In 39 Russian cities protested against raising the age of retirement

Thousands of Russians protested yesterday over the government's decision to increase the retirement age, but there have been no protests in host cities of the World Cup because of the security restrictions in place during the tournament. Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin's most prominent critic, said his supporters had staged demonstrations in 39 cities across the country, from the Pacific coast to Murmansk, near the border with Norway. Most of the rallies had been approved by the local authorities and no cases of arrest had been reported. The slogans they included were: "Increase the pension, not the age of retirement" and "Take away your pensions!"