* Russia and the United States have confirmed their intention to reduce their strategic offensive arms to a minimum and to develop relevant agreements, Russia's foreign minister and the U.S. secretary of state said in a statement
* Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak said the nuclear power plant Russia is building for Iran at Bushehr will take several months to complete, dismissing an Iranian official's suggestion the facility could be commissioned in two months' time
* Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the head of the International Olympic Committee in Guatemala, one day before the IOC announces the host country for the 2014 Winter Olympics, with Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi among the candidate cities
* A Russia-EU summit will be held October 26 in Portugal, which took over the rotating six-month EU presidency from Germany July 1, the Portuguese ambassador to Moscow said
* A spokesperson for European foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the EU could decide Kosovo's future without Russia if the veto-wielding UN Security Council member continues to oppose a plan to give independence to Serbia's predominantly ethnic Albanian region
* British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the creation of a national security council to enhance the country's protection against potential terrorist attacks following several attempted car bombings in London and Glasgow last week
* The Czech government gave the U.S. the go ahead to deploy a missile-defense radar near the town of Misov, 90 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Prague
* Russia's National Antiterrorism Committee said it will set up a crisis center within the Foreign Ministry and open crisis headquarters in its embassies abroad to counter threats to Russia's national interests
* Russia is not planning to reinforce its peacekeeping contingent in Georgia's self-proclaimed republic of South Ossetia following recent tensions in the region, the first deputy commander of the Russian ground forces said
* Former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov announced plans to split from the Other Russia opposition coalition and set up his own party to run for the presidency in 2008
* Former Liberian President Charles Taylor attended the war crimes trial at The Hague as judges ruled to delay the hearing until August 20, allowing the defense time to prepare, a court spokesperson said
* Khavazh Daurbekov, a deputy mayor of the city of Karabulak in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia was assassinated near his home, local police said
* A Russian Cosmos 3M carrier rocket launched from the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia has put a German SAR-Lupe satellite into orbit, a spokesman for the Space Forces said
