UKRAINE

Vimpelcom's $6.6 billion bid for telecoms assets owned by Weather Investments was hanging by a thread after Norwegian shareholder Telenor said on Monday it would not back the deal.

Visitors will be able to tour the sealed zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, where Chernobyl reactor No. 4 exploded on April 26, 1986, contaminating a large part of Northern Europe including Belarus and Russia, with harmful radiations. The tragedy left many dead and the city was evacuated within a radius of 48 kilometers.

Norway's Nobel committee held its Peace Prize awards ceremony on Friday without the award's recipient, human rights activist Liu Xiaobo.

China attacked the U.S. congressional resolution on convicted Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, and urged U.S. policymakers to change arrogant and rude attitude. The country's foreign ministry maintained that Liu, who won this year's Nobel Peace Prize, was not arrested over his calls for democracy, but for the reason that he tried to destabilize the state. Meanwhile, the Nobel committee announced that as many as 18 countries have joined China in the boycott of the Oslo event.

PepsiCo Inc. announced an agreement to acquire 66 percent of Russia's dairy and fruit juice company Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods for $3.8 billion to boost its base in key markets in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Upon completion of the deal, PepsiCo will be around twice the size of its nearest food and beverage competitor in Russia.

Government policies all over the world are distorting the market for agricultural products and discouraging their production at a time when there is a global shortage of them.

Ukraine's parliament Monday changed the law on regional elections in a move that is likely to dilute support for the party of Yulia Tymoshenko, the main opponent of President Viktor Yanukovich.

Global rice prices are expected to rise by 6% to 7% this month or early next as foreign demand increases amid lower supply due to climate change. According to Thai Rice Exporters Association, foreign purchase orders have already resumed, and a flood of orders is anticipated next month to serve the many year-end festivals.

The hot news now is the BHP Billiton's unsolicited offer to buy Canadian fertiliser company, PotashCorp for $40 bn and PotashCorp taking alternative measures to block the bid. It is not yet clear why fertiliser companies have suddenly become hot favourites for acquisitions and mergers.

Russian grain imports are likely to soar after the country's worst drought in more than a century damaged its harvest and forced it to ban exports, analysts said on Thursday. Analysts estimate that Russia, usually a major grain exporter, may have to import 1.5-2.2 million tonnes this year after the worst drought in more than a century damaged its harvest, but a report in Vedomosti daily said Russia could import at least 5 million tonnes of grain this year.

Devastating drought in Russia and neighboring countries has reduced world wheat harvest prospects more than expected, a U.S. government report showed on Thursday, threatening to renew a blistering price rally that has revived memories of 2008.

Finally, India will have its first ever jewellery week, the India International Jewellery Week (IIJW), from August 15 to 19 in Mumbai. It is a fabulous platform for jewellery designers to come together and showcase their talent. This is the first time the jewellery industry will witness something like this.

Kazakhstan expected to succumb to Russian pressure for barring wheat exports outside the Commonwealth of Independent states in order to establish monopoly on their grain supplies.

Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc plans to open 180 dual-branded Wendy's and Arby's restaurants in Russia over the next 10 years, becoming the latest U.S. fast food chain to look to that market for growth.

Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc said on Tuesday it plans to open 180 dual-branded Wendy's and Arby's restaurants in Russia over the next ten years.

Drought-devastated Russia could extend a grain export ban into next year and may cut its 2010 beet sugar output, reflecting the dimming prospects for crops in the scorched Black Sea bread basket region.

Exporters canceled major contracts of drought-hit Black Sea wheat to Bangladesh on Monday, signaling the need for Asian millers to scramble for supplies from other key growers like Australia.

U.S. wheat futures fell 4.3 percent on Monday, extending their losses to nearly 12 percent in two sessions as traders take profits from a near-doubling in prices in just over a month. With a key U.S. Department of Agriculture stocks and production report out on Thursday and the impact of a Russian decision last week to ban exports still to be felt, the market looks set for another volatile week.

Russia´s ban on grain exports caused a buying frenzy on global grain markets, driving prices up sharply under record high volumes.

Global wheat prices are expected to remain higher due to lower output forecast by International Grain Council (IGC) and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). IGC has revised the global wheat forecast lower by 1.9% for the 2010-11 to 651 million metric tons due to the output losses in parts of Black Sea regions, such as EU and Canada.

Adverse weather conditions in major wheat producing regions prompted International Grains Council to trim estimates by 13 million tones this year. According to its latest report, the IGC also trimmed its forecast for world corn production, lowering its forecast for inventories of the grain to a four-year low.