Main news of November 21

RUSSIA

* Russian President Vladimir Putin said victory for the ruling United Russia party in December 2 parliamentary elections was crucial for the country's further development

* Russia will start launches of manned spacecraft from a future space center in Russia's Far East in 2018, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said

* Mikhail Kamynin, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said if Kosovo unilaterally declared independence it would lead to a new escalation in the Balkans

* Russia is seeking to actively expand its cooperation with Norway, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

* Alexei Kudrin, Russian deputy prime minister and finance minister, ruled out the possibility that his deputy had planned to embezzle state funds, saying he hoped for an unbiased investigation

* Lieutenant General Valery Yevtukhovich has been appointed commander of the Russian Airborne Troops, a Defense Ministry source said

* Andrei Lugovoi and Kommersant, a leading Russian business daily, agreed on an out-of-court settlement on the businessman's $800,000 lawsuit against the newspaper

* Damage caused by the November 11 storm in the Kerch Strait, which links the Black and Azov seas, is estimated at $265 million, Russia's Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev said, citing the environmental regulator

* Defense lawyers for Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak, suspected of embezzling $43 million, appealed against the official's arrest, the Moscow City Court announced

* The number of birds killed by the oil spill in the Kerch Strait will keep growing, a member of the WWF volunteer group said

WORLD

* Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the country would gain "a greatness that is 100 times more precious than nuclear energy," if it withstands pressure from the West over its nuclear program

* The U.S. State Department announced that 49 countries and institutions have been invited to a Mideast peace conference set for November 27 in Annapolis, Maryland

* Israel has authorized the supply of 25 armored vehicles to Palestinian security forces in the West Bank ahead of a Mideast peace conference, government officials said

* Iran's top nuclear negotiator is to meet with the European Union's foreign policy chief for a new round of nuclear talks on November 30 in London, an Iranian official said

* Pervez Musharraf is expected to resign as army chief and be sworn as a civilian president in the next few days, Palestinian Attorney General Malik Qayyum said

* A shortage of fresh drinking water is causing an outbreak of diarrhea in Bangladesh after last week's Cyclone Sidr lashed the country leaving almost 3,500 dead, local authorities said

* Cases of bird flu were registered in two neighboring Arab countries - Saudi Arabia and Yemen

* Floods in Papua New Guinea have killed 153 people, and dozens more have been declared missing, regional media said

* Israeli authorities have lifted restrictions on the export of flowers and strawberries from the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian exporters' association spokesman said

* Levan Gachechiladze, the Georgian opposition's sole candidate to run in snap presidential elections, blasted the incumbent president's ongoing clampdown on opponents

* The widow of Alexander Litvinenko, a former FSB officer and Kremlin critic poisoned in London last year, is to sue the Russian government at the European Court of Human Rights, the Financial Times said

* Dutch trainer Dick Advocaat has prolonged his contract with Russian champions Zenit for another year, the club's president announced

BUSINESS

* The world price for oil will average about $74 per barrel in 2008, a senior Russian economics ministry official said

* The Onexim investment fund, owned by Russian tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov, said it had made a $15.7 billion offer to Interros holding company to buy out Prokhorov's stake in Norilsk Nickel at $330.3 per share

* The net profit of SIBUR Holding, Russia's leading petrochemicals company, fell by 3.2% to 13.5 billion rubles ($550 million) in January-September 2007, year-on-year, a company report said

* The board of directors of Gazprombank may approve a development strategy up to 2015 by the end of the year, including a possible IPO, Alexander Sobol, the bank's deputy chairman, said