NNA -A Russian court on Tuesday rejected an appeal from opposition leader Alexei Navalny against a nine-year prison sentence he is serving for large-scale fraud and contempt of court, charges which he denies.

Navalny, by far Russia’s most prominent opposition figure, was handed a nine-year jail term in March for fraud and contempt of court, on top of 2-1/2 years he is already serving. He denies all the charges against him and says they were fabricated to thwart his political ambitions. -- Reuters

================ L.Y