Kremlin delay on fate of last tsar

A Russian government commission decided to delay until January making a recommendation on what to do with the bones of the last tsar, Nicholas II, and his family. The remains of Nicholas, Empress Alexandra and their children were dug up six years ago near Ekaterinburg, where they were shot by Bolshevik revolutionaries in 1918. They are kept cases under lock and key in Ekaterinburg morgue.

"Our scientists ... reported today a certainty of 99.9 per cent that these are the remains of Nicholas II, the tsarina and the children," the First Deputy Prime Minister, Boris Nemtsov, said. "But we none the less need to carry out ... a small additional test that will take about two months."

- Reuters, Moscow