Main news of September 5

RUSSIA

* One police volunteer was killed and another wounded after unknown assailants opened fire on them in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Daghestan, a local police source said

* An explosion ripped through an outdoor cafe in south Moscow killing one and injuring 10 other people, police said

* Ukraine has confirmed it is continuing its "vicious" policy by turning away a Russian MP and political scientist at Kiev's Borispol airport, the Russian Foreign Ministry said

* Police in Russia's Irkutsk Region, East Siberia, have seized 20 kg (44 lbs) of heroin from a Tajik national, a police spokesman said

* Russia sent two more aircraft carrying humanitarian aid to hurricane-stricken Cuba, a Russian emergencies service spokesperson said 

WORLD

* Statements made by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney on support for Georgia are only encouraging Tbilisi's aggressive intentions, a Russian Foreign Ministry official spokesman said

* A suspected U.S. aerial drone fired missiles at a Pakistani tribal village in North Waziristan, killing six and wounding at least four people, an Afghan news agency reported

* At least 10 miners were killed in a gas blast at a coal mine in southwest China, the country's Xinhua news agency said

* Leaders of a post-Soviet regional security bloc have censured Georgia over its actions in South Ossetia and backed Moscow, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said

* The third U.S. Navy vessel to bring humanitarian aid to Georgia arrived in the Black Sea port of Poti, a Russian navy source said 

* Jordan has sent 1,000 Kalashnikov rifles to Fatah with the blessing of Israel, which hopes the weapons will help the Palestinian party to better promote security and oppose Hamas, local radio said

* Iran could impose unilateral sanctions against Western powers in response to measures to punish Tehran over its nuclear program, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said

* The United States has lifted sanctions against two firms within Belarus's state-controlled petrochemical concern Belneftekhim, a U.S. Embassy official in Minsk said 

* Russia supports the idea of international cooperation to deal with the threat of an asteroid collision, Federal Space Agency head Anatoly Perminov said

* The British Foreign Office has decided not to send 40 bagpipers to a military music festival in Moscow in protest over Russia's actions in Georgia, a foreign office spokesperson said 

* A total of 502 refugees have returned to South Ossetia from the neighboring Russian republic of North Ossetia in the past 24 hours, a spokesman for North Ossetia's Emergencies Ministry said 

* A Russian first deputy prime minister has said that the country's "international partners" are hindering the conclusion of talks on Russia's entry to the WTO 

* U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in Italy to attend an international economic conference and later meet the country's leadership, national media reported 

BUSINESS

* Russia's largest operator MTS has signed an agreement with U.S. company Apple Inc. to sell the popular iPhone 3G handset in Russia, the company said

* Marfin Popular Bank (MPB), Cyprus's largest and Greece's second largest bank, has acquired a controlling stake in Rossiysky Promyshlenny Bank, or Rosprombank, the Athens News Agency reported

Russian Deputy Energy Minister Stanislav Svetlitsky said:

* Russia has agreed to buy Oman's 7% stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium

* The Energy Ministry has approved the transfer of a 20% stake in the Kharyaga PSA project in northern Russia to oil and gas firm Zarubezhneft

* Russia will resume negotiations on a contract to deliver 34 transport planes and four aerial tankers to China earlier frozen due to a disagreement over prices, Russia's state-run arms exporter said