* The speaker of the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, said he was alarmed over recent acts of extremism and intolerance in Russia

* Moscow is against politicizing issues between Russia and Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said in the wake of pronouncements by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Boris Tarasyuk

* At a meeting with the heads of FIFA and the Russian Football Union (RFU), Russian President Vladimir Putin called the European Union's attempts to influence soccer tournaments throughout the continent "imperialism in football"

* The acting prime minister of Chechnya in Russia's North Caucasus demanded that law enforcement authorities in the republic put a stop to drug trafficking and illegal alcohol trade

* A delegation of Russia's Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, arrived in Indonesia's capital Jakarta to participate in the 14th session of the Asia-Pacific parliamentary forum

* The inauguration ceremony of Vladimir Torlopov, whose candidacy for the post of president of the Komi Republic in northwest Russia was approved by the republic's State Council on December 7, 2005, was held in Syktyvkar

* Authorities in Yeletsky, a small town in the Komi Republic, northwest Russia, brought the damaged boiler house and interrupted systems of electricity and water supply back into operation

* Two arms caches have been found in the Republic of Chechnya in Russia's North Caucasus

* The Russian Kamaz team led by Vladimir Chagin won the truck race at the Dakar Rally, an annual off-road tournament that runs a course from Europe to North Africa