WORLD
* Russia and France signed an agreement on cooperation in the atomic energy industry
* Russia and Turkey signed an agreement on the monitoring of nuclear safety
*Belarus has released a list of trade problems with Russia that it says hinder the signing of a Customs Union agreement, a Russian business daily said
* Russia's Mission Control readjusted the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) raising it by 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles), a Mission Control spokesman said
* Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrived in Turkey to attend the third summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) and hold bilateral talks with top officials from Turkey and other countries
RUSSIA
* Russia's General Staff is planning to merge existing military districts into four strategic commands but leave strategic nuclear forces under central control, Russia's top military commander said
* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev instructed the government to draw up proposals on reducing the number of federal officials by 20%
* President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Jacques Rogge and Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Kozak opened a Sporting Glory museum in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi
* The grand-daughter of a well-known businessman in Russia's Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk is being held by kidnappers who are demanding a $16 million ransom, Russian media said
* A court in St. Petersburg has given a green light for the construction of a 403-meter skyscraper in the heart of the city, despite President Dmitry Medvedev's disapproval, Russian business daily Kommersant said
