U.S. President Barack Obama said Saturday that the G8 -- which includes Russia -- agreed that the political process in Syria should move forward "in a more timely fashion."

"We had a discussion about Syria, we all believe that a peaceful resolution and a political transition in Syria is preferable," Obama said, flanked by leaders of the G8 industrialized nations at a Camp David summit.

Russian emergency workers evacuated about 1,800 people from their homes Friday after a fire broke out at a military base in the country's Far East, sparking an explosion of stored shells.

Russian Railways, the company that manages the country's vast rail network, said it had closed down a section of the Trans-Siberian Railway because of the incident and was expecting train delays.

Russia has commissioned new school textbooks that condemn "falsifications of history" and paint the Soviet Union in a more positive light in a bid to boost patriotism among the young.

The education and science ministry this month posted a call for new teaching materials for senior classes "on the problem of the falsification of history," according to the Zakupki official tender website.

Russia cautioned Western powers on Thursday against launching "hasty" wars that could lead to the rise of radical Islamist factions and even result in regional nuclear wars.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told a legal forum ahead of his visit to the G8 summit as Russia's official representative at Camp David that Moscow noted numerous examples of powers infringing on the sovereignty of other states.

A Russian man had to be rescued by emergency workers from a rubbish chute where he had jumped to escape his girlfriend but ended up getting stuck after sliding three floors down, officials said Thursday.

"According to the 31-year-old victim, he jumped into the metal chute on the 8th floor to escape his girlfriend," the emergency ministry branch in the oil-rich Tyumen region said on its website.

There is still no agreement among leaders of the world's richest nations on the final text of a declaration that will touch upon the protracted conflict in Syria, a Kremlin advisor said Thursday.

The leaders of the G8 -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States -- will meet Friday and Saturday for a summit at the Camp David presidential retreat near Washington.

Moscow authorities broke up a week-long Occupy protest on Wednesday that sprung up in response to President Vladimir Putin's inauguration, warning they would prevent similar actions during his third term.

The dawn-hours raid on dozens of sleeping protesters brought an abrupt end to younger Russians' first attempt to emulate the tent city tactic that is increasing popular in the West.

A Moscow court on Tuesday ordered the police to break up a week-long occupy protest that spontaneously emerged on a scenic square after strongman Vladimir Putin's swearing in for a third Kremlin term.

The city district court said it was acting on behalf of local residents who complained of too much noise. A judge ordered the authorities to immediately "liquidate" the camp and clear the area.

Al-Qaida and its associates are behind the recent bomb attacks in Syria, the Russian foreign ministry said Monday.

"For us it is absolutely clear that terrorist groups are behind this -- al-Qaida and those groups that work with al-Qaida," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told reporters.

Several thousand Russians signed up Saturday to take part in a "walking" protest against President Vladimir Putin headed by a group of the country's best known writers, including novelist Boris Akunin.

More than 2,000 people had signed up on Facebook by Saturday afternoon to take part in a "Test Walk with Poets and Writers" on Sunday in which the writers will stroll down Moscow boulevards to a camp set up by protesters.