Main news of January 5

RUSSIA

President Dmitry Medvedev signed into law an extension to the deadline for Soviet citizens living in Russia to apply for fast-tracked citizenship

Russia's Volga Federal District was hit by a series of fires and road accidents that killed 24 people and injured 114, the regional emergencies ministry said.

WORLD

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip

Georgia will sign a strategic partnership treaty with the United States on January 9, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said

An Estonian court acquitted activists charged with organizing mass riots during the dismantling of a Soviet-era statue in the capital Tallinn in April 2007

Stores in Belarus have been hit by crowds of shoppers buying up foreign goods after the country devalued its currency by 20% against the U.S. dollar

BUSINESS

Gazprom will reduce its delivery of gas to Ukraine by 65.3 million cubic meters - the volume that has been stolen, the Russian energy giant's CEO said

Russian gas supplies to the Czech Republic, affected by the Russian-Ukraine gas dispute, are back to normal, a RWE Transgas spokesman said

Naftogaz of Ukraine refused a request by Gazprom to pump an extra 15 million cubic meters of Russian gas to European consumers, the Russian energy giant's press service said

The European Union urged both Moscow and Kiev to fulfill their commitments on gas supplies and transit to Europe

Georgia has announced its readiness to restart deliveries of gas to South Ossetia, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said