Morning re-cap of main news, July 30

* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia supported Mahmoud Abbas as the legitimate Palestinian leader and was willing to discuss with him assistance to Palestinians

* The board of directors of the oil company Russneft okayed the resignation of its CEO, Mikhail Gutseriyev

* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia and the United States will hold at least two rounds of talks on Washington's plans to deploy its missile shield in Central Europe before reports to the presidents are prepared in October

* Russians plan to dive 4,200 meters (14,000 feet) in two mini-submarines to explore the ocean floor below the North Pole August 1-2 to back Moscow's claim to the oil-rich Arctic, a research institute spokesman said Monday.

World

* Kosovo leaders said Monday they would take part in further talks on the future of the Albanian-dominated Serbian province, but added renouncing independence was "out of the question."

* Remarkable Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman, who died aged 89, was one of the last masters of philosophical films, said Kirill Razlogov, famous Russian film critic and director of the Institute of Cultural Studies

* Russia's Foreign Ministry condemned a meeting of veterans of Estonia's Waffen SS division in the Baltic state Sunday, calling it an outrageous event and regretting that it received official backing

* Another 527 Palestinians awaiting the opening of the Rafah border crossing in Egypt left for Gaza via Israel, the MENA news agency reported

* Health officials in Kyrgyzstan confirmed earlier reports that 11 people, including nine children, had contracted HIV after being given contaminated blood during transfusions in the south of the Central Asian state

* British energy official Malcolm Wicks arrived in Russia on a two-day visit to discuss nuclear waste disposal, the British Embassy in Moscow said

* Estonian police said they had authorized a gay pride parade in the capital center August 11 following initial opposition to the event based on security concerns.

Business

* Russia's trade surplus in the first six months of 2007 dropped 13.8%, year-on-year, to $63.8 billion, the Russian economics ministry said in a monitoring report

* Russia's economics ministry said it still hopes to keep the country's inflation no higher than its 8% target for 2007

* Russia's state-controlled oil pipeline monopoly Transneft said the value of its assets increased 16.7% in April-June 2007, quarter-on-quarter, to 194.7 billion rubles (about $7.6 billion)

* Russian prosecutors brought a new $13 million embezzlement charge against Boris Berezovsky, a fugitive tycoon residing in the U.K., a defense lawyer said

* The automotive unit of Basic Element, billionaire Oleg Deripaska's business empire, denied reports it intends to buy Land Rover and Jaguar