Main news of October 25

RUSSIA

* Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a federal law on a two-tier higher education system, approved by the Russian parliament in mid-October, the Kremlin press service said

* Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said:

- Any country interested in secure uranium deliveries for energy generation is welcome to join a project to build an international uranium enrichment center in east Siberia

- Moscow's actions in the Middle East are not undermining Israeli security 

- The European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) plans to convert its shares in the Irkut aircraft company into United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) shares

* Serial killer Alexander Pichushkin, convicted of 48 murders and three attempted murders, said in his final statement that murder made him "almost a god"

* A missile brigade from the Siberian military district will test fire two SS-21 Scarab short-range ballistic missiles during Nov. 13-17 exercise at a test site in south Russia, a Ground Forces spokesman said

* Russia is concerned over a lack of progress in negotiations on a new strategic agreement with the European Union, Russian presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky said

* Russia's Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev said Russia has grounds to include the Arctic Lomonosov Ridge in the country's economic zone

* A policeman and a militant were killed in a shootout in Daghestan, a republic in Russia's troubled North Caucasus, a local police source said

WORLD

* The U.S. imposed further sanctions against Iran, qualifying its Revolutionary Guard Corps as a proliferator of weapons of mass destruction and its elite arm Qods Force a supporter of terrorism

* Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Lisbon on for a two-day official visit, during which he will meet with Portuguese leaders and attend a Russia-EU summit

* President Vladimir Putin urged the international community to be patient in negotiations on the status of Serbia's breakaway province of Kosovo to prevent the spread of separatism

* Russia and the United States have called on all countries to join the bilateral Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the two countries said in a joint statement at the UN

* Russia's Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said NATO member states could ratify the adapted Conventional Forces in Europe treaty (CFE) before the Russian deadline for a moratorium expires in December

* Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said Prague may allow Russia to carry out checks of a U.S. radar site planned for construction in the Czech Republic as part of a proposed U.S. missile shield in Europe

* Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the United States not to exert pressure on Ankara over its cross-border operation against Kurdish insurgents in northern Iraq

* The Discovery shuttle docked with the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said

* Poland has a sovereign right to allow the United States to deploy elements of its missile shield in the country, the Polish national security chief said

* Syria's Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Al-Otari denied recent allegations by the Israeli media that his country is cooperating with North Korea in the development of nuclear and missile technology

* At least 20 soldiers were killed and 25 injured in a bomb attack on an army convoy in northwest Pakistan, national TV reported

* Thirty Kurdish insurgents have been killed in the southeast of Turkey, the country's armed forces General Staff said

* Ilan Mizrahi, the outgoing head of Israel's National Security Council, said Russia's arms deals with Iran and Syria undermine the Middle East peace process

* Two Palestinian gunmen were shot dead by the Israeli military in northern Gaza, a local radio said

* Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has granted an official pardon to Joseph Estrada, her 70 year-old ousted predecessor, a month after he receive a life sentence for abuse of power and plunder, the PNA news agency said

* The European Court of Human Rights upheld an illegal arrest claim filed by jailed businessman Platon Lebedev, currently serving an 8-year prison sentence for fraud, and awarded him 10,000 euros compensation

* An EU commission spokesman said Europe has sufficient natural gas reserves to live through a cold winter and is currently unconcerned about Russian gas transiting through Ukraine

BUSINESS

* Gazprom and Norway's StatoilHydro signed an agreement on the joint development of the Shtokman gas and condensate deposit in the Arctic, the Russian energy giant said

* Russia and Venezuela are to sign contracts worth $8 billion after a session of a bilateral intergovernmental commission, Venezuelan media quoted the executive vice-president as saying

* Enel SpA, Italy's largest power company, said it had increased its stake in Russian wholesale power generator OGK-5 to 37.15%

* Russia's new economics minister, Elvira Nabiullina, told European and Russian businessmen that Moscow would not make any concessions just for the sake of joining the World Trade Organization

* Gazprom increased its share in Wingaz GmbH from 36% to 50% minus one share under an asset swap deal with BASF, the Russian energy giant said in a news release