Main News of December 8

World

 

* Distant artillery fire was heard near the tense Yellow Sea border between North and South Korea, Yonhap reported.

 

* The United States has no plans to file an extradition request for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a State Department spokesman said.

 

* Tskhinvali plans to discuss Tbilisi's non-use of force commitment and bring up the issue of refugees and international observers during talks on December 16 in Geneva, South Ossetia presidential envoy Boris Chochiev said

 

* Suspected Russian spy Katia Zatuliveter has agreed to meet with a consul at the Russian Embassy in London after the meeting was formally approved by the British side, Charge d'Affaires of the Russian Federation in the United Kingdom Alexander Sternik said

 

 Russia

 

* Less than a week after Russia was awarded the 2018 World Cup, a group of Spartak Moscow fans twice caused the temporary abandonment of a Champions League game in Slovakia

 

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev discussed issues of bilateral cooperation in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Nicholas Sarkozy

 

* Corruption is Russia is widespread, but not out of control, the head of the Kremlin administration said

 

* Russia and Kazakhstan have agreed to create a joint regional air defense network, chief of Kazakh air defenses Lt. Gen. Alexander Sorokin said

 

* WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should be nominated for a Nobel prize, a source in the Kremlin told RIA Novosti