LG has made announcement about the launching of its very first dual SIM smartphone, named as LG KS660, which is expected to hit Chinese as well as Russian markets by first quarter of 2009.

The tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE KS660, which weighs just 15 grams, is specifically designed for business users who need multiple handsets.

Measuring 105x55x10.4mm, the newly launched LG smartphone boasts a 3-inch QWGA touch screen display with feedback and 3D turn capabilities, 50 MB of built-in memory and a microSDHC memory card slot, which is expandable up to 4GB.

Moscow  - Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko will fly to Moscow on Wednesday in last-gasp talks to avoid gas cuts to Ukraine ahead of a midnight deadline set by Gazprom for the settlement of a 2-billion-dollar debt.

"The embassy confirms that Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is coming to Moscow on Wednesday for the final stage of the negotiations over Gazprom issues," Interfax news agency quoted Ukraine's embassy in Moscow as saying.

Moscow/Kiev - Ukraine's government on Tuesday ordered a pair of state banks to pay off a massive debt owed Russia, raising hopes of a breakthrough in a tense standoff between Kiev and the Kremlin over energy, and with European natural gas supplies hanging in the balance.

An order signed by Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko made public early Tuesday evening instructed a pair of Ukrainian state- owned banks to loan funds necessary to cover the debt, estimated by Ukraine at one billion dollars and by Russia at two billion dollars.

Moscow (dpa) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Tuesday signed into law a bill extending presidential terms form four to six years, the Kremlin said.

Medvedev final endorsement of the constitutional amendment follows rapid legislative approval by both Russian houses parliament as well as 83 regional chambers.

The Kremlin pushed hard to fast-track the amendment - the first to Russia's 15-year-old constitution - through the constitutional process.

It has been less than two months since Medvedev proposed the constitutional changes in his first state-of-the nation speech on November 5.

Moscow, Dec. 30 : Russian academic Igor Panarin has predicted that the U. S. will fall apart in 2010.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Panarin is of the view that an economic and moral collapse will trigger a civil war in the United States, and this will lead to its eventual breakup.

The Russian state media has taken a particular interest in Panarin's views, so much that he is being interviewed as much as twice a day about his predictions.

"It''s a record, but I think the attention is going to grow even stronger," the WSJ quotes 50-year-old Professor Panarin, as saying.

Moscow  - Joseph Stalin, the Soviet dictator who ordered millions to their death in labor camps, was named as Russia's third- greatest man in history over the weekend.

The "Name of Russia" contest set by state-television channel Rossiya sought to elevate a historical figure from Russia's Tsarist and Soviet period in a bid to build up patriotism.

Local media said a total of one in three Russians, or more than 50 million, voted by telephone, text message and Internet since the campaign kicked-off in June.