Main news of March 6

RUSSIA

* Russia has lifted trade, economic, financial and transport sanctions on Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia, and urged other CIS countries to follow suit, the Foreign Ministry said

* President Vladimir Putin told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in a phone conversation that he hoped the current conflict in South America would be resolved by political and diplomatic means, the Kremlin press service said

* Moscow now has 74 billionaires with average wealth of $5.9 bln, placing it above New York, Forbes Magazine said in its annual rich list

* The Russian Navy is surprised by the commotion raised in Western media over the flight of a Russian military plane in the vicinity of a U.S. aircraft carrier, a Navy spokesman said

* Russia's Supreme Court upheld a not-guilty verdict for police officers accused of negligence leading to the 2004 Beslan school siege

* Moscow believes the issue of Ukraine's 1932-1933 famine should not be used for political goals, a Russian envoy to the United Nations said

* The cave that 35 members of a Russian doomsday sect have been holed up in since the fall of 2007 is not currently at risk from flooding, a local emergency services official said

* One Chinese national was killed and three others injured in an attack by unknown men in Russia's South Urals city of Yekaterinburg, local police said

* The Sukhoi aircraft maker has conducted another test flight of its new state-of-the-art Su-35 Flanker multirole air superiority/strike fighter, a company spokesman said

WORLD

* One soldier was killed and three more wounded in a roadside bomb blast near the Gaza border, the Israeli military said

* The Geneva Auto Show, which features more than 130 new models, opened to the public

* Egypt has begun the construction of a new wall along its border with the Gaza Strip, local media said

* Pope Benedict XVI may rehabilitate Martin Luther, the German theologian excommunicated by the Catholic Church in the 16th century, Italy's La Stampa reported

* Serbia's government has unilaterally abolished visa requirements for Russian citizens, the Cabinet of Ministers said

* Ukraine's parliament resumed work after more than a month of inactivity caused by opposition protests over the government's drive to integrate the country into NATO

* Parliaments in North and South Ossetia adopted at a joint session an appeal to Russia's parliament to recognize South Ossetia's independence 

* The United Nations may convene a special meeting to discuss Kosovo's independence, Russia's envoy to the UN said

BUSINESS

* Ukrainian oil and gas company Naftogaz pledged to pay its natural gas debt to Russian energy giant Gazprom, but did not specify a date

* Italian electricity giant Enel SpA said it had increased its stake in the Russian wholesale power generator OGK-5 [RTS: OGKE] to 59.8%, following the results of a public offer

* Russian state-controlled natural gas giant Gazprom's media wing is finalizing a deal to buy video exchange site RuTube, the Kommersant business daily said citing a source close to the deal