Warsaw - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov - visiting Warsaw Thursday - was quoted by a Polish newspaper as saying Russia is ready to improve relations and to discuss the US anti-missile shield to be placed in Poland.

The daily Wyborcza quoted him further as saying the European Union and Russia's security were interconnected, and Russia was ready to talk about the missile shield as long as the guarantees were not "empty political gestures."

"If the US and Poland are really interested in guaranteeing that the European anti-missile base won't be aimed against Russia then we, like up until now, are ready to consider their concrete proposals," he was quoted as saying.

Frankfurt - Deutsche Bank said Thursday it would expand its investment-banking operations in Russia, buying 40 per cent of UFG Invest, a Russian funds company.

In a joint statement in Frankfurt and Moscow, they said the existing Deutsche funds company in Russia, DWS Investment Russia, would be merged with UFG Invest, but the announcement did not say when this would happen.

Deutsche, Germany's biggest bank by business volume, is currently in talks on taking over Postbank, which has the largest number of retail customers in German.

Leipzig, Germany  - Gazprom of Russia confirmed on Wednesday its interest in expanding its stake in Germany's third-largest gas importing company, Verbundnetz Gas (VNG).

Alexej Miller, chief executive of Gazprom, spoke in Leipzig during celebrations of the 50th anniversary of VNG's foundation as a major state-owned enterprise in communist East Germany. VNG's current business and municipal shareholders have been feuding for weeks.

Moscow - The commander of Russia's strategic missile forces reiterated threats Tuesday that Moscow could re-target rockets at US missile defence objects if these are deployed in eastern Europe.

Colonel General Nikolai Solovtsov made the comments as Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was expected in Poland, which has agreed to host the US system. The talks with Polish Premier Donald Tusk in Warsaw on Wednesday will focus on the system.

Tbilisi - A Georgian policeman was shot dead Wednesday by fire from a Russian check point near Gori, the interior ministry said in a statement.

Beijing - The death toll rose to 56 in a mudslide that buried a market and other buildings in northern China's Shanxi province, state media said Wednesday.

More than 30 mechanical diggers were aiding several hundred rescue workers who had already searched about 70 per cent of the debris left by Monday's mudslide, the semi-official China News Service said.

The agency said the number of people missing was still under investigation, but one earlier state media report said several hundred people could have been trapped.