News of the Day, 15:00 Moscow time

* France's GDF Suez will become a shareholder in the operator of the Nord Stream project to pump natural gas from Russia to Germany and onto Europe on the Baltic Sea floor, said Alexander Medvedev, deputy CEO of the Russian energy giant Gazprom

* Russia will deploy fewer personnel at military bases in Abkhazia and South Ossetia than previously planned, a first deputy defense minister, Col. Gen. Alexander Kolmakov, said

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered the establishment of a special commission to counter attempts to falsify history to the detriment of Russia's interests, the Kremlin said

* Germany will provide a loan to Kyrgyzstan totaling 33 million euros ($44.75 mln) to stabilize the country's economy and health sector, the Central Asian country's assistant economics minister, Sanjar Mukanbetov, said

* Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov announced that the republic had no plans to grant an amnesty for militants in the region

* Industrial output in Russia in 2009 could see a 4.5-6% decline on last year's figures, the Russian industry minister, Viktor Khristenko, said

* Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis has said his country needs to strengthen its economic relationship with neighboring Russia

* Azerbaijan plans to participate in developing oil fields in Cuba in line with a draft cooperation agreement, Azerbaijani Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfaz Garayev said