Main news of January 20

RUSSIA

* The former Russian army officer who murdered a Chechen woman in 2000 said the killing in Moscow of her family's lawyer was aimed at fueling tensions between Russians and Chechens, a newspaper reported

* A gun attack on a car in Ingushetia left a woman dead and a senior police officer seriously injured, a spokesman for the Prosecutor's Office in the North Caucasus republic said

WORLD

* Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the U.S. in Washington, becoming the country's first African-American head of state

* Russian natural gas deliveries were resumed to Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria 

* The recent dispute between Russia and Ukraine that resulted in the disruption of gas supplies to Europe proved that Moscow and Kiev are unreliable gas suppliers, the Czech foreign minister said

* The heads of 22 Arab nations demanded the immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, Kuwait's KUNA news agency reported

* Two military jets crashed in eastern Spain killing their three air force pilots, a Spanish news agency reported

* Norwegian police placed the Kungayevs under protection following the murder of the Chechen family's lawyer, father Visa Kungayev said

* A Greek shipping tycoon who was kidnapped last week has been released after a 30 million-euro ($40 million) ransom was paid, local media said, citing police

BUSINESS

* Ukraine's prime minister said Kiev would pay in 2009 an average gas price of $228.8 per 1,000 cubic meters, excluding VAT and import and transportation tariffs

* Russia's Higher Arbitration Court quashed a 260 million ruble ($8 million) back tax claim against auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers