WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The United States' top general called Monday's strike on an aid convoy in Syria an "unacceptable atrocity," and added it was his judgment that Russia likely carried out the strike even if a Syrian role could not be completely be ruled out.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to appoint Sergei Naryshkin, outgoing speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament, as head of the foreign intelligence service, Russian news agencies reported on Thursday, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

GENEVA, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The United Nations appealed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebel groups on Thursday to allow aid convoys to enter eastern Aleppo as U.N. relief operations in Syria resumed after a 48-hour suspension due to a deadly attack.

MOSCOW, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov rejected a proposal by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for Russia and Syria to halt flying over Syrian battle zones as unworkable, the RIA news agency reported on Thursday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Volkswagen should reduce the "huge sums of money" paid to executives and any bonuses should be given in shares, activist investor TCI Fund Management said in a letter to the car company seen by Reuters.

LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - The scars from earlier violence in Gabon's palm-lined capital warn of what may lie ahead: the parliament building gutted by fire; the opposition headquarters riddled with bullet holes; shops looted and their windows smashed.

DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) - As far as OPEC decision-making is concerned, Algeria, which plays host to oil ministers next week, has always been the land of surprises.

COPENHAGEN, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The world's biggest shipping firm, A.P. Moller-Maersk, set a new course on Thursday that will see the $30 billion firm bulk up its transport business while seeking alliances or a separate listing for its energy operations.

LONDON (Reuters) - Emerging markets have lost their luster for Big Pharma making drug firms ever more dependent on the United States for growth just as American anger over high medicine prices is building.