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Main news of February 11

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WORLD * Russia is ready to mend relations with NATO, the Russian foreign minister said Wednesday, linking any improvement in ties to a return to the founding... 11.02.2009, Sputnik International

2009-02-11T19:09+0000

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Main news of February 11

19:09 GMT 11.02.2009

WORLD

* Russia is ready to mend relations with NATO, the Russian foreign minister said Wednesday, linking any improvement in ties to a return to the founding principles of the NATO-Russia Council

* North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has appointed a new defense minister, according to the country's state news agency KCNA

* Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqawi denied on Wednesday Western media reports that the country is experiencing a shortage of uranium in its nuclear industry

* European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Wednesday it was "too early to say" when a new Russia-EU cooperation agreement would be reached

* The Commander-in-Chief of the Azerbaijani Air Force, Lt. Gen. Rail Rzayev, was shot dead on Wednesday, the country's Defense Ministry said

* The European Union needs to review its energy relations with Russia and Ukraine in the wake of January's natural gas row between the two countries, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said

* The Taliban claimed responsibility on Wednesday for two deadly explosions in the Afghan capital of Kabul

* The centrist Kadima party led by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and the opposition right-wing Likud party have both claimed victory in Israel's early parliamentary polls

RUSSIA

* Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it had no information on the construction of a fence along South Ossetia's border with Georgia

* Police in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria killed seven militants on Wednesday, a local police source said

* The mother of a Russian deserter who recently left his unit in South Ossetia and fled to Georgia said on Wednesday that she has been unable to meet with her son despite trying for three days

* Russia welcomed on Wednesday the appointment of Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to the post of the country's prime minister

* Russian national team trainer Guus Hiddink will coach Chelsea on a temporary basis until the end of the season, the English Premier League club announced Wednesday on its website

* Media reports that the decision to close down a U.S. base in Kyrgyzstan has been delayed due to Moscow and Washington holding talks on the issue are false, the Russian Foreign Ministry said

* Russian and Indian warships have completed the final stage of the INDRA-2009 joint naval exercises, practicing anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast, Russia's Navy commander said

* Russia is expanding production of precision guided weapons, including Iskander tactical missiles, a deputy defense minister said in an interview published on Wednesday

* Russia attaches great importance to U.S. intentions for direct talks with Iran and believes they could unlock the standoff over Tehran's nuclear program, the Russian foreign minister said

* Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) in service with the Russian Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) could be launched within a minute if Russia's security is threatened, the SMF commander has said

* A Proton-M rocket has successfully orbited two new Russian Express-series communications satellites, a Russian federal space agency official said

* Russian nuclear fuel producer TVEL signed on Wednesday a contract with New Delhi on fuel supplies to Indian nuclear power plants, a spokesman for the Indian Nuclear Energy Department said

BUSINESS