In a research note that attracted wide attention, Moscow brokerage Otkritie suggested that President Dmitry Medvedev could step down early, allowing Putin to assume the presidency on an acting basis until the March 4 election.

 Tension between the Republic of Korea (RoK) and China has been growing after a Chinese fisherman stabbed a RoK Coast Guard officer to death on December 12. The captain of the Chinese fishing vessel was detained for interrogation (Photo: AFP)

Tehran last week identified the drone as an RQ-170 Sentinel and said it was captured over the east of the country.

The man, named Nordine Amrani, aged 33, also threw grenades into a crowded square from a rooftop before killing himself.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday wrote in his Facebook page that he has ordered probes into the alleged elections fraud, though he disagreed with protesters' slogans and statements in Saturday's rallies.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a travel advisory on Sunday, warning its citizens who intend to travel abroad against falling into "traps set by Western intelligence organizations," the local Mehr news agency reported.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has not suffered a stroke nor offered to resign, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told the BBC Sunday following rumours the unpopular head of state would step down.

Russia's Central Elections Commission (CEC) announced Friday that the United Russia party gained 238 out of 450 seats in the new State Duma, or the lower house of the parliament.

European leaders started a two-day summit in Brussels on December 8 in the latest effort to resolve the continent's debt crisis and save the euro.

The new top US envoy to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is calling on Pyongyang to take “concrete steps” in order to revive stalled multilateral talks over its nuclear program. 

"It will definitely take place, and it will take place after the Americans leave Iraq," Saad Yousif al-Muttalibi said in an interview in Baghdad.

Two more people were confirmed dead on December 6 in the central province of Pathumthani.

Young women may reduce their risk of developing cardiovascular disease simply by eating more fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids, researchers reported Monday in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association. In the first population-based study in Danish women of childbearing age, those who rarely or never ate fish had 50 percent more cardiovascular problems over eight years than those who ate fish regularly. Compared to women who ate fish high in omega-3 weekly, the risk was 90 percent higher for those who rarely or never ate fish. About 49,000 women, 15-49 years old, median age of just under 30 years in early pregnancy -- were interviewed by telephone or answered food frequency questionnaires about how much, what types and how often they ate fish, as well as lifestyle and family history questions. Researchers recorded 577 cardiovascular events during the eight- year period, including five cardiovascular deaths in women without any prior diagnosis of the disease. In all, 328 events were due to hypertensive disease, 146 from cerebrovascular disease, and 103 from ischemic heart disease. Inpatient and outpatient admission for cardiovascular disease was much more common among women who reported eating little or no fish. In three different assessments over a 30-week period, women who never ate fish had a three-fold higher disease risk compared to women who ate fish every week. "To our knowledge this is the first study of this size to focus exclusively on women of childbearing age," said Marin Strom, lead researcher and post doctoral fellow at the Center for Fetal Programming, at Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark. " We saw a strong association with cardiovascular disease in the women who were still in their late 30's." Fish oil contains long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are believed to protect against heart and vascular disease. Few women in the study took fish oil supplements, so these were excluded from the analyses and the results were based on the dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids, not intake from supplements. The most common fish consumed by women in the study were cod, salmon, herring, and mackerel. "Our study shows that for younger women, eating fish is very important for overall health, and even though we found cardio- protective effects at relatively modest dietary levels, higher levels may yield additional benefits," Strom said.

South Korea is reportedly pushing for US permission to recycle spent nuclear fuel for power generation as the two countries resumed talks to revise a 1974 pact on the use of atomic energy.

U.S. Republican presidential contenders Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are the only two candidates that a majority of Republicans consider as "acceptable" presidential nominees from their party, a new national poll showed Monday.