PUTIN TO SKIP FUNERAL

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin, pictured, will not attend the funeral of the late Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, today because of schedule constraints, the Kremlin said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had paid his respects on Thursday morning by visiting Moscow’s Central Clinical Hospital, where Gorbachev died on Tuesday. Gorbachev will be buried at Moscow’s Novodevichy cemetery next to his wife Raisa. His funeral will be held in the Hall of Columns inside the House of Unions, agencies reported. | Reuters