Main news of November 14

RUSSIA

* The deployment of the new Iskander tactical missile systems will close the missile coverage gap caused by Russia's participation in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Colonel General Vladimir Zaritsky, commander of the Russian Missile and Artillery Troops, said

* Russia has started delivering special agents to help clean up the environmental aftermath of Sunday's tragedy between the Black and Azov Seas, an emergency ministry official said

* The concentration of oil products in a strait linking the Black Sea and Sea of Azov is 50 times above maximum acceptable levels after a tanker split open during Sunday's storm, Russian experts said

* Vladimir Churov, the chairman of the Russian Central Election Commission, said he was unsure of exactly how many international monitors would observe parliamentary polls, scheduled for December 2

* Russia has extended until the end of February 2008 permission for Germany's Lufthansa Cargo to use its airspace, the Transportation Ministry said

* Sergei Fridinsky, Russia's chief military prosecutor, said it was important to prevent contract servicemen in the Russian Armed Forces from becoming "an even greater source of lawlessness" than at present

* The Moscow Mayor's office has given permission for a Dissenters' March opposition rally on November 24, The Other Russia press service said

* A crowd of locals in North Ossetia, in Russia's North Caucasus, gathered to greet the killer of an air traffic controller he blamed for the death of his family

WORLD

* The Turkish army is to launch a cross-border operation against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq before 'weather conditions worsen,' local media quoted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying

* Six weeks after a historic summit between the North and South Korean presidents, the countries' prime ministers began their first meeting in 15 years, focused on building economic ties

* Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that Spanish King Juan Carlos should apologize to Venezuela and Latin America for telling him to shut up, Spain's Europa Press reported

* A moratorium on Russia's Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty obligations will take effect on December 12, the chief of the Armed Forces General Staff said

* The government of Iraq controls 95% of proceeds from the export of the country's oil, President Jalal Talabani said

* A 15-day state of emergency imposed in Georgia amid mass anti-government rallies last week will be lifted on Friday, the parliament's speaker said

* A powerful bomb exploded early Wednesday near the presidential palace in the capital of Tajikistan, killing a security guard

* Denmark's center-right coalition government of Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen won a third term in office following a snap election

* A Russian delegation including Sukhoi plane maker CEO Mikhail Pogosyan will hold talks on Thursday with Deputy Indian Defense Minister Kanwar Singh on jointly developing a fifth-generation fighter

* The International Space Station's Harmony module has been moved to its permanent position, and is ready to receive visiting space shuttles and a new laboratory, NASA announced

* Belarus said that U.S. sanctions against petrochemical company Belneftekhim violated international agreements and would force the country to seek retaliatory measures

* The United States started sharing intelligence on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) with Turkey on Wednesday, the Turkish foreign minister said

* Ukraine's foreign minister confirmed that the country has signed a trade pact with Kyrgyzstan, the last bilateral protocol needed for Kiev to join the World Trade Organization

* The Tbilisi City Court said it has ruled to arrest opposition leader Irakly Okruashvili and put him on a wanted list, as prosecutors said he cannot be contacted for questioning

* Around 22,000 free-range turkeys will be culled at four farms in east England, following a bird flu outbreak at a farm in Suffolk

* NATO is ready to work with Russia's new envoy to the Western security alliance, official spokesman James Appathurai said

* A bill demanding sanctions against Russian companies and organizations supplying armaments to Iran and Syria has been submitted to U.S. House of Representatives

* A total of 150 international observers will monitor parliamentary elections in Kosovo and Metohija on November 17, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said

BUSINESS

* A tender commission from Russia's economics ministry has selected the St. Petersburg exchange as the trading floor for crude derivatives, a deputy minister said