Main news of November 26

RUSSIA

* Russian political analysts predict that Andrei Lugovoi, a chief suspect in the Litvinenko murder case, may replace Vladimir Zhirinovsky as head of the ultra-nationalist LDPR party, a popular daily said

* Police seized 50 kg (110 lbs) of heroin in the south of the Moscow Region on Wednesday, Russia's Federal Drugs Service said

* The next summit of BRIC countries will be held in Russia next year, President Dmitry Medvedev announced

* Russia launched on Wednesday a Soyuz-U carrier rocket with a cargo spacecraft, equipped with a new on-board digital control system, from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, Mission Control said

* The Kremlin welcomed on Wednesday Britain's announcement that it will host a summit of the G20 countries on April 2 on the global financial crisis, and said President Dmitry Medvedev would attend

* Russia successfully test launched on Wednesday a new-generation intercontinental ballistic missile bearing multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) warheads

* The bodies of six young women were found with similar gunshot wounds at different sites in the North Caucasus Republic of Chechnya on Wednesday morning, a spokeswoman for the Investigation Committee said

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a law liberalizing tax legislation to help domestic businesses weather the financial crisis, the Kremlin press office said

* A Moscow military judge, Yevgeny Zubov, refused on Wednesday to remove himself from the trial of three men accused of involvement in the murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya

* The former Georgian ambassador to Russia said on Wednesday he would take Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to court for the return of a stake in the Rustavi-2 television channel

* The mayor of a city in Russia's volatile North Caucasus was killed as he left for work on Wednesday morning, local police and health officials said

* Rice, the outgoing U.S. secretary of state, is trying to sabotage the work of Barack Obama's yet-to-confirmed administration, Russia's permanent representative to NATO said

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will arrive in Venezuela on Wednesday for talks with U.S. critic President Hugo Chavez, designed to boost cooperation in the energy and military spheres

* Russia's Supreme Court upheld on Wednesday prison sentences handed down in 2006 to three men convicted of killing Russian border guard general Vitaly Gamov

* Zenit St. Petersburg secured third place in Champions League Group H and will now defend their UEFA Cup title after Belarusian champions BATE Borisov went down 1-0 to Real Madrid in Minsk

* Russia's upper house of parliament has approved amendments to the Constitution extending the presidential term from four to six years and the lower house term from four to five years

WORLD

* Ukraine's TV and radio broadcasting authority has threatened to ban six more Russian TV channels from broadcasting in the country due to legal violations, the UNIAN news agency said

* The European Commission proposed on Wednesday a two-year plan worth 200 billion euro ($260 billion) to revive the European economy amid the ongoing global financial crisis, its president said

* Iran now has over 5,000 working centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant, the country's civilian nuclear chief said

* Israeli authorities let humanitarian aid and fuel pass three border crossings into Gaza on Wednesday despite continuing rocket fire from the Hamas-controlled territory

* Ukraine is planning to deploy more troops on its border with Russia in light of the recent military conflict in the Caucasus, a Ukrainian business daily said

* Over 18 metric tons of drugs have been seized in a joint anti-drug operation by members of the CSTO regional security organization, the Russian Drug Control Service said

* Ukraine's national oil and gas company Naftogaz said on Wednesday it would repay a $380 million debt to Russia for gas supplied in September by the weekend

BUSINESS

* Interros, owned by Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin, nominated on Wednesday a former Kremlin administration chief as independent director of the new board of Norilsk Nickel

* Trade between Russia and Brazil will soon reach $10 billion annually, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said

* The Fiat-affiliated company Iveco said on Wednesday it had delayed the opening of a factory in Russia's Volga Region to produce light commercial vehicles from the 1st quarter of 2009 until the end of next year

* Russia's national development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) has so far invested 85 billion rubles ($3.1 billion) in the domestic stock market amid the ongoing global financial crisis, the VEB president said

* Norilsk Nickel could appoint a former Kremlin official as chairman of the metals giant's board of directors, a Russian business paper reported

* The upper house of the Russian parliament approved on Wednesday amendments to a law abolishing a state monopoly on platinum exports

* The average price for Russian crude oil in 2008 is expected to be around $96 per barrel, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said