* The State Duma approved in their first reading amendments to a bill that will allow the "ring fence" to be lifted around shares in energy giant Gazprom and foreigners to buy stock
* Russia's diamond giant Alrosa said diamonds worth more than $28 million had been sold at the 11th international auction for special-sized diamonds that ended Thursday
* MP Viktor Shygelov said Russia might sue China for damages in connection with a toxic leak that has affected the River Amur
* Eleven dead swans, possibly the victims of bird flu, were discovered outside Astrakhan on the Volga River in southern Russia in the past 24 hours
* Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli said Russia's decision to double the price of its natural gas exports to Georgia was politically motivated
