday night, and a ban on hard liquor, even traditional champagne, issued by the city authorities.

// Jan. 01, 2006 - 07:22 GMT