Main news of January 15

RUSSIA

* The incorporation of Russia's major tank-making enterprise will help streamline the use of resources to build artillery and armored systems, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said

* President Vladimir Putin said the country's main social projects must evolve into state programs pursuing specific goals to ensure the country's rapid development

* Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described as ungrounded a decision to freeze Russian assets in France following a suit by Swiss firm Noga, but said the situation would be settled legally

* Prosecutors in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Chechnya have requested the liquidation of a British NGO promoting peacekeeping and community development, saying its accreditation has expired

* A Zenit-3SL rocket successfully orbited a Thuraya-3 communications satellite after numerous delays caused by poor weather, a Russian space official said

* Russia's Supreme Court upheld a decision denying registration to Soviet-era dissident Vladimir Bukovsky for the March 2 presidential elections due to residency requirements

* Over 1.7 metric tons of heroin were seized by Russian narcotics officers 2007, the deputy chief of the Federal Drug Control Service said

* There is little chance of an early release for ex-Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, serving an eight-year prison sentence for fraud and tax evasion, his lawyer said

* The Moscow City Court upheld a ruling of a lower court ordering British Airways to pay former NHL star Russian Pavel Bure 67,000 rubles ($2,600) in compensation for financial and moral damages

WORLD

* Two Palestinian militants were killed in an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza, bringing Tuesday's death toll in the Hamas-controlled enclave to 20, Palestinian radio reported

* At least four Lebanese died and 20 were wounded in an explosion reportedly targeting a U.S. Embassy car in northern Beirut, national media reported

* The visit of U.S. President George Bush to Dubai cost the city $120 million as businesses closed down and ordinary life ground to a halt on Monday, the local Gulf News newspaper said

* The number of deaths caused by freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall in Afghanistan in the past few days reached 120

* The European Union is likely to wait until February to launch a police and justice mission in Kosovo, so as not to influence elections in Serbia, media in Brussels reported

* The U.K. Foreign Office said Moscow's actions against the British Council, whose regional offices Russia wants closed for alleged tax violations, could further harm bilateral relations

* Ukraine's parliament ratified agreements with the European Union on readmission and visa facilitation, both of which were signed by Kiev and the 27-nation bloc last year

* Turkey may consider building a uranium enrichment center as part of an ambitious plan to develop the country's nuclear potential, a national newspaper said

* India's agriculture officials confirmed that an outbreak of bird flu in poultry in the east of the country was the deadly H5N1 strain

* Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he was not satisfied with the speed of progress on a project to build the country's first nuclear power plant

* Thousands of opposition supporters rallied in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, denouncing the results of the January 5 presidential election and demanding a runoff

*  Rakhat Aliyev, former son-in-law and outspoken critic of the Kazakh president, was found guilty of organizing a criminal group and sentenced to 20 years in prison at a trial 'in absentia'

* Three activists charged with public order offenses following last spring's riots in Tallinn over the removal of a Soviet-era war memorial denied all charges against them

BUSINESS

* Russian energy giant Gazprom is planning to offer Tehran new prospects of oil and gas cooperation, Iran's oil minister said

* The Russian oil company, Alliance, and Sweden's West Siberian Resources announced their plans to merge to form a vertically integrated company