Deputies of the Russian parliament are ready to consider a draft bill on the return of direct elections to the upper house if the president submits it, the head of the State Duma Committee on constitutional legislation, Vladimir Pligin, has said. President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday called the return of this procedure “a good idea” for Russia’s political system. The current system, according to which members of the Federation Council are appointed by regional executive and legislative bodies, was adopted in August 2000. The first deputy speaker of the State Duma, Oleg Morozov, told Itar-Tass on Thursday that direct elections to the upper house could be returned without amending the constitution - by giving the regional authorities the right to nominate candidates for elections.

­The opposition Fair Russia party will hold its congress on September 24, devoted to preparation for the parliamentary elections. The party’s chairman, Nikolay Levichev, told reporters that ordinary voters had submitted more than 390,000 proposals for the program. He predicts all four parties that are now represented in the State Duma will enter parliament after the December elections. Fair Russia will discuss its list of candidates at the congress behind closed doors.

­The Federation Council will hold special hearings to consider problems many Russian tourists face in Turkey. Of late, “dozens of Russian citizens died and hundreds had food poisoning” in that country, the acting chairman of the Russian parliament’s upper house, Aleksandr Torshin, told Interfax on Thursday. He said diplomatic staff from the countries that receive many Russian tourists will be invited to the hearings. Torshin also said the Russian Foreign Ministry should increase the number of consular employees abroad during the tourist season.

Muammar Gaddafi has urged tribes in his country to continue fighting, Syria’s Arrai TV reported on Thursday. “We will not give up. We are not women,” the fugitive Libyan leader added. Gaddafi also accused rebels of using mercenaries in the ongoing armed conflict in the country.

The European Union will seek a ban on Syrian oil sales to Europe, Associated Press reports, citing the British foreign secretary, William Hague, on Thursday. The statement was made on the sidelines of an international meeting on Libya in the French capital. Hague added that Britain and other countries are now working on a new UN Security Council resolution against Syria. The UN estimates that 2,200 people have been killed in a violent crackdown on anti-government protesters.

The regime of fugitive Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi ordered the execution of 100,000 people, Al Arabiya reports, citing a document discovered in a Tripoli prison.

­Georgia’s Labor Party has asked the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to send a delegation to Tbilisi to evaluate the progress of children’s rights in Georgia. The party’s co-leader, Iosif Shatberashvili, said on Thursday that some 1,200 out of 3,000 schools had been closed and about 20,000 teachers fired, Interfax reported. The rising cost of textbooks and school uniforms, as well as transport fees, also limit children’s rights to education as parents “are unable to send their children to school.”

Israel has deployed the third battery of its Iron Dome anti-missile system ahead of schedule, RIA Novosti news agency reported on Thursday, quoting a statement by the Israeli Defense Ministry. The system is aimed at defending the southern port city of Ashdod from Gazan attacks. The deployment was scheduled on September 10, but the operation was completed earlier. “The third battery is part of the national emergency plan that was declared a few weeks ago and gives the residents of Israel tangible protection from rockets and missiles," Defense Minister Ehud Barak stressed.

­President Dmitry Medvedev will meet his counterparts from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, on Friday. They will discuss more extensive regional co-operation in seeking stabilization in Afghanistan and regions along the Afghan-Pakistani border, a Kremlin source said on Thursday. The leaders will focus on the issues of the Afghan settlement, including the threat of terrorism. Drug trafficking will be a separate topic. The source told Interfax that Russia wants tougher measures to be taken, including the destruction of plantations of narcotic crops.

The European Union has lifted its sanctions on 28 Libyan companies, Reuters quoted the EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton as saying on Thursday. She added that the assets of the entities will be unfrozen. The list includes six Libyan ports and several oil firms and banks. Ashton stressed that the move’s goal is “to help to make the [Libyan] economy function again.” The EU imposed sanctions on 49 companies and 42 people, including the fugitive Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, on February 28.

The attorney general in the restive Syrian city of Hama has tendered his resignation in a video address, Associated Press reports. Adnan Bakkour explained that he was leaving office because of the regime’s deadly crackdown on protesters. He added that security forces killed more than 420 people during an attack on the city in August. However, the Syrian state-run news agency says that Bakkour was kidnapped by “terrorists” who forced him to make this video.

­Co-operation between the UK and Russia in different fields over the past year “allows us to look ahead with cautious optimism at our future interaction,” Russian Ambassador to Britain Aleksandr Yakovenko said in an article for Russia Now, a supplement to The Daily Telegraph. The piece was also posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Twitter account. A cooling in Russian-British relations had obstructed bilateral contacts and the settlement of domestic problems in both countries, the ambassador argued. He said the mistrust must be overcome by joint efforts of both governments with the participation of civil society.

Damascus has reportedly broken its promise to co-operate with a UN probe of the country’s secret nuclear activities, Associated Press reports on Thursday citing diplomats speaking anonymously. Syria promised to co-operate back in June, but now says it cannot release any further details to challenge a UN assessment. The International Atomic Energy Agency referred Syria to the UN Security Council three months ago for stonewalling the investigation. The IAEA maintains Syria tried to build a reactor producing plutonium.

Former Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic has said that prosecutors’ plan to split his indictment so that he would be tried first for his alleged role in the Srebrenica massacre would lead to unfair trial, Associated Press reports. His lawyer, Branko Lukic added in a written response to prosecution that it would contradict the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal's rules. Prosecutors have asked for the split to ensure that Mladic be tried for the massacre as fears are growing that his health may deteriorate. Other charges would be covered during a second trial.

­Bulava missile systems may partially assume combat duty in 2012, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Thursday. “There are ample conditions to put not only the missiles, but also the systems in operational readiness in 2012,” he was quoted by Interfax as saying. Serdyukov, who was in Stavropol Region on a working visit with President Dmitry Medvedev, said the Defense Ministry had signed all but one of the contracts making up this year’s state defense order. The only contract yet to be signed is with the OSK company.

Seven people were killed when an old World War II bomb exploded in western Myanmar, Associated Press reports. The victims discovered the bomb floating in a river in Rakhine state before the tragedy occurred. Two children were among the dead, according to a security official.

­The Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) offered France 35 per cent of its oil sector in exchange for  recognition of its authority, France’s Libération newspaper reported on Thursday. The source quotes a letter sent by the NTC on April 3rd to Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar, a mediator between Paris and Benghazi in the Libyan conflict. France recognized the NTC on March 10 as sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people. Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told RTL radio station that he knew nothing about the agreement.

­Ukraine cannot join the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan because it is already a member of the World Trade Organization, Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov said on Thursday. Being a full-fledged member state of the Customs Union entails revising all agreements with the WTO, he noted, calling this option “absolutely unrealistic.” Ukraine had proposed co-operation according the “3+1 formula” – three member states plus Ukraine. Russia rejects the formula as it would allow a new member state to sign some agreements and ignore others.

Russia is marking “the Day of Knowledge” which falls on 1st of September each year. This is the day children across the country head back to the classroom as the school year officially starts. Pupils – many of them accompanied by their parents - traditionally bring flowers for their teachers. Today is also a rite of passage for the incoming class of first graders who are coming to school for the first time.

­Moscow sees the Paris meeting on Libya as a forum that makes it possible for the UN Security Council to determine the future of international assistance to the country, rather than a Friends of Libya session, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday. “This is not a contact group as was announced by the French,” he told Interfax. Although Russian envoy Mikhail Margelov is taking part in the forum, Lavrov reiterated Moscow’s position that the post-conflict reconstruction of Libya must be carried out under the aegis of the UN and “not some quasi-organizations.”

Libyan rebels claim that the foreign minister of Muammar Gaddafi’s government has been captured, Associated Press reported on Thursday.

The toxic chemical bromine has leaked from a transport container in the Urals. The accident happened at a train station in the city of Chelyabinsk, when up to 10 glass containers of bromine were broken when a train carriage they were in was moved. The gas has spread over an area of several kilometers and locals are complaining of a strong and unpleasant smell in the air. More than 30 people have sought medical help. A clean-up operation is now underway.

­The Friends of Libya conference in Paris is aimed at helping the UN Security Council determine the parameters of international co-operation in the country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on Thursday. The statement came as Lavrov addressed an audience at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).

­The unrestricted broadening of the US-NATO missile defense system will force Russia to respond and protect its strategic deterrence potential, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told students of the MGIMO University on Thursday. The parameters for the new global missile defense shield are set by Washington and may “create a threat to the Russian strategic nuclear forces by the end of this decade,” he was quoted by Interfax as saying. Russia has not received guarantees that the new system would not be targeted against it, he said.

Bailiffs are still searching the Moscow headquarters of the oil giant BP, according to the RBK website. On Wednesday, they seized documents which were the subject of an injunction issued by the Tyumen Region arbitration court. Andrei Prokhorov, a minority shareholder in BP's Russian venture, TNK-BP, is suing the British oil giant for allowing an Arctic exploration deal with Rosneft to fall through. He says his interests were harmed as TNK-BP could have benefited from becoming part of the deal.

One of the founders of Hamas, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, has reportedly been detained by the Israeli army less than a month after his release from an Israeli prison, the Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday. His current whereabouts is unknown. Hasan Yousef, along with 200 other political prisoners, were granted early release as a gesture in honor of Ramadan. Sheikh Yousef, whose power base is in the West Bank, was jailed in 2005 after being convicted of terrorism.

Russia supports efforts for forge a democratic model in countries of the Middle East and North Africa, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. Speaking at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) on Thursday, he also stressed that NATO’s actions in Libya do not always comply with the principle of respect for international law, although it is laid down in the alliance’s new strategy. The minister warned that influential states must not obstruct dialogue between the Syrian authorities and opposition. He also described the use of force against civilians in that country as “unacceptable and impermissible.”

Algeria has refused to give political shelter to Muammar Gaddafi, according to Algeria’s El Watan newspaper. Gaddafi and his family are now reportedly on the border between Libya and Algeria. The source said the fugitive Libyan leader was trying to speak to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika but he declined to connect with Gaddafi.

­Moscow has recognized Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) “as the governing authority,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. It stressed that Russia has taken note of the program of reforms proclaimed by NTC, including drafting a new constitution, holding general elections and the formation of a government. Russia established relations with Libya in 1955 and “has never severed them since then, irrespective of what government was in power in Tripoli,” the ministry said. Russia hopes the new government will honor all previous agreements and mutual obligations between the two countries.

Russia has recognized the Libyan National Transitional Council as the country’s ruling authority, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday. A foreign ministry statement added that Russia hopes all previous agreements between the two countries will remain in force.

­Fugitive Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been denied political refuge in Algeria, the RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing the Al Watan newspaper. Al Watan quoted sources close to the Algerian presidential administration as saying that, "Gaddafi was trying to contact [Algerian] President [Abdelaziz] Bouteflika by phone, but he refused to speak with him." Another source declared that Algeria has firmly taken a neutral position on the events in Libya. “We don't want to interfere in Libya's internal affairs," he said. Libyan rebels have announced a $1.7 million reward for the capture or killing of Muammar Gaddafi, whose whereabouts still remain unknown. Gaddafi’s wife Safia, his daughter Aisha and his two sons Hannibal and Mohammed were allowed into Algeria in what the country’s authorities called a “humanitarian” move.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia’s political system needs reforms. “I do not think that we should reject what has been done in the last 10-15 years,” he said. “But I believe that the system needs reforms, gradual but firm.” In particular, the president mentioned the possibility of a return to elections for the Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament. Currently Russian senators are appointed to their positions. Medvedev also said that the Russian parties’ activity should be increased and parliamentary aspects reinforced.

­The Nigerian Red Cross announced that at least 102 people were killed when a dam burst in torrential rain and flooding in southwest Nigeria, Agence France-Presse reported. According to a Red Cross spokesman, Umar Mairiga, the Eleyele dam collapsed and several bridges were swept away over the weekend following seven hours of heavy rain. Homes were washed away and some victims of the flooding died after being trapped in their houses. Last year flooding displaced about half a million people in Nigeria. The rainy season in the country typically lasts from April to September. Earlier this year Nigerian authorities warned that rains in 2011 will be heavier than in 2010.

Hollywood celebrity Mel Gibson will pay his Russian ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva $750,000 and will continue to provide for their young daughter with housing and financial support, the Associated Press reported. The settlement was aimed at resolving a lengthy legal fight between Gibson and Grigorieva, a musician. The former couple will now split custody of their daughter, who turns 2 in October. Under the terms of the settlement, Grigorieva cannot pursue a civil case against Gibson, and both sides are prohibited from speaking or writing about their relationship. Grigorieva previously accused Gibson of hitting her during a fight in January 2010. The couple separated several months later. After the domestic dispute, the Oscar winner was sentenced to three years of probation, 16 hours of community service, and mental health and domestic violence counseling.

Muammar Gaddafi’s son Seif al-Islam announced on Wednesday that he will fight to the death, adding that nobody loyal to his father would surrender to the rebel forces, the Associated Press news agency reported. According to the agency, Seif al-Islam said that his father was fine. A contrasting statement, however, came from a man claiming to be another of Gaddafi’s son, Saadi, who said that he was ready to mediate talks with the rebels in order to stop the bloodshed in hi country. According to a rebel commander in Tripoli, Abdel Hakim Belhaj, Saadi earlier tried to negotiate the terms of his surrender, demanding that his safety be guaranteed.