* The Kremlin press service said President Putin told Iran's leader over the phone that talks on Iran's controversial nuclear program must be continued
* Russia's second-largest coking coal producer Raspadskaya said it will hold an initial public offering on the country's RTS and MICEX floors at $2-2.5 per ordinary share
* The Russian Foreign Ministry urged the Macedonian authorities to thoroughly investigate an attack on four Russian diplomats Sunday night, a ministry spokesman said
* Three of Russia's smaller political parties which are set to merge will form A Just Russia: Motherland/Pensioners/Life within two months, a senior party member said
* The Russian Prosecutor General's Office said it has completed inquiries into cases of political repression, and has rehabilitated over 775,000 people
* Russia's Supreme Court upheld a ban on the exchange of foodstuffs between convicts
* Severstal, Russia's second-largest steel producer, announced a global offering price range of $11-13.5 per share or Global Depositary Receipt (GDR)
* Sovfintrade, a subsidiary of Gazprombank, is planning to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) of mortgage bonds in November 2006, a Gazprombank vice president said
* Alexander Donskoi, the mayor of Russia's northern city of Arkhangelsk, will run for president in the 2008 elections, the city hall said
* Infant mortality in Russia has dropped 31% in the first 10 months of 2006 against the same period last year, the Health and Social Development Ministry said
* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia and the United States are both responsible for maintaining global strategic stability
* A Russian bootleg alcohol producer has been arrested in southern Russia's Saratov Region
* Russia voiced its concern over the unabated rise in drug trafficking from Afghanistan at a meeting with EU officials, a presidential aide said
