Main news of February 18

RUSSIA

* Russia regards threats by the Ukrainian authorities to expel its ambassador as another attempt to damage bilateral ties, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement

* The Russian Navy has handed over to Yemen 10 Somali pirates detained several days ago off the Horn of Africa, Capt. 1st Rank Igor Dygalo said

* Russia unveiled its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Sakhalin, opening up new energy markets in the Asia-Pacific region

* An opinion poll has shown that only 9% of Russians have complete trust in the police, an independent pollster, the Levada Center, said on its website

WORLD

* The parliamentary faction of the Kyrgyz ruling party Ak Zhol unanimously voted to approve the closure of the U.S. Manas airbase in the north of the country

* Talks on reestablishing political unity among all the Palestinian factions scheduled for February 22 in Cairo have been postponed, the Egyptian MENA news agency reported  

* Iranian scientists have developed an unmanned aerial vehicle capable of reaching Israel, an Iranian news agency said

* British Ministry of Defense documents were stolen from a lawyer for a private law firm while she traveled on a train, British TV channel Sky News said

* An operation to evacuate 74 passengers from a stranded cruise liner has began off the coast of Antarctica, a spokesman for the Argentinean navy said

BUSINESS

* Robert Dudley, the ex-head of the Russian-British oil joint venture TNK-BP who resigned last year over a conflict with Russian shareholders, has been elected to the BP board of directors, BP said

* Gazprom is continuing to regard Europe as its main natural gas market in the mid term, the CEO of the Russian energy giant said

* The official dollar-ruble exchange rate for February 19 hit a record high of 36.43 rubles, the Russian Central Bank said