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Main news of December 12

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RUSSIA * Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin was elected board chairman of the Russian electricity export-import operator RAO UES on Friday, the company... 12.12.2008, Sputnik International

2008-12-12T19:07+0000

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Main news of December 12

19:07 GMT 12.12.2008

RUSSIA

* Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin was elected board chairman of the Russian electricity export-import operator RAO UES on Friday, the company said

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday he hoped the incoming U.S. administration would help advance Russian-American dialogue

* Russian-Indonesian trade reached $1 billion in the first 10 months of this year, the Russian ambassador to the country said

* Moody's Investor Service lowered Russia's rating outlook from positive to stable, the agency said

* A town in Russia's Far East was rocked on Friday by what local media say may have been copy-cat riots by gangs of youths imitating recent disturbances in Greece

* NATO fighters have trailed two Russian strategic bombers on a patrol mission over the North Sea, a Russian Air Force spokesman said

* Russia's president, who in November initiated constitutional changes to the presidential and parliamentary terms, said Friday that further amendments could be made to the Constitution

* A missile frigate from Russia's Northern Fleet is continuing its duty to protect commercial ships from Somali pirate attacks near the Horn of Africa, a Navy spokesman said

* An economic recession has begun in Russia, where GDP growth is expected to fall below the 6.8% forecast this year, a deputy economics minister said

* The death toll in a blast at an ore mine in Russia's northern Murmansk Region has risen to 12, a local emergencies official said

* Sakhalin Energy launched year-round oil export deliveries on Friday via a new oil terminal as part of the Sakhalin II oil and gas project off Russia's Pacific Coast, the company said in a statement

* At least nine workers were killed and six others injured when an accidental explosion occurred at an open-cast mine in the Murmansk Region, three others are missing, a police source said

WORLD

* Seventy-four percent of Palestinians want to continue the ceasefire between Israel and the Gaza Strip, according to a poll published on Friday

* Georgia wants good relations with Russia, President Mikheil Saakashvili said Friday while commenting on the Georgian Orthodox Church leader's visit to Moscow

* Banks in the Gaza Strip resumed operations on Friday after Israel let a batch of cash into the enclave, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported

* EU leaders unanimously approved on Friday a package of measures to tackle the economic crisis, a climate change deal, and concessions to resolve a deadlock over the Lisbon treaty, the French president said

* Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday that Israel is in its last days and this knowledge is behind recent Israeli pressure on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip

* Around 300,000 chickens and ducks have been slaughtered in the past two weeks in the northeast Indian state of Assam in the latest outbreak of bird flu virus, local media reported

* Chinese media on Friday accused Tibet's spiritual leader Dalai Lama of involvement in the deaths of opponents and religious dissidents

* A federal judge ruled a Russian entrepreneur accused of running a child prostitution ring in Russia must await trial behind bars in the United States

* Switzerland scrapped checks at land border crossings on Friday as the country joined the Schengen visa agreement

BUSINESS

* Russia has averted a crisis in its banking system by setting aside up to 9 trillion rubles ($325 billion) to bolster the sector, the Russian prime minster said

* Novolipetsk Steel [LSE: NLMK] said on Friday its U.S. GAAP consolidated net profit increased 66% year-on-year in January-September to $2.76 billion

* Auto giant Daimler AG purchased on Friday a 10% stake in KamAZ, Russia's largest truck-maker, from the Troika Dialog brokerage