Main News of December 7

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

World

* Protests entering their third week in the Ukrainian capital looked set to gain new momentum Saturday as President Viktor Yanukovych committed his former Soviet nation to greater economic ties with Russia.

* A group of Syrian Greek Orthodox nuns reportedly seized by rebels from a convent near Damascus denied in a video broadcast Friday that they had been kidnapped and said they were being held in a safe place.

* Kyrgyzstan's state environmental watchdog has sued Canada's Centerra Gold, the operator of the Kumtor mine, for $300 million over ecological damage allegedly caused during its mine operation.

 

Russia

* Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Saturday that Russia will pump more than 520 million tonnes of crude oil in 2013, a post-Soviet record.

* Openly gay British musician Elton John dedicated a concert in Moscow on Friday to a Russian man, Vladislav Tornovo, beaten to death in a suspected homophobic killing earlier this year.

 

Sports

* A 101-year-old table tennis player became the oldest torchbearer in Olympic history Saturday, carrying the flame for the Sochi 2014 Games through the Siberian city of Novosibirsk.

* FIFA has brought forward three fixtures involving European teams at the Brazilian World Cup to avoid post-midnight kick-offs for fans back home, including the key Group H clash between Russia and Belgium.