Main news of December 14

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was freed on bail on Tuesday by the London City of Westminster Magistrates' Court, Sky News TV channel said

* Alleged Russian spy Katia Zatuliveter, detained by the British authorities in early December, told BBC Russia that she had been released on bail

* A number of Western politicians urged Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to "end the persecution" of jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky in a letter published by the Financial Times

RUSSIA

* The European Court of Human Rights, considering a complaint from the widow of Russian security service defector Alexander Litvinenko, has sent Russia a number of questions on the probe into Litvinenko's death

* The head of the Russian Orthodox Church called on authorities, society and religious organizations to join efforts in fighting the spread of radical views

* Innovative businesses in Russia cannot exist at the expense of the state and entrepreneurs should take an active role in developing innovation in Russia, President Dmitry Medvedev said

* Russia's counter-extremism services will identify, track down and arrest the organizers of Saturday's riots in downtown Moscow, a senior source in the Russian security services said

* Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has called on Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin to fire the long-standing chief of the Moscow subway system Dmitry Gayev on suspicions of embezzlement, prosecutor's office spokeswoman Marina Gridnyova said

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev urged the government to pay more attention to public opinion after a controversial highway through a protected forest was given the go-ahead

BUSINESS

* Russia and Mongolia agreed the conditions on which a joint uranium mining company, Dordon Uran, will be established

* Russia's gas pipeline monopoly Gazprom has allowed Rospan, a subsidiary of oil firm TNK-BP, to pump 3.2 billion cubic meters of gas via the giant's gas transport system in 2011, TNK-BP Vice President Sergei Brezitsky said

* The Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MICEX) stock exchange has asked Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley to make a new valuation of the RTS Stock Exchange with which it may merge, MICEX Board Member Sergei Shvetsov said

DEFENSE

* Forecasts indicate that Russia has sold $10 billion worth of arms and military equipment this year, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said