Main news of December 29

RUSSIA

* Russia's state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport took legal action against Kommersant, a leading Russian business daily, over comments made by Finansgroup CEO Oleg Shvartsman in a November interview

* Russian customs officers seized a total of 895 kilograms (1,970 pounds) of heroin in 2007, the Federal Customs Service said

* A steel 11.5- meter (38 feet) long car bridge was stolen in Khabarovsk, Russia's Far East, local officials said

* A Russian icebreaker the Amderma has delivered supplies and seven British crew members of the Halley Research Station to Antarctica, a spokesman for the Far East Shipping Company said

* One man was killed and four injured in a fire that broke out in downtown Moscow, a rescue service spokesperson said

* Russia's population has dwindled by 207,600 (0.15%) to 142 million as of November 1, 2007 against earlier this year, the country's statistics service said

* Inflation will be 11.9-12% in Russia in 2007 and 8.5% next year, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told the Vesti television channel

* Russia's IT and communications market will be worth over 1.8 trillion rubles ($73 billion) in 2008, Russia's communications minister said

* Russia plans to spend 21.9 billion rubles ($892 million) on geological exploration projects in 2008, up 11% against this year, the economics ministry said in an end-of-year report

* Two people have been killed following an explosion and fire at an illegal fireworks warehouse in the east Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, the regional emergencies service said

* Russia will pursue a constructive policy and will not be drawn into any confrontations in 2008, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

* President Vladimir Putin and members of Russia's Security Council were given a demonstration of a Glonass device for cars at a meeting on foreign and domestic policy on Saturday, the presidential press secretary said

* Six major investment projects, being implemented on a tender basis, could attract 800 billion rubles ($32.5 billion) in funding, the Russian Natural Resources Ministry said

* Russia has enhanced border security in the turbulent North Caucasus, the country's security chief Nikolai Patrushev told President Vladimir Putin

WORLD

*  Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sharply criticized attempts by the EU and NATO to decide the future of Serbia's Albanian-dominated breakaway province of Kosovo

* The Bush administration hopes that the U.K.'s cultural arm, the British Council, will continue its activities in Russia, a State Department spokesman said

* A bodybuilding club for women has been inaugurated in Afghanistan, news agency Bakhtar said

* Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has pardoned 119 prisoners, including five journalists, his press service said

* Azerbaijan's GDP rose to 20.8 billion manats (over $24.6 billion) in the first 11 months of 2007, up 25.4% year on year the country's central bank said

* A Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Russia hopes elections planned for January 8 in Pakistan will go ahead as scheduled, despite the murder of the leading opposition figure Benazir Bhutto

BUSINESS

* The average price of Russia's Urals blend oil, a benchmark for the national budget, was $69.29 per barrel in 2007, $8.2 higher than in 2006, a Russian Finance Ministry spokesman said

* Russia will raise oil export duties by $58.4 to $333.8 per metric ton from February 1, in line with global market trends, a senior Finance Ministry official said

* Russia hopes to complete talks on settling Libya's Soviet-era debt in January 2008, a government source said

* The value of IPOs and SPOs held on the Russian market will exceed $32 billion in 2007, a respected business daily said referring to calculations by Alfa Bank, Russia's largest privately-owned bank

* Russia's TVEL Corporation, a global leader in nuclear fuel supplies, said its net profit increased 84% to 5.9 billion ($240.4 million) in 2007 year on year, according to preliminary reports

* Foreign investment in car production in Russia will exceed $1.8 billion this year, the economics ministry said in an end-of-year report