Main news of December 29

 

WORLD

* The League of Arab States has called for Switzerland to reconsider its decision on banning the construction of new minarets in the country

* Moscow is calling on Israel to scrap plans for further settlement construction in East Jerusalem, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said on

* The Estonian Defense Ministry said it had decided to scrap the practice of supplying soldiers over 190 cms in height with additional food

* Somali pirates have seized a Greek cargo vessel northeast of Seychelles, a Greek Coastal Guard spokesman said

* Officials have reported 26 crewmembers are on board the British-flagged chemical tanker St. James Park seized earlier by Somali pirates northeast of Seychelles, according to the EU anti-piracy operations Atalanta website

* Russia and Ukraine have settled their oil transit dispute that threatened supplies to the EU, agreeing to hike tariffs by 30% in 2010, an official for Ukraine's national energy company Naftogaz said

* Beijing is disappointed by London's reaction to the execution of a British drug smuggler, Chinese Foreign Ministry official spokeswoman Jiang Yu said

* At least 31 people were killed and 72 injured in three road accidents involving buses in Peru, a nationwide radio station, Radio Programas del Peru, reported

RUSSIA

* Prime Minister Vladimir Putin leads the 2009 Russian elite rating, with President Medvedev as a runner-up and pop diva Alla Pugachyova in third place, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center said

* Further sanctions against Iran have until recently not been an option, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a law making first time tax evasion a civil rather than a criminal offence

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed into law a bill allowing courts to sentence people to house arrest, the Kremlin said

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed into law a bill on state regulation in retail trade, setting tougher antitrust requirements, the Kremlin website said

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned the country's governors that most provincial heads would be able to hold office for three terms in the future

* Russia's government will gradually move to a floating ruble exchange rate, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said

* Russia will continue developing offensive armaments to counter U.S. missile defenses, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told reporters

* Russia and the United States have not halted talks on a new arms reduction treaty to replace a landmark deal that expired on December 4, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said

* Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said oil producers were lining up to pump their crude through an inaugurated strategic oil pipeline

* Prime Minister Vladimir Putin unveiled a plant in Russia's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok to assemble Korean cars

* A Russian Proton-M carrier rocket has delivered into orbit the U.S. telecommunications satellite DirecTV-12, the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos said