VLADIMIR PUTIN

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is not alone when it comes to avoiding flying. He's got a friend in Moammar Qadafi of Libya, whose staff avoid long distance travel by air over water.

The documents leaked by WikiLeaks late on Sunday showed the state department ordered a surveillance of the activities of the United Nations personnel including the secretary general and asked its agencies to collect exhaustive information on the U.N staff, including personal details.

The U.S. Department of State is working overtime sending messages to ally capitals warning the impending release of classified documents by WikiLeaks could harm relations in what is seen as a pre-emptive move of unprecedented scale to neutralize the impact of the unveiling of embarrassing and compromising details about the inner workings of the government apparatus.

China and Russia announced on Tuesday to renounce US dollar and use their domestic currencies in bilateral trade.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is planning an official visit to Israel in January next year, the Haaretz reported on Wednesday. This will be the first Russian presidential visit to Israel in almost five years. It was in 2005 that Vladimir Putin met Ariel Sharon, which improved the bilateral ties between the countries.

German carmaker Volkswagen is planning a new assembly line at Russia's GAZ in order to boost production in the booming market.

President Dmitry Medvedev warned Russia's Kremlin-appointed regional governors on Monday that he is closely watching their approval ratings and hinted they won't last long in the job if they cannot keep people happy.

As part of efforts to shift its export emphasis away from West Europe, Russia inaugurated a branch of Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline that delivers east Siberian oil to China.

Russia's paramount leader, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, hinted on Monday he would return to the presidency in 2012 for six more years and said democracy protesters marching without permission deserved to be beaten.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hinted that he would return to the Kremlin in 2012 for another six years, saying in an interview published Monday he was more interested than everyone else in the election.

Rights group Amnesty said five of its activists were detained while distributing flyers at a U2 concert in Moscow on Wednesday, which ended with a celebrated Kremlin critic joining the Irish rock stars on stage.

Russia plans to discuss after October 1 whether to extend a grain export ban into next year, First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov told Reuters, after a severe drought ruined vast tracts of the country's grain crop.

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.

Wheat markets raced to fresh highs on Thursday, with Chicago wheat trading limit-up, as Russia announced a halt to grain exports from next week in response to a drought that has withered crops. Russia's worst drought on record has devastated crops in parts of the country and sent international grain prices soaring as markets have speculated on restricted supply from one of the world's leading exporters.

Russia plans its biggest sell-off of state assets since the early 1990s as it seeks to raise over $29 billion to plug budget gaps over the next three years, finance ministry sources told Reuters on Saturday.

Russian flagship airline Aeroflot expects to acquire 22 Boeing Dreamliners and 22 Airbus A350s by 2016 as it expands its fleet, CEO Vitaly Savelyev told Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was inspired by a tour of Silicon Valley on Wednesday and left determined to replicate the U.S. technology hub at home, despite pessimism that Russia could create a sufficiently open environment to nurture success.

A parliamentary group has given Russian schoolchildren a leaflet that prays for the foes of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his government partner, President Dmitry Medvedev, to be reduced to ashes.

Russia and Ukraine have decided to cooperate in oil and gas sector by allowing swap assets with each other. Speaking to newsmen here after meeting Russian president Vladimir Putin, Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych said, We could swap some assets with Russia to cooperate in oil and gas production in Russia,

Ukraine said it will press for changes in the natural gas price formula fixed by Russia's Gazprom and its Naftohaz Ukrainy national oil and gas company. Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said here, We have agreed that we will work on this, since the formula does not satisfy us.

President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday that Russia must move fast to create a home for innovative companies in high-tech industries, pushing a project he hopes can be a showcase of his presidency.