Russia's ruling party engaged in heavy damage control on Monday after being stung by a viral video alleging to show a bribes for votes speech being delivered by one of its most senior officials.

The mobile phone footage shows central Izhevsk region administration chief Denis Agashin telling a gasping audience that future veterans' funding will depend on how many votes United Russia wins in December's parliamentary polls.

Russia has informed Hizbullah that the March 8 forces should resign from the government and form a new cabinet that remains committed to international resolutions if the Shiite party and its allies rejected to fund the international tribunal, diplomatic sources said.

The sources told An Nahar daily published Sunday that Moscow’s stance was announced during a meeting last week between the Russian deputy foreign minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, and a Hizbullah delegation led by MP Mohammed Raad.

Russia's Bolshoi Theater finally raises its curtain Friday after a six year closure for much-delayed reconstruction aimed at restoring its imperial splendor and artistic reputation to their former glory.

The Bolshoi's music director Vasily Sinaisky will lift his baton from the pit at 1500 GMT for the first note in an invitation-only gala opera and ballet concert attended by President Dmitry Medvedev to mark the re-opening.

A meeting between Russian Ambassador Alexander Zasypkin and al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc leader Fouad Saniora came upon orders from authorities in Moscow, An Nahar daily reported Sunday.

The meeting held between the two sides on Saturday was attended by former Minister Mohammed Shatah.

Russia said Saturday it had put high-ranking U.S. officials implicated in "human rights crimes" on a visa black list, saying that list would grow if Washington continued to put pressure on Moscow.

Washington had earlier outraged Moscow by banning visas for an unspecified number of Russian officials linked to the 2009 death in prison of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, which became a symbol of abuses in the Russian judicial system.

Two suspected Russian spies operating in Germany for more than 20 years have been arrested in the first case of its kind since German reunification, a report said Saturday.

Der Spiegel said the man and woman, who lived as a couple, were arrested Tuesday when police raided their home at Ballingen, between Stuttgart and Cologne in western Germany.

Russia on Friday said a convoy carrying Moammar Gadhafi posed no danger to civilians when attacked by NATO jets and questioned other circumstances of the Libyan strongman's violent death.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov added sternly that Western leaders were premature in celebrating the veteran dictator's death because its circumstances breached basic international law.

The head of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Mohammed Raad stated on Friday that the Resistance is keen on finding solutions to disputes in Lebanon through national dialogue, which it believes is the only way to end the current political divide in the country.

He said during a seminar from Moscow: “The Resistance is not deluded in believing that it can singlehandedly rule a country, even if it was in a position of power.”

Russian ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin stressed on Thursday that his country’s stance on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri “hasn’t changed.”

“We participated in funding it, but we are against politicizing (the tribunal),” he told An Nahar newspaper.

A delegation from Hizbullah arrived in Moscow on Wednesday in the first official visit to the Russian capital, As Safir newspaper reported.

The delegation will discuss with Russian officials the bilateral relations, issues of common interest and the developing situation in the region, mainly in Lebanon.