Victory brawl
Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov ended Irish fighter Conor McGregor's attempt to win back the UFC lightweight title when he sealed a brutal submission victory with a rear naked chokehold in the fourth round.
The win prompted a mass brawl to break out in and around the cage, with a red-shirted fan landing several blows on McGregor before security intervened.
Dagestan, Nurmagomedov’s home region, went ecstatic as Khabib fans celebrated in the streets of Makhachkala, dancing, chanting his name and waving traditional Dagestan hats, made iconic by Nurmagomedov. Some people shouted “Allahu akbar!'’ and said the victory was God's will.
Prison riot
At least 20 prisoners were injured when a mass riot broke out at a maximum-security prison in the Siberian region of Omsk.
Investigators have opened a criminal case into the violence while the prison service said the convicts had put forward illegal demands. Local media reported the prisoners were seeking to draw the authorities’ attention into alleged abuses at Penal Colony 6 some 2,700 kilometers east of Moscow.
Birthday wishes
Several Open Russia political movement activists have been detained for unfurling a banner reading “Long Life in Prison” on President Vladimir Putin’s 66th birthday in St. Petersburg.
Land dispute
People in the Ingush town of Magas continued to protest against what they call an unfair land swap deal with the neighboring Russian region of Chechnya.
Protesters in Ingushetia said they believed that the deal amounted to a surrender of territory and that the arrangement favored Chechnya at their own region's expense.
Nuclear pact
India and Russia signed a pact to build six more nuclear reactors at a new site in India following summit talks between their leaders in New Delhi. A Rosatom official told Reuters the pact is not a firm contract yet, but an agreement to work towards a contract.
Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also agreed to cooperate on India's plan for a manned space mission.
Tense meeting
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will meet Putin soon to discuss security coordination over Syria, amid friction with Moscow over Israel's air operations as Russia continues blaming Tel Aviv for the downing of its reconnaissance plane.
Netanyahu, who made the announcement at a cabinet meeting without citing a specific date for the talks, said he had spoken by telephone with Putin and "agreed to meet soon to continue the important security coordination between our armed forces.”
Loose meeting
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is expected to visit Russia soon, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to North Korea.
North Korean state media said Pyongyang and Moscow had agreed to hold a summit this year after Kim met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Pyongyang.
Youth Olympics
Russian teenagers opened the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires with a strong showing, earning gold medals in BMX cycling and shooting.
Grigory Shamakov claimed the first gold medal event with his win in the 10-meter air rifle while the team of Ilya Beskrovny and Varvara Ovchinnikova won gold after both finished runner-up in their Mixed BMX cycling races to earn enough points for the overall victory.
Comic con
The Comic Con 2018 festival in Moscow wowed fiction fans with a colorful cosplay contest, where participants showed off imitations of their favorite characters from games, movies and comic books.
This year's edition featured actor Danny Trejo and director M. Night Shyamalan as special guests.
Grozny celebrations
Two hundred couples united in marriage to symbolically celebrate the 200th anniversary of Russia's Grozny, the capital of the Chechen republic.
The Chechen government had organized massive celebrations for the city's anniversary which included a festival of Caucasian culture and sports, a concert in the central square and the opening of several parks and boulevards.
Includes reporting from Reuters.
