UKRAINE

U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev failed to clinch a landmark pact cutting Cold War stocks of nuclear arms on Friday but pledged to keep working for a deal in the New Year.

Australia's central bank raised interest rates for a record third successive month earlier in December, pulling further back from emergency lows as the economy gallops ahead of its peers in the developed world.

The head of Russia's natural gas giant Gazprom said on Tuesday he did not expect a new gas war with Ukraine to erupt over the New Year, echoing an earlier statement from the Russian Energy Ministry.

The head of Russia's natural gas giant Gazprom said on Tuesday he didn't expect a new gas war with Ukraine to erupt over the New Year, echoing an earlier statement from the Russian Energy Ministry.

Somali pirates freed the Greek ship Ariana and its 24 Ukrainian crew on Thursday after a helicopter dropped a multi-million dollar ransom onto its deck and ended a more than six-month hostage ordeal.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday it would be irresponsible to amend gas supply contracts with Ukraine, in a sign that Moscow will offer no more concessions to its ex-Soviet neighbour on gas payments.

Contagion from emerging markets Ukraine and Dubai, debt in the eurozone's weakest economies, British politics, climate talks in Copenhagen and tensions with Tehran could all affect Western European markets in December.

Debt in Dubai and the interplay of politics and IMF deals in Ukraine, Romania and Latvia provide the main political risks to regional emerging markets in December, while in Nigeria presidential health will be in focus.

The trial of John Demjanjuk, an 89-year-old former Nazi camp guard, started on Monday on charges of helping to force 27,900 Jews into gas chambers at Sobibor death camp in 1943.

John Demjanjuk, an 89-year-old former Nazi camp guard, is due to stand trial on Monday on charges of helping to force 27,900 Jews into gas chambers in 1943.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on Thursday urged Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to change an agreement on supplies of Russian natural gas whose terms he said were too onerous for the Ukrainian economy.

Russian oil company TNK-BP is looking at acquisitions or joint ventures as a means of growing in the oil refining sector, a senior company executive said on Wednesday.

The European Union's Swedish presidency urged Russia on Wednesday to do more to combat climate change and discussed Russian energy supplies to Europe, which could be threatened by a dispute with Ukraine.

Flu infections may be peaking in some parts of the northern hemisphere, but are still spreading fast in others, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

Immediate economic prospects for Ukraine will be extremely difficult without a fourth $3.8 billion tranche of funds from the International Monetary Fund, Ukraine's prime minister said on Wednesday.

H1N1 swine flu is on the rise in China and Japan after triggering an unusually early start to the winter influenza season in Europe, Central Asia and North America, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

Some countries have been ambushed by sudden severe outbreaks of disease and death from the H1N1 flu pandemic, and have gone over the top in their response, a European flu specialist said on Friday.

Twelve of the worst pollution problems in the developing world are being cleaned up, demonstrating that tens of thousands of others also could be improved, according to a report released on Wednesday.

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen hopes to secure Russian help in equipping and training Afghan security forces during a visit to Moscow in December, an alliance spokesman said on Wednesday.

Philip Morris International Inc and Reynolds American Inc posted higher-than-expected quarterly profits and raised their full-year forecasts on Thursday, as tax increases and the recession did not hurt the cigarette makers as much as feared.

Moscow and Washington must agree on where the threats to their security come from before plans to cooperate on missile defense can progress, Russia's negotiator said.