One of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most vocal and influential parliamentary critics said Saturday that prosecutors had asked lawmakers to expel him so that he could be charged with business crimes.

Gennady Gudkov of the leftist A Just Russia party said he had received a copy of a letter the Prosecutor General's office circulated among groups in the pro-Kremlin legislature seeking a vote on his seat.

It seems that Russia's defense ministry has little faith in Google's operating systems: it has just unveiled its own encrypted version that has the remarkably familiar feel of an Android.

Russia's very first smart prototype was presented on the sidelines of a Berlin electronics show this week to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin -- an avowed nationalist who oversees the military's technological innovation.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi has told the new U.N. special envoy for Syria that Beijing is increasingly concerned about the worsening situation in the conflict-ridden Middle Eastern country.

Yang made the comments late Friday during a telephone conversation with Lakhdar Brahimi, according to a statement posted on the ministry's website.

Russia said Saturday it would be "naive" for outside powers to expect Syrian President Bashar Assad to withdraw his troops first from cities and then wait for the opposition to follow suit.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said such a demand on the regime amounted to a call for "capitulation" that Western and Arab nations had no right to make.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's chief spokesman on Friday denounced as "inadmissible" a threat by Republican White House challenger Mitt Romney to take a tougher line with Moscow.

"Moscow and Washington have at various levels repeatedly stressed... that it is inadmissible to have situations in which bilateral relations turn into the victim and hostage of election campaigns," Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti.

A Russian national channel said Thursday it would censor "The Simpsons" cartoon series to comply with a new law banning scenes of violence, drinking and smoking before a late evening watershed.

The 2x2 channel, aimed at young adults, told Agence France Presse it would cut scenes where the Simpsons family watches a spoof ultra-violent cartoon called "The Itchy & Scratchy Show" after the law comes into force on Friday.

The head of Russia's army said Tuesday that Moscow had no intention to end its military presence in Syria despite the escalating violence and threat of President Bashar Assad's fall.

"Why are you so worried about Syria?" Chief of Staff General Nikolai Makarov demanded in response to a question about reports that Russia was in the process of evacuating its Syrian naval base and pulling out senior military personnel.

Russia on Friday voiced its rejection of any interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs, in the wake of the deadly clashes that erupted in the northern city of Tripoli.

“Moscow is very concerned over the situation in Tripoli … and urges all parties to halt violence and respect the ceasefire reached on Wednesday with the support of Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Miqati,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the state RIA Novosti news agency.

Russia's agriculture minister on Thursday lowered the country's grain output forecast to 75 million tons after already reducing 2012 expectations because of drought conditions in farming regions.

The announcement by the world's third-largest wheat exporter comes amid spiraling global food prices and efforts by developed nations to stabilise the market so that poorer countries in regions such as Africa are not affected too severely.

President Michel Suleiman will head to Iran on August 29 to attend the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran, As Safir newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The daily reported that Suleiman is expected to hold talks with several counterparts including Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.