Main news of December 25

RUSSIA

* Russia successfully orbited at 10:42 p.m. Moscow time (7:42 p.m. GMT) three Glonass navigation satellites, a spokesman for the Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) said

* Russia conducted a successful test launch of a Sineva intercontinental ballistic missile from a nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea in the Arctic, a Navy spokesman said

* Russia conducted a successful test launch of a new RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile with multiple warheads, a Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) spokesman said

* Supplies to the Russian Ground Forces of Tor-M2 low to medium-altitude, short-range surface-to-air missile systems (SA-15 Gauntlet) will start in 2009, a high-ranking military official said

* The UN Security Council will revisit the issue of Kosovo in January 2008, a Russian deputy foreign minister said

* Aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi has completed the delivery of four upgraded Su-24M2 Fencer tactical bombers to an Air Force regiment based in Russia's Far East, the company said

* Russia's Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision stating that a new investigation into the activities of jailed Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner was illegal

WORLD

* It is time Iran's "nuclear file" was returned from the UN Security Council to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the country's foreign minister said

* China's Foreign Ministry said nuclear disablement work in North Korea is close to completion in line with commitments Pyongyang made at six-nation talks in October

* A second round of Israeli and Palestinian talks has failed to produce any results in a dispute over settlement expansion near Jerusalem and ongoing Palestinian rocket attacks, local media reported

* Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev said Chisinau expects to buy Russian natural gas at $190 per 1,000 cubic meters next year

* The world's most wanted terrorist and the head of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization, Osama bin Laden, is not hiding in Afghanistan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said

* At least six people were killed and over 300 are missing after a bridge collapsed in west Nepal, China's Xinhua news agency said

BUSINESS

* Russian steel magnate Alexei Mordashov will head the Board of Directors of Power Machines, Russia's leading heavy machinery manufacture, a company press release said

* The government of Kazakhstan hopes to increase its stake in a massive oil field on the country's Caspian shelf from the current 8.3% to 16.8%, the Kazakh energy minister said

* French giant Renault is conducting a due diligence review before signing a final deal to buy a 25% blocking stake in Russia's largest carmaker AvtoVAZ, Vedomosti business daily said

* Tatneft, Russia's sixth largest oil company, said its oil reserves would grow by 34 million metric tons (254.32 million barrels) in 2007