Main news of December 7

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Russia is interested in a partnership with the European Union and such cooperation is taking shape, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said at a Russia-EU summit

* The British media is turning the case of a suspected Russian spy facing deportation from the U.K. into a "vaudeville," the Russian Foreign Ministry said

* Poland's Law and Justice opposition party criticized Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Poland

* A Russia-EU summit with the participation of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev opened in Brussels

* Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks website, was denied bail and remanded in custody until December 14 by a London court

* Egypt's environmental and tourism ministries have launched a massive 48-hour operation in Sharm el-Sheikh to hunt down the sharks that recently attacked tourists

* The talks between Iran and the six international mediators on its controversial nuclear program will continue in the end of January 2011 in Istanbul

* Moscow and Kiev have signed an agreement to guarantee gas transits through Ukrainian territory, Ukrainian Minister of Fuel and Energy Yuriy Boyko said

* NATO drew up plans in January to defend the Baltic states against Russia, the latest batch of leaked U.S. cables released by Wikileaks show

* Russian state news agency RIA Novosti has become the winner of the World Summit Award Mobile 2010 (WSA) for its Internet project You Are a Reporter

RUSSIA

* Ukraine should carry out prompt payments for gas supplies to ensure their security, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said

* Moscow will see two protest rallies - only one of which has been sanctioned by the authorities - on December 12, a leader of the Left Front movement said

* Russia has switched on two reserve Glonass-M satellites to replace the ones that were lost when a rocket deviated off course on Sunday

* Russia's envoy to NATO said the alliance should reconsider its plans on the defense of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania

* Georgia's Interior Ministry has accused a Russian army officer of being involved in a series of recent bomb attacks

BUSINESS

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev explained how the country will join the World Trade Organization

* Russia, the only major economy outside the World Trade Organization (WTO), moved one step closer to joining the trade bloc

* Russia's foreign trade surplus increased by 30% year-on-year in January-October 2010 to $136.4 billion, the Federal Customs Service said

SPORTS

* Switzerland will look into the activities of international sports organizations based in the country

SCIENCE

* European scientists has stopped the world's largest atom smasher for a scheduled maintenance break after eight months of successful scientific research into the origins of the Universe