* Russia Today, the country's first 24-hour English-language news channel, began broadcasting at 1 p.m. GMT

* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke on international policy and economic issues in an interview with Russia Today, the country's first 24-hour English language news channel

* Ukrainian TV said a bird flu outbreak had been recorded in 19 settlements in the Crimea, an autonomy on the Black Sea

* A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said the Russian ship Terney, detained by North Korean border guards December 5, could soon be allowed to leave the country's territorial waters

* The Chechen Election Commission said the new parliament of the republic would hold its first session in Grozny December 12

* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the significance of the first summit of Russia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, due to take place December 13, could hardly be overestimated

* At a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, Russia's ombudsman Vladimir Lukin called the human rights situation in the country moot and said he would soon present a report on the issue

* The commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Transdnestr, a self-proclaimed republic in Moldova, said Russian peacekeepers there had no information on weapons deliveries from the region to other countries