Main news of September 18

RUSSIA

* The Russian Navy on Thursday successfully tested a Bulava sea-launched ballistic missile, which hit targets on testing grounds in Kamchatka in Russia's Far East, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry said

* Russia and Turkey have signed an agreement to simplify customs procedures, the Federal Customs Service (FTS) said in a statement

* Members of the International Space Station Expedition 18 have successfully passed their first pre-flight tests, a spokesman for Russia's Cosmonaut Training Center said

* An Russian Orthodox church will be built at the site of the plane crash in the Perm Territory in the Urals, a local church spokesman said

* A new round of consultations on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization will start on November 3, the country's top negotiator said

* Russia and the United States can fashion a constructive dialogue regardless of their differences on some international issues, the Russian president said

* The Russian government will order a cut in export duty on crude oil exports from $485.8 to $372 later this week, the finance minister said

* Russia intends to maintain good relations with Ukraine regardless of the country's internal political crisis and any possible shifts in foreign policy, President Dmitry Medvedev said

* Two mini-subs used to explore the bottom of Lake Baikal in East Siberia have been transferred to the regional capital of Irkutsk as winter approaches, a lake preservation fund spokesman said

* Five people were killed early Thursday in Eastern Siberia's Krasnoyarsk Territory when a car collided with a bus, a police spokesman said

* The recognition by Russia of Georgia's Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states does not set a precedent for other post-Soviet breakaway regions, the foreign minister said

* Three clubs from the Russian capital take part in first round UEFA Cup ties on Thursday, with CSKA Moscow in Croatia, Spartak Moscow in the Czech Republic, and FC Moskva home to FC Kobenhavn

* Two seamen were killed and one was injured late on Wednesday after a fire broke out on board a large vessel of Russia's Pacific Fleet, a Navy spokesman said

* Russia's new ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak, met President George Bush, the Russian embassy said

* Russia has dismantled another six outdated Topol mobile ballistic missile systems under a major international treaty on strategic arms reduction, the Strategic Missile Forces said in a statement

* Two Russian Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers have left an airfield near Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, on a 15-hour flight home, a Russian Air Force spokesman said

* Russia is resuming multilateral talks on accession to the World Trade Organization in Geneva on Thursday, Russia's top negotiator said

* Russia is negotiating the delivery of more air defense systems to Iran despite Western demands for a halt in sales to Tehran over its refusal to stop uranium enrichment, the head of Russia's arms exporter said

* A Progress freighter has successfully docked with the ISS after a four-day delay caused by Hurricane Ike forcing the evacuation of NASA's space center in Houston last week, Russia's mission control said

WORLD

* Russia will fail to attain its strategic goal of ousting the government of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, U.S. State Secretary Condoleezza Rice said

* Iran has completed a three-day series of Air Force and missile defense exercises throughout the country, the Air Force commander said

* The Large Hadron Collider resumed work on Thursday, a day after it was switched off due to an electrical fault, a Russian scientist working on the project said

* Chinese spaceflight research specialists have presented a new domestically created spacesuit to be used in spacewalks by the country's astronauts, the China Daily said

* Iran is undaunted by the possibility of new UN sanctions over its ongoing nuclear program, the country's president said

* Moscow and Kiev will discuss the issue of Russia's Black Sea Fleet base in Ukraine by the end of September, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said

* Companies involved in the construction of the Nord Stream undersea pipeline project will submit an assessment of the environmental impact on the Baltic Sea in October, Germany's ex-chancellor said

* Moscow is concerned by the refusal of certain OSCE members to continue talks on the mission of extra military observers to be deployed in Georgia, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said

* The Palestinian Authority has received $10 million in aid from Russia for health and education in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Russian Foreign Ministry said

* A U.S. research ship with alleged intelligence gathering capabilities has left Ukrainian territorial waters and is heading toward the Mediterranean, a Ukrainian news agency reported

* Russia hopes to hold talks with Georgia during an upcoming session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in late September, a senior Russian lawmaker said

* Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that a recent IAEA report on Iran's nuclear activities reaffirmed the peaceful nature of Tehran's nuclear program

* The UN military observer force in Georgia will get a new mandate for several months from October 15, the UN undersecretary general for peacekeeping operations said

* A Russian delegation led by a deputy prime minister has visited Nicaragua as part of a Latin American tour to revive ties with the region

* Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who won a narrow victory in the ruling Kadima party election, said on Thursday she was determined to form a new government soon

BUSINESS

* Russia's Finance Ministry does not deem it possible now to use the Reserve Fund or the National Prosperity Fund to support the stock market, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at a meeting

* The Russian authorities have 500 billion rubles ($19.6 billion) ready to start buying shares of companies, including ones with state ownership, if their undervaluation lasts for an extended period, the finance minister said

* Russia's main financial regulator announced on Thursday that it would allow the country's two main stock exchanges to resume equity trading on Friday

* Russia's Sberbank, VTB and Gazprombank will allocate an extra 60 billion rubles ($2.36 billion) to credit stock market players against the pledge of securities, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said

* Fitch Ratings agency has said it is not expecting a change in Russia's Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default rating of BBB+