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Main News of November 20

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A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours 20.11.2013, Sputnik International

2013-11-20T19:59+0000

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Main News of November 20

19:59 GMT 20.11.2013

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that he hoped talks in Geneva about Iran’s nuclear program would soon bring a mutually acceptable solution

* A majority of Americans support a deal to soften economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for restrictions placed on its nuclear program, according to a new poll released this week

* Two men have been arrested in Russia on suspicion of running a team of mercenaries that were tricked into fighting on behalf of Syrian pro-government forces, state news television Rossiya-24 reported

* A top Russian human rights official criticized a United Nations draft resolution on Syria on Wednesday, claiming the measure defies the logic of a diplomatic resolution for the country’s civil war

* The United States has no plans to lift most of the existing sanctions against Iran, a US official said Tuesday ahead of a new round of talks on Iranian nuclear program

RUSSIA

* Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday vowed to examine a list of 70 “political” prisoners that was handed to him by an opposition party leader

* More than a thousand people were held for criminal record and migration permit checks after Russian police raided one of Moscow’s biggest market halls on Wednesday, police said

* A Greenpeace activist was released on bail from a Russian detention facility Wednesday, taking her first steps out of jail since she and a group of fellow campaigners were detained during an Arctic Sea protest almost nine weeks ago

* Russian law enforcement forces said Wednesday that they have killed an Islamist militant they suspect of ordering a recent bombing attack on a passenger bus in the southern city of Volgograd

* The pilots of a Boeing 737 that crashed in Russia last weekend did not report any major emergencies to air traffic control in the last moments before the crash, the Investigative Committee said

* President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia should draft and adopt an environmental protection strategy as soon as possible

* Russia’s financial regulator revoked the operating license of a major Moscow-based bank Wednesday, leaving depositors owed almost $1 billion and causing a wave of problems with withdrawals from ATMs

* Russia has published a draft law that will bar foreigners from owning or renting land in the country without official permission, a Russian newspaper reported

* A Russian court sentenced a gang leader and two other members to life imprisonment for a 2010 massacre at a farmer’s house in southern Russia that left 12 dead, including four children

* Russian lawyers criticized the Kremlin on Tuesday in a rare display of public discontent, speaking against a court reform that would abolish what they called the most progressive branch of Russia’s judiciary

DEFENSE

* The Russian military is getting a total of 67 new combat aircraft this year, an official from the United Aircraft Corporation said

* The latest failed launch of Russia’s new submarine-launched ballistic missile was caused by a manufacturing glitch, the Defense Ministry said