Main news of October 19

RUSSIA

* Russia has repaid the remaining $343.25 million of its agriculture debt to the U.S. ahead of schedule, saving $46.7 million in interest, a source in Russia's Finance Ministry said

* Russian President Vladimir Putin is to attend a EU-Russia summit on October 26 in Mafra, Portugal, during an official two-day visit to the country, a presidential spokesman said

* The United States has not as yet formally presented its missile defense proposals in writing to Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

* Fifty-nine militants including six warlords have been killed in special operations in Chechnya since the beginning of the year, the republic's interior minister said

WORLD

* Up to 140 people died and hundreds were injured in two explosions that overshadowed the return of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto

* Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan put forward two conditions on Friday that could prevent Ankara from launching a military strike against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq

* At least 29 people died after a ferry, carrying over 150 passengers, capsized off the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, the Antara Indonesian news agency said

* Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gained assurances that Israel's security is a key element in Russia's Mideast policy during his short visit to Moscow, his press service said

* Turkish troops amassed along the Iraqi border are on high alert, Turkish media reported

* At least eight people were killed and 93 injured in a bomb explosion in a crowded shopping mall in Manila, the Philippines, local media said, citing police and Red Cross officials

* The Northern Limit Line (NLL), separating South and North Korean waters in the Yellow Sea, will remain unchanged once a joint fishing zone is established, South Korean Minister Lee Jae-joung said

* The French president's wife said on Friday her dislike for "public life" was a major reason for her divorce from Nicolas Sarkozy

* Leaders from the EU's 27 member states reached a deal on a landmark reform treaty

* The death toll following last Saturday's household gas explosion in Dnepropetrovsk, south-central Ukraine, has risen to 23 including seven children, an emergencies ministry spokesman said

* Kyrgyz prosecutors will ask Russia to extradite ex-president Askar Akayev's son, who faces numerous charges, a Kyrgyz senior investigation official

* Belarus will hold a tender next year for a project to build its first nuclear power plant, at which Russian and Western partners are expected to bid, Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky said

BUSINESS

* The 2008 price of Russian natural gas for Belarus could be around $125 per 1,000 cubic meters, 25% more than the current rate, a deputy Russian industry and energy minister said

* Russian-Vietnamese trade turnover is expected to reach $1 billion in 2007, Vietnam's deputy planning and investment minister said

* Russia's net capital inflow totaled $57 billion in the first nine months of the year, the Central Bank said

* Novatek and France's Total have agreed to implement joint projects in Russia and abroad, Russia's second-largest independent gas producer said

* Russian companies could hold around 30 initial public offerings next year, garnering some $36 billion, a Deutsche Bank official said

* Ukraine has signed a production sharing agreement with Texas-based independent oil company Vanco Energy to develop hydrocarbons off the country's coast, the presidential press service said