Oslo court sentences Russian kickboxer to 8 months in prison.

OSLO, December 24 (Itar-Tass) -- Oslo's district court has sentenced
former ultimate fighting champion Vyacheslav Datsik, who escaped from a
mental hospital in the Leningrad region, to eight months in prison, a
court spokeswoman said on Thursday.
According to Irene Ramm, the court ruled to deduct the 98 day he had
spent in custody from his ultimate term. Apart from it, Datsik will have
to pay 4,000 krones (667 U.S. dollars) to cover court costs.

.Somaliland charges 6 Russian pilots with illegal delivery of military
fatigues.

NAIROBI, December 24 (Itar-Tass) -- A Somaliland court has charged six
Russian pilots of a cargo plane with violating Somaliland's air space and
illegal delivery of military fatigues in the breach of a U.N. embargo,
media reported on Thursday, citing assistant general prosecutor, Aden
Ahmed Diriye.
The northern breakaway Somali enclave arrested the six, along with two
South African journalists, on December 10 after an Antonov-24 plane landed
at the Egal International Airport. The journalists were later freed.
Diriye said the landing was planned and their claim of fuel shortage
and emergency landing was false, as was the claim that the plane was
carrying ordinary clothes.
"The plane was not carrying shirts, trousers and ordinary belts, but
was carrying military uniform: pouches for bullets and grenades, army
shoes and belts," Diriye said.
"There was no emergency landing for the route of the plane was
Entebbe-Hargeisa-Bossaso and Dubai," Diriye added.
Somaliland boasts relative stability, unlike southern regions of the
failed Horn of Africa state, where al Shabaab insurgents control large
amounts of territory and are fighting a weak Western-backed government.

.Main Christmas tree of Russia fully decorated.

MOSCOW, December 24 (Itar-Tass) -- The main Christmas tree of Russia
installed on the Kremlin Assembly Square is completely ready for the New
Year festivities, press secretary of the presidential property management
department Viktor Khrekov said on Thursday.
"The 30.5-meter high tree is decorated with more than 1,000
decorations and 1,100 meters of diode Christmas lights featuring the
colours of the Russian flag," Khrekov said. In his words, among
decorations are baubles, bows and bells. "We bought 400 decorations this
year," he added. A 50-centimeter-tall Christmas star will be placed on top.
"All decorations are wind-resistant," he said, noting that the
Assembly Square is a windy place.
The tree was chosen from hundreds growing in several districts of the
Moscow region. It was cut in the Klin district.
"Energy efficient technologies, such as diode lights, will help save
up to 50 percent of electricity," he said.


.Russian govt to spend RUR 17 bln to encourage car demand in Russia.

NIZHNY NOVGOROD, December 24 (Itar-Tass) -- A total of 17 billion
roubles will be spent in 2011 to encourage domestic demand on the car
market, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.
In 2010, more than 44 billion roubles were spent for these purposes,
including 13 billion roubles under the old car scrapping and easy
crediting of new cars programs, he reminded. "Another 30 billion roubles
were allocated to purchase cars and road building machines for federal and
regional authorities," Putin said.
In his words, the measures have helped to increase car production
twofold in 2010. "Car sales are also on the rise in all the segments of
the market, including motor cars, commercial vehicles, trucks and buses.
In general, sales of new cars went up by 30 percent as compared with the
eleven months of 2010 (sales of motor cars increased by 330,000, of
commercial vehicles - by 38,000, and truck - by 40,000)," he said and
predicted a likewise stable growth in 2011.
Meanwhile, the government decided to create a reserve fund to ensure
that the demand goes back to its previous level. "In 2011, we will offer a
program for encouraging the car demand," Putin noted. "More than 17
billion roubles will be allocated from the budget for these purposes,
including 3.5 billion to fund the old car utilization program, 2.8 billion
roubles to provide easy credits, and one billion roubles to finance
shipments to the Far East."
Apart from it, the prime minister said the utilization program should
be expanded to include trucks and buses and instructed the Ministry of
Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic
Development to draft their proposals on the subject in the first quarter
of 2011.
-0-ras


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