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Main News of September 19

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A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours 19.09.2013, Sputnik International

2013-09-19T20:08+0000

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Main News of September 19

20:08 GMT 19.09.2013

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

RUSSIA

* Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed Eurasian integration, including a planned Moscow-led political and economic bloc, as a way for former Soviet republics to capitalize on their position linking Europe and Asia.

* Russian President Vladimir Putin sharply criticized Western powers for their inability to sufficiently plan for the future of Syria without its president, Bashar Assad, and what to do if terrorists come to power in the country.

* Russia is ready to help eliminate the Syrian government’s chemical arsenal if the international community agrees, the Russian defense minister said.

* Former Russian police officer Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, who pleaded guilty to charges connected with the murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya, told a Moscow court that he had, upon the request of two of his co-defendants, run surveillance on murdered Forbes Russia editor-in-chief Paul Klebnikov.

* Dozens of school students, accompanied by parents and teachers, stormed a district administration office in northern Moscow on Thursday to protest the closure of their public school and held lessons in the seized building.

WORLD

* US Senator John McCain, well-known for his vociferous criticism of the Russian leadership, has slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime for corruption, repression and bigotry in an op-ed published on a Russian news website, Pravda.ru, in response to Putin’s piece in a US newspaper last week.

DEFENSE

* The flagship of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, the Varyag missile cruiser, could join the country’s naval task force in the Mediterranean while on a mission in the Indian Ocean, a high-ranking source in Russia’s Pacific Fleet told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

* Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces will use a new-generation automated command and control system from 2016, the Defense Ministry said.

* Russia and NATO will hold joint military exercises in late September, the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) has reported.

SPORTS

* Tom Rowe has been fired as coach of Russian Kontinental Hockey League team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, the team announced.