Main news of January 17

RUSSIA

* The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the EU can only replace the UN in Kosovo with the approval of both Pristina and Belgrade

* The British Council's office in the Russian Urals city of Yekaterinburg suspended work, a day after the St. Petersburg office closed amid growing tensions between Moscow and London

* Russia's annual nanotechnology production must reach at least 1 trillion rubles ($41 billion) by 2015, Russia's Science and Education Minister Andrei Fursenko said

* Russian Orthodox Christians picketed the anti-monopoly authority in the Volga city of Nizhny Novgorod, protesting against Coca-Cola ads they deemed to be blasphemous

* Former Yukos vice-president Vasily Aleksanyan could sue the prosecutor who revealed that the one-time oil company executive had been diagnosed with AIDS, his lawyer said

WORLD

* At least six people have been killed and over 20 wounded after a suicide bomber set off explosives at a Shiite mosque in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, local television said

* A Palestinian military leader and his wife were killed during an Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Al Quds radio reported

* The British Council's chief executive accused Russian authorities of conducting a "campaign of intimidation" against staff at the organization's regional offices

* The EU Parliament backed a resolution to freeze aid to Kenya, where at least 600 people have been killed in violence following the disputed December 27 presidential elections

* Japanese far-right activists staged protests outside the Russian Embassy in Tokyo following yesterday's reports of Moscow's alleged spying activities in the country

* U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad said the Security Council is in a deadlock over Kosovo's future status, and no longer has any role to play on the issue

* Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said during her visit to Moscow:

- The world should back her country's efforts to curb rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, saying that the Palestinian enclave could turn into a terrorist state

- Iran's ongoing uranium enrichment program points to the military aspect of its nuclear program

* Prague and Washington will prepare a treaty on missile defense cooperation, with the involvement of Czech firms, by June 2008, the Czech foreign minister said

* The European Court of Human Rights has ordered Russia to pay $150,000 in damages to the families of two residents of Ingushetia killed in a military operation on the Chechen border in 2000

* A lawyer for the Swiss firm Noga said that a 5% stake held by a Russian state-run corporation in the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company was among Russian assets frozen in France

* A total of 16 children have frozen to death in Afghanistan's western province of Herat in the past 24 hours, a spokesman for a regional emergency team said

* Spain will soon extradite a suspect in the 2002 murder of Valentin Tsvetkov, former governor of Russia's Far East region of Magadan, top prosecutors said

* A U.K. fertility regulator has granted two licenses to carry out research using human-animal hybrid embryos, paving the way for further stem cell research, despite opposition from pro-life groups

BUSINESS

* A new supertanker built in South Korea for a Russian company has successfully completed a series of tests in the Sea of Japan, a spokesman for a Russian shipping company said

* Atomenergomash, a Russian supplier of equipment for nuclear power plants, and France's Alstom concluded a deal to establish a joint venture, a joint press release said

* Russia's budget posted an estimated surplus of 1.782 trillion rubles ($72.7 billion) in 2007, compared with 1.992 trillion rubles ($81.3 billion) in 2006, the Finance Ministry said

* The Russian government approved a bill to ratify an agreement with Syria on settling the country's $3.6 billion Soviet-era debt to Russia

* Mechel, a leading Russian mining and steel company, said its coal and rolled steel output went up 25% and 9% to 21.2 million metric tons and 5.1 million metric tons, respectively, in 2007