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Main news of October 22

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RUSSIA * The presidents of Russia and the United States agreed on the phone that the two-plus-two ministerial format for talks on strategic issues should be... 22.10.2007, Sputnik International

2007-10-22T18:11+0000

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Main news of October 22

18:11 GMT 22.10.2007

RUSSIA

* The presidents of Russia and the United States agreed on the phone that the two-plus-two ministerial format for talks on strategic issues should be continued, the Kremlin press service said

* Ukrainian consumers are settling debts for supplies of Russian natural gas in line with agreements, Russian energy giant Gazprom [RTS: GAZP] said

* The early repayment of Russia's $343.25 million agricultural debt to the U.S. last week was dictated by political motives, a deputy Russian finance minister said

* Moscow considers the Myanmarese government's decision to establish a special commission to draft a new constitution for the country a positive step, the Russian Foreign Ministry said

* Seven people have died and two are still missing after becoming trapped in an abandoned tungsten ore mine in southeast Siberia, the Russian industrial safety regulator said

* Russian prosecutors seek a nine-year prison term for Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky on charges of embezzling millions of rubles from Russia's flagship air carrier, Aeroflot, his lawyer said

* The body of a 17-year-old believed to have fallen from a plane has been discovered in a wood near Moscow's Domodedovo airport, a Russian tabloid reported

WORLD

* Poland's incumbent prime minister, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has conceded that his ruling Law and Justice Party has been defeated at early parliamentary elections held on Sunday

* President Hu Jintao won a new five-year term as leader of China's Communist Party at a party congress that also approved a new leadership lineup

* Turkey's military said eight troops were missing following clashes with Kurdish insurgents on the Iraqi border, and that 34 militants had been killed

* Serbia presented a 14-point plan for the final status of its breakaway province of Kosovo to international mediators

* The Iranian foreign minister wrote to his French counterpart stating that threats of further sanctions against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program would not work, Iranian media said

* A former Russian UN official sentenced to four years and three months in prison in the U.S. for money laundering will serve his term in a U.S. jail

* Turkey will explore all possible diplomatic efforts first before using the mandate given by parliament to launch a military operation in north Iraq, the country's foreign minister said

* Fifteen Palestinian prisoners have been injured in a riot that broke out last night at an Israeli prison, Israeli authorities said

* Pakistani authorities rejected a proposal by ex-premier Benazir Bhutto allowing foreign experts to assist with a probe into Friday's bombing in Karachi, the country's interior minister said

* Hezbollah would regard the possible building of a U.S. military base in Lebanon a "hostile act" against the country, a Lebanese newspaper reported

* China plans to launch its first Moon research satellite October 24 at 10 a.m. GMT, a Chinese space industry spokesman said

* Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has decreed to dissolve parliament after a 75% referendum vote in favor of electing parliament on a party basis, the presidential press service said

* Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko said he hoped the issue of the country's accession to NATO would be considered at the alliance's summit in April 2008

* The late Italian opera singer Luciano Pavarotti left his relatives a debt of 18 million euros, Italian media quoted Pavarottis' lawyer, Giorgio Cariani, as saying

BUSINESS

* Afghan authorities are ready to grant benefits to Russian companies investing in projects in the south Asian country, an Afghan investment policy chief said

* Russia's largest independent crude producer LUKoil said possible U.S. sanctions against Iran could threaten the company's Anaran oil project in the Islamic Republic

* Russia will join efforts to write off Liberia's $700 million debt to the World Bank, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said