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Main news of October 17

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RUSSIA * Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia would set out specific security proposals at international talks on the Georgian conflict in Geneva on... 17.10.2008, Sputnik International

2008-10-17T18:01+0000

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Main news of October 17

18:01 GMT 17.10.2008

RUSSIA

* Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia would set out specific security proposals at international talks on the Georgian conflict in Geneva on November 18

* Russian arms manufacturers should enjoy advance payments and five-year tax breaks as part of state defense contracts, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said

* Russia's foreign minister will travel to India late on Sunday to discuss arrangements for a bilateral summit, the Russian Embassy in New Dehli said

* Russia's Transportation Ministry proposed granting airlines a 18-month deferment in paying customs duties and VAT on foreign aircraft and components for them

* Moscow's arbitration court ruled that the majority of tax claims filed against the British Council in Russia for 2004-2006 were unlawful

* Russia's Air Force has suspended flights of MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters following Friday's crash in eastern Siberia, an AF spokesman said

* Russia will have five weather satellites in orbit by 2013, with the first to be launched later this year, the director of the hydrometeorological center, Roman Vilfand, said

* Russian Prime Minster Vladimir Putin's black Labrador, Connie, has been given a tracking collar linked to the Russian navigation satellite system Glonass, the government website said

WORLD

* Japan, Turkey, Austria, Mexico and Uganda will join the UN Security Council as non-permanent members on January 1, 2009, the head of the UN General Assembly announced

* The parliaments of Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia have been given permanent observer status in parliamentary sessions of the Russia-Belarus Union State, said Nikolai Tcherginetz, who heads the assembly's commission on foreign affairs

* Russia's main military base in Abkhazia will be in Gudauta, and no new bases will be built, Abkhazian foreign minister Sergei Shamba said

* President George Bush announced that the United States would soon cancel visa requirements for six European countries and South Korea for visits lasting up to 90 days

* Chinese submarines have recently increased their activity near Japan's maritime borders in the East China Sea, a Japanese military source said

BUSINESS

* The lower house of the Russian parliament authorized the government to use 175 billion rubles ($6.7 billion) to shore up the country's financial system

* Russia's RTS and MICEX stock markets sank below the psychologically important levels of 700 and 600 points, respectively, soon after Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin issued a stern outlook for the markets

* Investors withdrew $33 billion from Russia in August-September, Russia's finance minister said

* Russian oil exports dropped 5.9% year-on-year to 162.8 million metric tons (1.2 billion barrels) in January-August 2008, the federal statistics service said

* Sukhoi Civil Aircraft and NPO Saturn have asked the Russian government to allocate an additional 4 billion rubles ($152 million) for the production of the Superjet 100 airliner, the Kommersant business daily said

* Russia's leading carmaker, AvtoVAZ, which has seen its sales plummet amid the ongoing financial crisis, is seeking a loan from state-owned bank VEB, the Kommersant business daily reported

* Russia's Central Bank will hold on Monday the first auction to offer banks up to $26.6 billion in unsecured loans at 8.5% interest rate, the bank said in a statement