Main News of January 11

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Tens of thousands of Venezuelans swore an oath of loyalty to President Hugo Chavez, who missed his inauguration due to health problems, local media reported

* A US nuclear submarine collided with a merchant ship while operating in the Persian Gulf, the US Fifth Fleet said in a statement

RUSSIA

* Former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov refused to testify when investigators questioned him over a massive fraud case at a state defense firm, citing his Constitutional right not to testify against himself

* President Vladimir Putin traveled to a flood-ravaged city in southern Russia whose citizens are still recovering from the destruction wrought by a record-setting flood last summer

* Russia signed an $800 million export credit deal with Serbia and is in talks over a possible $1 billion loan to Belgrade in 2013 to stabilize its budget, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said

* Russian officials clarified that a recent US-Russian adoption agreement would not overrule the ban on adoptions by US nationals that came into force on January 1