* Russia's Federal Agency for Nuclear Power signed memorandums of cooperation in building aluminum production and power generating facilities with aluminum giants Rusal and SUAL
* The Russian Prosecutor General's Office said prosecutors in West Siberia had opened criminal cases against Sibneft-Noyabrskneftegaz, a subsidiary of oil company Gazprom Neft, for exceeding natural gas production limits in 2001-2005
* Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said two Ukrainians and two Norwegians had been abducted early Wednesday from a Norwegian vessel in Nigeria's territorial waters
* The Russian government's press office said Russia would contribute about $8.6 million to the International Monetary Fund in 2006-2008 under the IMF program to alleviate the debt burden of heavily-indebted poor countries
* U.S. aircraft giant Boeing said sanctions imposed by the United States against Russian aircraft-maker Sukhoi would hardly affect its SuperJet project involving Boeing
* St. Petersburg police said another item stolen from one of the world's largest art museums, the Hermitage, had been recovered
* Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Russia would raise military spending by 70 billion rubles ($2.6 billion) in 2007
* Sergei Skripal, a colonel in Russia's security services, was sentenced to 13 years in prison Wednesday for spying for the United Kingdom, the Federal Security Service said
* Kazakhstan has over valuated the damage a July 27 Russian Dnepr carrier rocket crash caused to the country, a spokesman for the Russian Space Agency said
* Russia will establish a state venture company by the end of October as part of efforts to diversify the economy and encourage investment in innovation, a senior economics ministry official said
* Russia's ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said early Wednesday morning his country was anxious to have a Security Council resolution on Lebanon adopted to end four weeks of fighting in the Middle East
* A Russian plane carrying humanitarian aid to Lebanon took off from an airfield outside Moscow Wednesday morning, officials said
* Russia could lose $1 billion a year after the United States announced it was one of 13 countries that could be dropped from a preferential treatment program for emerging economies
