Main Russian News - (18-07-07)

* President Putin appointed Valentin Sobolev as acting Security Council head following his approval of Igor Ivanov's resignation, the Kremlin said on its website

* Russia is ready to discuss assisting in deactivating North Korea's nuclear facilities, a Russian envoy said at six-party talks in China

* U.K.-exiled Russian tycoon, Boris Berezovsky, said he is ready to face Russian trial for fraud but only in a third country and with Andrei Lugovoi who is wanted by Britain as a prime murder suspect

* Despite a recent moratorium on the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, Russia is ready to discuss the issue with the United States, the Russian foreign minister told the U.S. Secretary of State on the phone

* Russia proposed to the United States that the sides draft a simpler version of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), a senior Defense Ministry official said

* Reports in the British media that two Russian strategic bombers violated U.K. airspace are untrue, an aide to the Russian Air Force commander said

* Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Naryshkin was appointed chief coordinator of the project to build the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) oil pipeline, a government source said

* The International Space Station's orbit will be adjusted July 24 to prepare for the docking of the U.S. space shuttle Endeavor, due to be launched August 7, Russia's Mission Control Center said

* A tripwire bomb went off injuring at least seven people during the funeral of murdered teacher and her two children in the North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, local police said

* The U.S. Senate scuttled a Democrats-supported bill (52-47) to pull out American troops from Iraq by April 2008, with 60 votes needed for approval

* North Korea reaffirmed its commitment to nuclear disarmament at six-nation talks on its nuclear program, which resumed in Beijing Wednesday, a Russian diplomat said

* The Metropolitan Police officially confirmed that a Russian man had been detained June 21 on suspicion of plotting to kill London-exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, but released two days later without charges

* The tenth victim of the 6.8-magnitude earthquake, which hit western Japan Monday, was found under rubble of Kashiwazaki temple; 5,000 people have yet to return to their homes, the Japanese authorities said

* The European Union said it was concerned by Russia's refusal to cooperate with British authorities over London's extradition request for Andrei Lugovoi, the key suspect in the Alexander Litvinenko murder case

* The European Union welcomed Libya's decision to lift death sentences against five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor convicted of infecting children with HIV, following a large compensation payout to the victims' families from an international fund

* At least two Lebanese soldiers died and five were wounded in a mine blast as troops continued to clear out Islamic militants holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, local media said

* Up to 200 people are feared dead after a passenger plane crashed on landing in Sao Paolo, in Brazil's worst ever air disaster

* A leading Indian broadsheet quoted anonymous sources as saying the country is planning to launch an Israeli spy satellite in September

* World-famous controversial U.S. photographer, Spencer Tunick, said he would hold a "mass nude" photo shoot in the Swiss Alps for Greenpeace to highlight global warming and hopes for 50 to 100 volunteers

* Russian energy giant Gazprom plans to launch a roadshow for its $1bln Eurobond issue no later than next week, several sources close to the bond placement said

* Industrial output in Russia grew by a record 10.9% in June on the same month of 2006, and gained 7.7% year-on-year in January-June, the country's top statistics body said