https://sputnikglobe.com/20080130/98047785.html

Main news of January 30

Sputnik International

RUSSIA * Russia's Defense Ministry plans to change the configuration of troops in Kaliningrad in response to U.S. missile shield plans in Central Europe, a... 30.01.2008, Sputnik International

2008-01-30T19:07+0000

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/i/logo/logo-social.png

Sputnik International

feedback@sputniknews.com

+74956456601

MIA „Rosiya Segodnya“

252

2008

Sputnik International

feedback@sputniknews.com

+74956456601

MIA „Rosiya Segodnya“

252

News

en_EN

Sputnik International

feedback@sputniknews.com

+74956456601

MIA „Rosiya Segodnya“

252

Sputnik International

feedback@sputniknews.com

+74956456601

MIA „Rosiya Segodnya“

252

Sputnik International

newsfeed

Main news of January 30

19:07 GMT 30.01.2008

RUSSIA

* Russia's Defense Ministry plans to change the configuration of troops in Kaliningrad in response to U.S. missile shield plans in Central Europe, a high-ranking army official said

* Russia's President Vladimir Putin said the country must set up an effective security system to prevent pollution and man-made environmental disasters

* Serbia's nationalist presidential contender Tomislav Nicolic told Russian lawmakers that if elected, his policies will be favorable to Russia, a deputy speaker of the lower house of parliament said

* Russia urges the OSCE's main election observer body to rectify the "unhealthy situation" surrounding election monitoring, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

* Russia's upper house of parliament voted to cancel an agreement with Ukraine on early warning and space monitoring systems, citing inadequate technical support by Ukraine for radar facilities

* Ending the deadlock over the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty on depends on NATO taking the right steps, Russia's envoy to the military alliance said

* Five members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will visit Russia on February 6-7 to observe preparations for the March 2 presidential election, a PACE source said

* Jailed former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky declared a hunger strike with no water until former colleague Vasily Aleksanyan, diagnosed with AIDS, receives urgent medical treatment

* Vladimir Nekrasov, the owner of the Arbat Prestige cosmetics retailer, and his consultant Sergei Mogilevich have been charged with tax evasion, a lawyer acting for Nekrasov said

* Russia's Khrunichev State Research and Production Center signed an international contract to orbit a satellite for the United Arab Emirates, a spokesman for the company said

WORLD

* Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on other countries to help the Islamic Republic build new nuclear reactors, but said that his country will do so alone if denied assistance

* The Hamas movement that controls the Gaza Strip is opposed to the involvement of third parties in running the Palestinian-Egyptian border, a top leader said

* Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he will not hold talks with Hamas until the Islamist group cedes control of the Gaza Strip, including border checkpoints

* A Paris court ruled on to release former Georgian defense minister Irakly Okruashvili on bail, a senior counselor of the Georgian Embassy in France said

* China, hit by the heaviest snow in 50 years, has deployed troops and medical staff to provide aid and medical assistance to badly-affected regions, national media reported

* India marked the 60th anniversary of independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi's assassination

* Afghanistan set up a special commission to search for a U.S. woman kidnapped in the southern city of Kandahar in Afghanistan last Saturday, an interior ministry spokesman said

* Tropical Cyclone Gene, which battered the South Pacific island nation of Fiji killing at least seven, has moved west towards the southern Vanuatu island, local media said

* A 32 year-old man died from the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain in Jakarta on Wednesday, bringing Indonesia's death toll from the virus to 101, the Jakarta Post newspaper said

* A Milan court acquitted former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi of charges of false accounting relating to the sale of SME food group, national media reported

* Egyptian authorities plan to build a new, more solid wall on its border with the Gaza Strip to prevent Palestinians from penetrating into Egypt, national daily al-Ahram reported

* The head of Iran's judiciary has prohibited national media from publishing photos of public executions

* The Indian government has allocated 6 billion rupees ($152 million) to protect the country's dwindling tiger population, the government's economic relations committee said

BUSINESS

* Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov could be proposed as Gazprom board chairman to replace presidential contender Dmitry Medvedev, a high-ranking government official said

* GDP growth will stand at 6.5-7% in Russia in the next three years, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said

* MegaFon, Russia's third largest mobile operator, could hold an initial public offering in 2009, the company CEO said