WORLD
* The Egyptian government will hold an emergency session on Monday to discuss the recent clashes between minority Coptic Christians and Muslims, the worst violence since former President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February, Egyptian TV said
* Greece has completed talks with the European authorities and the International Monetary Fund on the next 8 billion euro tranche out of a 100 billion euro bailout, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said
* American economists Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims have won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their research “on cause and effect in the macroeconomy.”
* The European Union criticized Ukraine on Monday for use of ‘selective justice’ regarding the trial of former Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko, the day before a verdict is expected in her trial
* Russia’s veto of a UN Security Council resolution is the last warning for the Syrian authorities and opposition to sit down at the negotiating table, a senior Russian lawmaker said
* France intends to establish relations with the Syrian National Council being formed by the opposition, the French foreign minister said
* Iran has no legal grounds to receive damages from Russia over cancellation of a contract to deliver S-300 surface-to-air missile systems, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said
*An Iranian research vessel has started exploration of the Caspian Sea’s southern shelf, national media reported
RUSSIA
* Russia will not support the European Commission’s initiative to introduce a new tax on financial transactions in the European Union to increase EU budget revenues or levy a similar tax inside the country, Kremlin aide Arkady Dvorkovich said
* Paul McCartney will perform in Moscow on December 14 as part of a year-end tour that will see the rock legend play in the United Arab Emirates and a number of European cities, an organizer said
* Kazakhstan and Russia are discussing grain swap operations to cut transportation costs, the Kazakh agriculture minister said
* Russia may buy Spanish debt securities if a need arises for assistance in solving the European debt problem, Presidential Economic Aide Arkady Dvorkovich said
SPORTS
* Russia coach Dick Advocaat said Monday that Russia mustn’t rise to what he called Andorra’s “provocative style” of play as they gun for a victory that will seal their Euro 2012 qualification as Group B winners
* Roberto Carlos on Tuesday announced a media boycott over interviews he says he never gave