NOVOSIBIRSK - Russian bomb experts blew up an explosive device left outside the German consulate in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, regional emergencies services said on Thursday.
A spokesman for the Germany embassy in Moscow said the device, discovered at the consulate's entrance on Wednesday evening, "resembled a firework".
"It was not really serious. It was hooliganism, not a terrorist attack," the embassy spokesman said.
A spokesman for the Novosibirsk regional emergencies services said the device was composed of a training grenade with an imitation detonator and a 30-millimetre shell.
The grenade was blown up and the shell taken away for examination, this spokesman said. //Reuters

MOSCOW - The Russian rouble firmed against the dollar on Thursday after the central bank had satiated the market with dollars in previous interventions, dealers said.
The rouble's average rate in official morning unified session - usually the basis for the central bank's next-day rate - was 29.9165 per dollar after a previous 29.9365 on trade volume of $80.79 million.
The bank raised its official rate to 29.92 roubles per dollar from a previous 29.94 roubles.
Dealers said banks overbought dollars on Wednesday when the central bank apparently sold no less than $200 million.
"Since the central bank sells dollars with "tomorrow" delivery, consequences of the intervention are only felt next day. Judging by today's growth in (overnight rouble lending) rates, banks have bought more than necessary," said Moskomprivatbank treasurer Vladimir Zavershinsky.
Prime-Tass news agency quoted Central Bank Chairman Viktor Gerashchenko as saying earlier on Thursday the rouble would be stable even if energy prices slid.
But dealers said the comment failed to influence the market.
"Everyone understands that the central bank will support the rate," a dealer said.
Dealers said rouble liquidity would get tighter in the next few days as tax payment period was nearing.
"The next week will be a difficult one: tax payments will start closer to December 15. Besides, monthly rouble credits are now growing as settlement dates fall due on the New Year," a dealer said.
But he said the rouble was unlikely to firm above 29.90 per dollar.
Zavershinsky forecast fluctuations in the 29.90-29.95 roubles per dollar range.
Roubles for tomorrow delivery stood at 29.9410/29.9510 per dollar at 1419 GMT after 29.9460/29.9560 on Wednesday close. //Reuters

MOSCOW - The Russian Ministry for Economic Development and Trade admitted there is the possibility that the inflation rate may reach 15 or 15.5 per cent in Russia in 2002.
This information was reported the Minister for Economic Development and Trade, German Gref, at a briefing today. He noted that inflation may surge so high only in the event all monopolists introduce a maximum possible increase in their tariffs on January 1, 2002.
According to a decision made by the government today, a maximum increase in tariffs in natural monopolies may amount to 35 per cent. //RBC

MOSCOW - Search teams combing through the wreck of the Kursk nuclear submarine have found two more bodies in its mangled fore section, a senior prosecutor said Thursday.
The find has brought to 64 the number of bodies recovered since the Kursk was raised from the Barents Sea floor in October, Yuri Chizhikov, a deputy prosecutor of the Northern Fleet, said.
The Kursk sank during naval maneuvers in August 2000, killing its entire crew of 118.
Twelve bodies were retrieved by divers in an underwater operation in October-November 2000.
The reason for the disaster remains unknown. Russian officials say an explosion of a practice torpedo led to the detonation of combat weapons in the bow that devastated the submarine, but have not determined the cause of the initial blast. //AP

MOSCOW - A minor accident at Russia's fifth largest aluminium smelter, Novokuznetsk, caused a loss of 16 tonnes of the metal, but overall production was practically unaffected, a spokeswoman for the plant said on Thursday.
"An electrolyser leaked on Tuesday night," the spokeswoman said. "Another five electrolysers next to it had to be switched off, but three of them are now operating again."
"The 16 tonnes of lost metal is not a big figure for the plant," she added.
Novokuznetsk is controlled by Russian Aluminium group, the country's major producer of the metal. It produced 278,885 tonnes of primary aluminium in 2000. //Reuters

MOSCOW - In a repeat of last year's finals, Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand of India defeated Alexei Shirov of Spain to start the fifth round of the FIDE championship in Moscow on Thursday.
As Black, Shirov chose the usually solid Petroff Defense but always seemed slightly weaker and by move 25, it was clear that he was in trouble.
Anand sunk a knight on e6 in the heart of Shirov's position, and Shirov had no choice but to give up a rook for it. Shirov got two pawns for the exchange, but his pieces were too uncoordinated to put up any real resistance.
Anand squelched all attempts at counterplay and forced resignation in move 44. In last year's finals in Tehran, Anand crushed Shirov with three wins and a draw in four games.
The other three games in the men's section Thursday were drawn.
This tournament is organized as a series of two-game elimination matches, with rapid and blitz playoffs in the case of ties. The finals will be held in Moscow in January.
Sixty-four top women players are also competing under the same format for the women's world championship. The world's strongest woman player, Judit Polgar of Hungary, played in the men's championship and was eliminated in the second round.
In the women's section Thursday, Xu Yuhua of China defeated Russia's 17-year old wunderkind Alexandra Kosteniuk and former world champion Maya Chiburdanidze of Georgia drew against Zu Chen of China.
The second game of the fifth round, along with its playoff, will be on Friday.
A few blocks away, the two top-rated players in the world, former world champion Garry Kasparov and Braingames world champion Vladimir Kramnik, are playing in a rival event. So far, they have drawn four games at regular time control.
Kasparov and Kramnik will play 16 more games, six rapid games and ten blitz games for a total purse of dlrs 500,000. They will play their first three rapid games on Friday.
Chess has had two world champions since 1993, when then-world champion Kasparov broke away from FIDE and formed the Professional Chess Association. He defended his title under the PCA's auspices against Short in 1993 and against Anand in 1995. The PCA was dissolved in 1998. //AP

MOSCOW - The Russian oil company Sibneft is not going to reduce oil production in 2002, the company's press secretary Alexey Firsov announced in an interview with RBC, commenting on the government's decision to cut oil exports by 150,000 barrels a day.
The press secretary announced that Sibneft is going to increase oil production 22 per cent to 25 million tons next year and reduce oil exports 7 per cent, which corresponds to the share of Sibneft in the total volume of oil production in Russia. Excessive oil will be sent to Russian oil refineries.
Firsov explained that this policy will not lead to the reduction in the company's revenues because, under the current circumstances, operations on the domestic market are more profitable than exports. //RBC

LONDON - OPEC Secretary-General Ali Rodriguez welcomed Russia's decision to cut oil output but said he was worried about the duration of non-OPEC output curbs.
"The announcement from Russia this week was a welcome development and we remain optimistic that other producers will follow suit," Rodriguez said, the OPEC news agency reported.
But he added: "Any production cuts must be extended for as long as it takes if we are going to be successful in establishing a concrete floor under prices."
"If the non-OPEC cuts are short-lived, then prices will surely face renewed pressure."
Russia said on Wednesday it would cut output by 150,000 bpd from January 1. OPEC wants 500,000 bpd from five non-OPEC countries to trigger a 1.5 million bpd cut of its own. //Reuters

BISHKEK - The former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan will once again make Russian an official language, President Askar Akayev said Wednesday, after a decade of tension with its Russian-speaking minority.
The Kyrgyz parliament voted Tuesday to make Russian a state language alongside Kyrgyz. Akayev said he would sign the law soon.
``We want the signing to occur in a ceremonial atmosphere ... and to make it a New Year's gift to the people of Kyrgyzstan,'' he said. ``I'm convinced (this law) will further strengthen the unity of the Kyrgyz people ... and give confidence to the Russian-speaking community.''
In the former Soviet states in the Baltics and Ukraine, nationalists have strongly protested any revival of Russian, calling it the language of former oppressors or occupiers.
In Kyrgyzstan, by contrast, few top officials spoke Kyrgyz when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and little higher education was available in anything but Russian. Russian remains the language of choice in the capital Bishkek though in rural areas Kyrgyz is dominant. //AP