Main news of April 28

RUSSIA

* A Russian expert said a vaccine against swine flu that according to the latest reports has already killed more than 150 people in Mexico could be developed within six months

* Russia sees no point in remaining a signatory to the 1991 Energy Charter, which it has not ratified, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said

* The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has officially issued Georgia with an extradition request for Jr. Sgt. Alexander Glukhov, a Russian soldier facing desertion charges

* Russia has been given a guarantee that the European Union's Eastern Partnership program is not directed against Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a news conference in Luxembourg

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has dismissed Police Maj.-Gen. Viktor Ageyev, who headed Moscow's Southern Administrative District police department, where one of his officers went on a deadly shooting spree

* The Bolshoi Theater's former prima ballerina Yekaterina Maximova died at the age of 70 in her Moscow apartment, the theater's spokesperson said

* A popular blind Georgian singer residing in Russia received a visa to Britain after she demanded an apology from the ambassador over being made to remove her dark glasses while having her photo taken

* Three people were killed and one injured in Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Ingushetia in a shootout between presidential security officers and police, a presidential spokesman said

WORLD

* Albania has officially submitted an application to join the European Union, Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha said

* Russia should recognize the independence of Kosovo and persuade Belgrade to abandon plans to use force, a Kosovo deputy prime minister said

* Three people have died in floods in northeast Brazil's Maranhao state, and 60,000 have been affected, the country's Civil Defense service said

* The Georgian opposition, which has been holding protests since April 9 demanding the country's president resign, collected around $3,000 in donations over two days in the capital, the Conservative Party said

* Kazakhstan has begun mining uranium at a new field in the south of the country with a production capacity of 750 metric tons annually, the national nuclear power company said

* Latvia has calculated the total damage from its Soviet past at $200 billion, the Delfi online edition said citing a government commission

BUSINESS

* Russia's M2 money supply increased 0.8% in March to 12.112 trillion rubles ($362.6 billion), the Central Bank said

* Russia's Evraz Group S.A. metals giant said its net profit calculated to International Financial Reporting Standards declined 11.2% year-on-year in 2008 to $1.87 billion

SPORTS

* Defending champions Russia topped their group at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship in Switzerland after defending the hosts 4-2