Moscow - Russia's FSB intelligence agency said Wednesday 10 rebel gunmen were killed in an early morning shoot-out in the Caucasus republic of Dagestan.

One security agent died and another was injured in the police assault, Dagestan's Interior Ministry said.

"The armed gang got caught in an ambush led by a special task force of the FSB," a spokesman for the agency was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying.

Caracas - Venezuela and Russia plan to deepen bilateral ties, expanding economic, technological and military cooperation, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said Tuesday.

The South American country was one of Russia's most trusted partners, Sechin said after a meeting with Venezuelan Vice President Ramon Carrizales.

Both countries plan to sign several agreements in a high-level meeting scheduled for October 15-18 in Caracas.

In Tuesday's meeting, a range of bilateral cooperation agreements, including in the fields of energy, trade, education, technology and military affairs were discussed, Carrizales said. Relations to Russia were important to establish a multi-polar world as envisaged by Venezuela's leader Hugo Chavez, he added.

Moscow  - Russia's defence spending will increase 27 per cent in 2009, news agency Interfax quoted Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as saying on Tuesday.

"Nearly 2.4 trillion rubles (94.23 billion dollars) will be allocated for the needs of national defence and security," Putin was quoted as saying. "This is an increase of 27 per cent."

The announcement comes on the heels of Russia's crushing defeat of Georgian forces on the former Soviet satellite's soil last month.

Brussels - The August war in Georgia highlights the need for the European Union and Kazakhstan to work together, especially on energy issues, officials from the two sides said on Tuesday.

But the war is not likely to stop Kazakh companies investing in Georgian energy pipelines, Kazakh Trade Minister Vladimir Shkolnik told journalists after a meeting with EU officials in Brussels.

"Any investment is an economic decision and always carries a certain risk, but I imagine in this case the risks will be minimal," he said.

Moscow / Caracas  - A Russian delegation arrived in Caracas Tuesday as Moscow moves to restore Soviet-era ties in South America heightening tensions with the United States already strained over the crisis in Georgia.

Two Russian, nuclear-capable bombers were carrying out exercises over the Caribbean from an air base in Venezuela on Tuesday, and the two countries plan joint naval games before the year is out.

The delegation, led by powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's deputy Igor Sechin, was on day two of a regional tour that began on the communist island of Cuba.