Police detain 66 anti-Putin protesters in St Petersburg:

Russian police today violently broke up an opposition rally in Saint Petersburg and detained more than 60 people protesting against President Vladimir Putin on his 65th birthday, a monitoring group told AFP.

Artyom Platov, spokesman for OVD-Info, a group that monitors politically motivated arrests, said at least 66 had been arrested in Russia's second city and Putin's hometown.