* Iran will continue its uranium enrichment program despite sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said

// Dec. 25, 2006 - 05:28 GMT

CHERKESSK, December 25 (RIA Novosti) – Police in Russia's republic of Karachayevo-Circassia in North Caucasus are conducting a special operation to apprehend a group of suspected militants in the center of the capital, Cherkessk, a local police spokesman said Monday.

// Dec. 25, 2006 - 06:10 GMT

VLADIVOSTOK, December 25 (RIA Novosti) – A conscript at a military unit on the island of Sakhalin has been charged with abuse of rank and violence after allegedly beating up his fellow soldier who later committed suicide, military prosecutors said Monday.

// Dec. 25, 2006 - 06:40 GMT

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, December 25 (RIA Novosti) – A village on the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia's Far East is under ash fallout, as the Bezymyanny volcano, which is 25 miles from the village, is continuing spewing ashes up to an altitude of 15 kilometers (9 miles), local seismologists said Monday.

// Dec. 25, 2006 - 07:01 GMT

MOSCOW, December 25 (RIA Novosti) – Credit institutions' balances on correspondent accounts with the Russian Central Bank totaled 559.9 billion rubles ($21.3 billion at the current exchange rates) at the beginning of the business day, up 8.9% (45.8 billion rubles/$1.74 billion) from Friday, the CBR said Monday.

// Dec. 25, 2006 - 07:08 GMT

MOSCOW, December 25 (RIA Novosti) – Russia's investment index will open Monday at 764.63 points, down 0.22% on the previous day's trading, following Friday evening's sessions on major world trading floors.

// Dec. 25, 2006 - 07:17 GMT

(Adds details, background)

// Dec. 25, 2006 - 07:54 GMT

The state should be more active in quitting various areas of the national economy, the head of the Russian Finance Ministry Alexei Kudrin said on Saturday, Dec. 23, speaking at <i>RenTV</i> channel.

// Dec. 25, 2006 - 08:05 GMT

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev said on Saturday, Dec. 23, that his country may stop importing natural gas from Russia as it seeks to reshape its energy balance and avoid electricity cuts.

// Dec. 25, 2006 - 08:06 GMT

VLADIVOSTOK, December 25 (RIA Novosti) – Three killers of a Russian general in charge of the Coast Guard in the Far Eastern region of Sakhalin have been sentenced to four and a half years in prison Monday after a jury found them guilty on manslaughter charges.

// Dec. 25, 2006 - 09:07 GMT