Main News of December 30

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

RUSSIA

* A fatal bomb explosion ripped apart a trolleybus in Volgograd, killing at least 14 people and injuring 28, in the second terrorist attack in the southern Russian city in less than 24 hours

* Russian leader Vladimir Putin has been named International Person of the Year by Britain's The Times newspaper for succeeding in his ambition of bringing Moscow back to the international top table

* Russian energy giant Gazprom increased the supply of natural gas to Europe this year by 16 percent to 161.5 billion cubic meters, the export arm of the Russian energy giant said in a statement

* Russia’s two newest ballistic missile submarines arrived at their home base in the Arctic to begin active service with the Northern Fleet, the Defense Ministry said

WORLD

* An Australian icebreaker was forced to turn back from an attempt to rescue the passengers on a Russian research vessel trapped in thick Antarctic ice, citing poor weather that made the mission unsafe, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said