Moscow - A sailor was charged with activating the locked-down fire safety system on a Russian nuclear submarine over the weekend accident that asphyxiated 20 people, investigators said on Thursday.

"The inquiry established that a sailor set off the anti-fire system on board the submarine without authorization and for no reason," news agency Itar-tass quoted Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for Russia's top investigative committee, as saying.

Moscow - A careless crew member caused a weekend accident on a Russian nuclear submarine that cost 20 lives, an inquiry showed Thursday.

The inquiry established that a sailor set off the "anti-fire system on board the submarine without authorization and for no reason," the Itar-Tass news agency quoted a prosecution spokesman as saying.

Moscow - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has not ruled out another run in the Kremlin, backed a proposal on Wednesday to extend by two years the presidential term.

Putin, however, added it was too soon to say who would be the next candidate for the constitutionally-stretched office.

Legal experts say the changes would not benefit Putin's successor Dmitry Medvedev, though Russian lawmakers moved Wednesday to fast-track approval of his bill.

Moscow - The Russian Finance Ministry on Wednesday cut its oil forecast to 50 dollars per barrel for next year as the global financial crisis drags down demand for the country's largest export.

"This is substantially lower than what has been fixed in the budget," Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told lawmakers in a televised meeting. The federal budget was pegged to a price of oil of 95 dollars for 2009, one of the world's highest forecasts among oil exporting countries.

Moscow - A least five Russian ice hockey players under the age of 20 suffer from seriou