Main news of January 3

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

RUSSIA

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree reducing the number of federal officials by 20% until 2013, the Kremlin press service said

* Technical failure or violation of fire safety rules are the likely causes of the January 1explosion onboard the ill-fated Russian passenger jet that burned down in Siberia, killing three and injuring over 40 passengers, the Russian Investigation Committee said

 

WORLD

* Chinese scientists have developed own technologies for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, which could increase the country's power supply dramatically, state television reported

* The United States have expressed surprise over the recent arrest of Boris Nemtsov, the leader of the Russian opposition Solidarity movement

* One of the lawyers for the relatives of the victims of April crash of a Polish presidential plane in western Russia  called on the Warsaw Military Prosecutor's Office to question country's Prime Minister Donald Tusk as soon as possible, the Polish TVN24 TV channel reported

* The Foreign Ministry of Japan dismissed information that its head Seiji Maehara in an interview with a South Korean paper has expressed hopes for security alliance with Seoul, the Japanese news agency Kyodo said

* Russia's Vladimir Chagin, piloting a Kamaz truck, has won the first stage of the 2011 Dakar Rally's truck class from Victoria to Cordoba in Argentina, the rally website reported

* Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is stepping down as California governor, is considering a return to cinema screens

* The Asia 1 convoy carrying humanitarian and medical aid to Gaza has crossed the Palestinian enclave's border with Egypt, the Al Quds radio station reported

* Ex-presidential candidate Vitaly Rymashevsky detained two weeks ago over his involvement in Belarus post-election rally has been released, his party's website said

* The death toll from an outbreak of cholera in Haiti has risen to over 3,300 while another 139 people have been infected in the neighboring Dominican Republic.

SPORTS

* Russian tennis stars Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova began the year with victories in the first round of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand