* Iran will continue its uranium enrichment program despite sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said

* The parliament of Iran passed a bill obliging the government to review the terms of cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, following sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council against the Islamic Republic

* Thousands of people gathered in Turkmenistan's capital of Ashgabat to pay their last respects to late leader Saparmurat Niyazov

* Two members of illegal armed formations surrendered in the North Caucasus Republic of Chechnya, the local law-enforcement bodies said

* Strong winds disrupted electricity supply in Russia's several southern districts that are home to some 25,000 people, the regional emergencies service said

* President Vladimir Putin congratulated President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev with his 45th birthday, the Kremlin press office said

* A Soyuz-2 booster launched from the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia delivered a Meridian communications satellite into orbit, the Russian Space Forces said

* Russia urges all political forces in Palestine and Israel, and also all regional parties concerned to back the results of Israeli-Palestinian talks held in Jerusalem on December 23, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said

* An accident at a sewage treatment plant in the Moscow Region poses no threat to Moscow, the capital's water supplier Mosvodokanal said