Main news of November 27

RUSSIA

* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said:

- The international community must help the Palestinian territories restore unity as a vital step toward Palestinian statehood

- Claims that Kosovo's independence is inevitable are disrupting collective efforts to find a resolution to the status of Serbia's breakaway province

- Riot police did not abuse their power while dispersing opposition marches in Moscow and St. Petersburg at the weekend

- Washington's proposals on missile defense cooperation are inadequate

* Kosovo falls short of standards for becoming an independent state from the point of view of international law, a member of the Russian upper house said

* Vladimir Bukovsky, a Soviet-era dissident who plans to run for Russian president, said the opposition must choose a single candidate ahead of the March 2008 polls

* Workers at the Ford car plant near St. Petersburg will continue their strike despite management plans to resume production on November 28, the factory's trade union said

* A RIA Novosti Internet project, InoSMI (www.inosmi.ru), which publishes foreign media articles translated into Russian, won an award at Runet Award-2007

* Norway has launched an enquiry into suspected illegal fishing in its sector of the Barents Sea by a Russian trawler, the Norwegian Embassy in Moscow said

* Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said Russia and Finland have good prospects for the mid-and long-term development of trade and economic ties between Russia and Finland, especially in investment and innovation

* The Moscow City court will consider on December 3 an appeal by Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak, arrested on suspicion of attempting to embezzle $43 million, the court said

WORLD

* Prime minister Ehud Olmert said the U.S.-hosted Middle East peace conference will help Israel establish diplomatic relations with Arab countries

* Iran has produced a missile with a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles), the country's defense minister, Gen. Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, said

* Hamas brought thousands of supporters out into the streets of the Gaza Strip in a massive protest against a U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference and the resumption of dialogue with Israel

* Iran does not intend to discuss demands that it suspend uranium enrichment at upcoming talks with the 27-nation bloc's foreign policy chief, a government spokesman said

* Oil leaking from the MS Explorer cruise ship, which sank in Antarctic waters, could cause an environmental disaster near the Antarctic shore, a top-level Argentine foreign ministry official said

* The death toll in the aftermath of Typhoon Mitag, which hit the Philippines on Sunday, has risen to 12, local media reported

* Defense ministers from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) reaffirmed in Kazakhstan their plans to develop a joint air defense network and to conduct joint military exercises

* Azerbaijan's Defense Minister Safar Abiyev said military conflict with Armenia over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh area was likely but his Armenian counterpart denied such a possibility

* Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to resume talks aimed at making progress toward the creation of an independent Palestinian state, U.S. President George W. Bush said

* The dog who inherited $12 million from U.S. real estate billionaire Leona Helmsley has received a series of death and kidnapping threats, national media reported

* Russian archaeologists have found well-preserved mummies in Egypt dating to the country's Ptolemaic era, the head of the Russian Academy of Science's Egyptology department announced

* Britain's prime minister said his country wants good relations with Russia, but will insist on the extradition of Andrei Lugovoi, the main suspect in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko

BUSINESS

* Russian billionaire and BasEl owner, Oleg Deripaska, has withdrawn his offer to buy a 25% blocking stake in Power Machines from electricity giant Unified Energy System, the Kommersant business daily said

* President Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing Russian companies to import uncut diamonds from Liberia, in response to the UN Security Council's lifting of its ban

* Inflation in Russia could reach 11-11.5% by the end of this year, the economics ministry said

* Russian energy giant Gazprom announced on Tuesday it has agreed to pay Turkmenistan $130 per 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas in the first half of 2008

* Highstat Ltd. has won a tender for the acquisition of a blocking stake (25% plus one share) in Power Machines from Russian electricity giant Unified Energy System