VLADIMIR PUTIN

Russian President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party will name its candidate for next year's presidential vote on December 17 when it could become clearer who Putin wants to be his successor.

President Vladimir Putin's supporters will enjoy complete control over Russia's next parliament, a tally from Sunday's election showed, giving him a solid power base after he leaves the Kremlin.

President Vladimir Putin's party won a big majority in Russia's election on Sunday, but the opposition alleged fraud and vowed to contest a result that could help Putin keep a hold on power after he leaves office.

President Vladimir Putin accused Washington on Monday of plotting to undermine December parliamentary elections seen widely as a demonstration of his power in Russia.

President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party will win an overwhelming majority in a parliamentary election on December 2 and only one other party will get enough votes to join it, according to a poll on Wednesday.

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday warned that Moscow would not remain indifferent to NATO's muscle-flexing and said Russia's nuclear forces would be ready for an adequate response to any aggressor.

The party set to win a big majority in Russia's parliamentary election next month has boiled down its central idea to two words: Vladimir Putin.

President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he expected a parliamentary election on December 2 to give him a moral right to influence Russian politics after he steps down from his Kremlin post next year.

Iran will not back down in a nuclear dispute with the West and is not interested in talks with the United States, its president said on Tuesday ahead of a previously unannounced visit by Russia's foreign minister.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice lambasted Moscow on Monday for using its oil and gas wealth as a "political weapon" and said democratic reforms would strengthen Russia's ties with Washington.

Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the U.S.-led war in Iraq on Thursday, saying that experience showed the need for resource-rich countries like Russia to build up their armed forces to defend themselves.

U.S. President George W. Bush warned on Wednesday a nuclear-armed Iran could lead to World War III as he tried to shore up international opposition to Tehran amid Russian skepticism over its nuclear ambitions.Bush was speaking a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has resisted Western pressure to toughen his stance over Iran's nuclear program, made clear on a visit to Tehran that Russia would not accept any military action against Iran.

Russia unveiled its first all-new airliner since the fall of the Soviet Union on Wednesday, hoping to curb dependence on oil and gas exports and restore pride in its teetering aviation industry.

Russia will seek a boost for President Vladimir Putin's bid to revive its once mighty aviation industry this week, by rolling out its first modern commercial airliner for the global market -- the Superjet.

Alisher Usmanov's $40 million donation to keep an art collection in Russia is an irreversible decision, he says.

Current pro-market policies are firmly established and will not change with a new president, a top Kremlin aide said.

To the chagrin of green groups, APEC members signed a voluntary non-binding agreement to cut greenhouse gases.

At the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Bush said he would consider a peace treaty with North Korea if it gave up nuclear arms.

Usually derided as teetering on the tip of irrelevance, this year's Asia-Pacific leaders' summit in Sydney hopes to rise above its reputation for glacial action and have a real impact on the course of climate change. Leaders gathered for the meeting hope to build on June's G8 summit, in which nations agreed to consider a 50 percent cut in emissions by 2050 and build momentum ahead of a U.N. climate change meeting later this month.

Russia has signed a deal to sell 98 Ilyushin civilian aircraft to Venezuela, Russian newspapers reported on Friday.

Relations between the United States and Europe are likely to improve dramatically under new French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a U.S. congressional leader said on Thursday.