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Main news of December 6

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RUSSIA * Russia will not immediately increase the strength of its Armed Forces after its unilateral moratorium on a key arms reductions treaty comes into... 06.12.2007, Sputnik International

2007-12-06T19:06+0000

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Main news of December 6

19:06 GMT 06.12.2007

RUSSIA

* Russia will not immediately increase the strength of its Armed Forces after its unilateral moratorium on a key arms reductions treaty comes into effect on December 12, the chief of the General Staff said

* Tens of thousands of supporters from the Kremlin-backed youth movement Nashi, or Ours, are rallying near Red Square in Moscow in a show of support for President Vladimir Putin, a Nashi spokesman said

* With all the votes counted following Sunday's parliamentary election, President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party has 64.30%, the Central Election Commission said

* Flight tests of a fifth-generation Russian-Indian fighter will begin as early as 2009 and mass production of the aircraft may start by 2015, the Sukhoi aircraft maker said

* Russia will not share information with NATO under the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty after its unilateral moratorium comes into effect on December 12, a senior Russian diplomat said

* Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said he will soon meet with his arrested deputy Sergei Storchak, charged with attempting to embezzle $43 million

* A contract to sell around 415 BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles to Greece could be ready by the end of this year, a high-ranking Russian military source said

* The head of the Russian nuclear agency, Sergei Kiriyenko, will head state nuclear power corporation Rosatom, the Russian president said

* All candidates for next year's presidential election in Russia must be registered with the Central Election Commission by January 27, a member of the commission said

WORLD

* UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said international mediators in talks on Kosovo would submit a report on talks on the province's status on Friday, three days ahead of schedule

* A new draft resolution on Iran's nuclear program could be submitted to the UN Security Council in the next two weeks, a source involved in the talks said

* The joint command of the coalition force in Afghanistan announced the start of a large-scale military operation against Taliban insurgents in the south of the country

* Rescuers recovered the bodies of 70 miners following a mine blast in central China, the Xinhua news agency said

* U.S. President George Bush said he was 'deeply saddened' by a shooting rampage that claimed the lives of at least eight people and wounded five in Omaha, in the state of Nebraska

* A court in the Georgian capital reinstated the license of indepdendent TV channel Imedi, shut down amid street protests in early November, a court spokesperson said

* The Russian-Indian joint venture BrahMos will buy a manufacturing plant in southwestern India to increase production of its supersonic cruise missiles, an Indian military source said

* Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko approved Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of the pro-Western majority coalition, as candidate for prime minister, the presidential press office said

* German police said they had detained one woman on suspicion of killing her five children, and arrested another, in an unrelated case, in connection with the deaths of three more

* India successfully tested a hypersonic Advanced Air Defense (AAD-02) interceptor missile, part of the future multi-layer Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system, national media reported

* The world's most famous polar bear Knut, rejected by his mother at birth, celebrated his first birthday at Berlin Zoo

* A parcel bomb went off in central Paris killing one person and wounding at least five others, French police reported

BUSINESS

* Russian energy giant Gazprom Board Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said:

- Gazprom will start production at northwest Siberia's Yuzhno-Russkoye oil and gas deposit on December 18

- The natural gas price agreement reached with Ukraine will guarantee uninterrupted supplies of Russian gas to Europe in 2008

* Gazprom and Gaz de France have signed an agreement on scientific and technical cooperation, the Russian state-controlled natural gas giant said

* Inflation in Russia could exceed 11.5% but will stay under 12% in 2007, an economics ministry official said

* Moscow will not cancel the South Stream natural gas pipeline over a rival project, Nabucco, which will supply Caspian gas to Europe bypassing Russia, a government official said