Moscow, Aug 20
Russian authorities have banned an annual river race involving competitors gliding down the water on their inflatable sex dolls.
The Bubble Baba Challenge-2012 was banned because of road work on a bridge over the Vuoksa river as well as high waters, said officials from the Leningrad region's Priozersky municipality.
But organisers said the decision might be linked to what they said was a government crackdown on the opposition.
"There is a suspicion that at a time of rising opposition sentiment in society, the authorities will be fighting any mass events this way," they said on the event's website.