* The Russian Emergencies Ministry said half of the 200-km toxic slick in the Amur River has passed the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur in Russia's Far East, and the concentration of nitrobenzene and other chemicals in the river did not exceed the maximum permissible level

* Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II congratulated all Orthodox believers with Christmas during a three-hour midnight Mass on Friday night

* Turkish authorities said fears of human infection have spread to regions all over the country following the recent deaths of three Turkish children of the Kocyigit family from the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus

* Law enforcement authorities in the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya said a large cache containing ammunition and explosives had been discovered and destroyed near the capital, Grozny

* A police source said a Turkish businessman was attacked and robbed in the Russian capital Friday night