RUSSIA

* Russia considers it premature to discuss possible sanctions against Myanmar after the army's recent crackdown on protesters, President Vladimir Putin said

* Russia's nuclear chief Sergei Kiriyenko said:

- Russia is ready to directly supply nuclear fuel to nuclear power plants in Western Europe

- The United States Court of International Trade has lifted discriminatory, anti-dumping restrictions on Russian low-enriched uranium (LEU) supplies

- Russia and the United States will sign an agreement on the civilian use of nuclear power by the end of 2007

* Russia's foreign debt has declined 8.5% to $47.6 billion as of September 1, the economics ministry said

* Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said both his country and neighboring Georgia want to prevent a deterioration in relations in the wake of recent incidents in two Georgian breakaway republics

* French President Nicolas Sarkozy will make a working visit to Russia October 9-10, the Kremlin press service said

* Russia is set to adopt a new anti-corruption federal law, Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said

* A court in east Siberia extended the custody of Mikhail Khodorkovsky for another three months over a new probe against the imprisoned ex-head of Yukos

* The joint Russian-U.S. naval exercise Pacific Eagle 2007 started in the Amur Gulf, near Vladivostok, the Pacific Fleet press office announced

WORLD

* Serbia and its breakaway province of Kosovo held the first round of their first direct talks with international mediators participating but failed to reach any agreement

* Palestinian Islamist group Hamas is preparing an initiative to make peace with rival movement Fatah and its leader President Mahmoud Abbas, an Arab-language newspaper said

* Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki called on the six parties involved in talks on his country's controversial nuclear program to back Tehran's cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog

* Former French finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn was named as the new Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a spokesman for the organization said

* Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov's Red and White Holdings Ltd. has bought a further 2% in English soccer club Arsenal FC bringing the total stake to 23%, the company said

* Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda ruled out immediate sanctions against Myanmar Friday, reported Kyodo News

* U.S. computer game developer Richard Garriott will become the sixth tourist to travel into space, Space Adventures announced

* The Georgian Prosecutor General's Office has filed charges against former defense minister Irakly Okruashvili, an outspoken critic of President Mikheil Saakashvili, the PGO press service said

* Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Venezuela's Hugo Chavez have agreed to intensify their fight against U.S. world domination, the Venezuelan president

BUSINESS

* Rosoboronexport is set to sell its blocking stake in Russia's largest car producer AvtoVAZ to Western car manufacturers, the head of Russia's arms exporter said

* The average price of Urals blend crude was $62.7 per barrel for January-August 2007, a 0.6% decline year-on-year, the Russian economics ministry said

* Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said Russian-Chinese trade could double next year exceeding $40 billion, but voiced concerns about the imbalance and commodity structure