Main news of November 30

RUSSIA

* President Vladimir Putin signed a law on a temporary suspension of Russia's participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, the Kremlin's press service said

* Friday was last day of campaigning in Russia before the December 2 elections for the State Duma, the country's lower house of parliament

* Expenditure on science in Russia could total about 600 billion rubles ($24.6 billion) by 2010, President Vladimir Putin said

* The UN nuclear watchdog has approved the quality of Russian nuclear fuel due to be delivered to an Iranian nuclear power plant, a Russian nuclear fuel supplier said

* Russian and U.S. servicemen will participate in the second phase of a joint military exercise scheduled for December 1-15 at U.S. bases in Germany, a Ground Forces spokesman said

* Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili may visit Russia next week to discuss Tehran's controversial nuclear program, an Iranian diplomatic source in Moscow said

* Trade and economic ties between Russia and Georgia will improve after Tbilisi abandons its anti-Russia rhetoric, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

* Mikhail Trepashkin, a former security service officer convicted of divulging state secrets, was released after his four-year prison term expired, a human rights group spokesman said

* Police have detained a man suspected of planning to carry out a bomb attack on election day in the North Caucasus Republic of Daghestan, a police spokesman said

* Russia's Foreign Ministry denied media reports that a Russian tourist arrested in Thailand was carrying illegal drugs

WORLD

* A plane crashed in central Turkey killing all 56 people on board, the head of the airline, Tuncay Doganer, told national television

* A Serb newspaper has cited a 'well-informed international diplomat' as saying Kosovo plans to unilaterally declare independence after January 20

* EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he was disappointed with the results of his talks in London with Iran's envoy on the country's controversial nuclear program

* Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki expressed doubts that the UN Security Council will impose new, tougher sanctions against the country over its nuclear program this year

* Turkey's government has authorized the military to conduct a cross-border operation against Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said

* Nationwide strikes disrupted trains, buses and planes in Italy, as workers protested against 2008 budget changes set to cut transport funds

* Gillian Gibbons, British teacher who was found guilty of insulting religion in Sudan, was sentenced to 15 days behind bars

* Azerbaijan has said that armed clashes with Armenia over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh territory could resume at any moment, an Azerbaijani Defense Ministry official said

* Georgian opposition leader Irakly Okruashvili asked for political asylum days before he was arrested in Berlin at the request of the Georgian government, his lawyer said

* Ukraine and Russia have agreed a maritime boundary in the Sea of Azov, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said

BUSINESS

* The Russian and Canadian business communities should work more proactively to boost bilateral trade, Russia's Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said

* Russia's leading shipping agent, Sovkomflot, said it plans to prepare for an IPO in 2008

* Ford Russia, whose workers have been on a strike since last week, said it is preparing to resume production to two-thirds of capacity following a meeting with the plant's trade union