Main news of November 25

RUSSIA

* Zenit St Petersburg drew 0-0 with Juventus at home on Tuesday evening, and now must hope for a minor miracle in Minsk to maintain any hope of qualifying for the playoff stages of the Champions League

* Russia's economic growth will reach around 7% in 2008, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday at a meeting between representatives of Russian and Brazilian businesses

* Russia's United Aircraft Corporation plans to sell 60 new Superjet-100 medium-haul airliners in 2010 and 70 more in 2012, the government said in a program published on Tuesday

* A group of warships from Russia's Northern Fleet arrived on Tuesday at the Venezuelan port of La Guaira, a Russian naval official said

* Russia's Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) strictly comply with the provisions of the 1991 strategic arms reductions treaty, and this has been confirmed by numerous U.S. inspections, the force commander said

* An unidentified Russian politician ordered the murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, a defense lawyer acting for one of the suspects in the case said on Tuesday, citing case files

* The construction of what would be the tallest building in Europe, currently being built in the Russian capital, is to be frozen due to the global financial crisis, the owners said

* Vladimir Putin's next live televised session with the Russian public, his first as premier and leader of the ruling pro-presidential United Russia party, will be held on December 4, the Ekho Moskvy radio said on Tuesday quoting party sources

* Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has approved a long-term development plan for Russia until 2020, the government press service said

* Russian and Venezuelan warships will conduct artillery live firing drills on December 1 as part of joint naval exercises in the Caribbean, a senior Russian lawmaker said

* The supreme council of Russia's ultra-nationalist LDPR party appointed on Tuesday Andrei Lugovoi, a chief suspect in the Litvinenko case, top party official in Russia's Far Eastern Primorye Territory

* Russian prosecutors have brought new charges of large-scale fraud against fugitive Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, the General Prosecutor's Office said on its website

* Russia's Neustrashimy (Fearless) missile frigate has successfully escorted two Russian ships past the Horn of Africa protecting them from Somali pirates, a Russian shipping company said

* A hand grenade was the cause of a car explosion, which killed three people, near a metro station in Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg early on Tuesday, a police source said

* Russia's president has arrived in Brazil as part of a three-day visit, during which he is due to meet with his Brazilian counterpart

WORLD

* European countries are guilty of double standards in their relations with Russia, an Italian member of the European Parliament said

* Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has issued instructions for the drafting of a project to prospect for gas off the country's Black Sea coast

* The disputed Georgian republic of Abkhazia denied on Tuesday reports that the Russian military had increased its presence on the border with Georgia by deploying extra military hardware

* Ukrainian natural gas holding Naftogaz has pledged to repay its debt for Russian gas supplies in September and partially for October by December 1, Russian energy giant Gazprom said

* The Moscow City Court backed on Tuesday a lower court's refusal to exonerate Polish prisoners of war executed in western Russia's Katyn forest in 1940, a lawyer said

* Ukraine has proposed setting a floating price for Russian gas deliveries to the country next year, the first deputy head of the presidential secretariat said

* Israel resumed its blockade of Gaza on Tuesday in response to a rocket attack from the Palestinian enclave, the Defense Ministry said

* Georgia has launched a criminal investigation on terrorism charges over shots allegedly fired by Russian forces at the Polish and Georgian presidents' motorcade, the Interior Ministry said

* Ukraine's Foreign Ministry dismissed on Tuesday the opposition leader's call for a single economic space to be established with Russia, calling it outdated

* North Korea's state media released photos on Tuesday of leader Kim Jong-il visiting two factories, in the latest attempt to stave off international speculation over Kim's health

* Two U.S. astronauts have successfully wrapped up the fourth spacewalk during their current mission and returned to the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said

BUSINESS

* The Russian state savings bank Sberbank said Tuesday its net profit calculated to Russian Accounting Standards grew 0.4% to 113 billion rubles ($4.1 billion) in the first ten months of 2008 against the same period last year

* Trade between Japan and Russia could exceed $30 billion in 2008, the Japanese ambassador to Russia said

* The heads of companies holding major stakes in Norilsk Nickel will not sit on the new board of the Russian metals giant, billionaire Vladimir Potanin told reporters

* Gazenergobank, controlled by energy giant Gazprom, is to buy a 100% stake in ailing Soyuz Bank from Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska's industrial holding Basic Element (BasEl), a source close to the deal said