Main news of October 6

RUSSIA

* The Russian arms export monopoly has no information about reported Russian surface-to-air missile deliveries to the Middle East, Rosoboronexport said

* Russia and Greece are drafting an intergovernmental agreement and a contract for the supply of 420 BMP-3M infantry fighting vehicles, a spokesman for Russia's arms export monopoly said

* Russia is in favor of creating a currency pool with Belarus and expanding the use of the Russian ruble in bilateral trade, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said

* Russian prosecutors filed final charges against a former Finance Ministry official arrested on suspicion of embezzlement, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said

* Russia sent Britain a request for the extradition of Mikhail Gutseriyev, the former head of the oil company RussNeft, wanted in Russia on charges of tax evasion, investigators said

WORLD

* Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc signed a statement in an attempt to restore the ruling coalition in Ukraine's parliament, the bloc said

* The Georgian Foreign Ministry has no objections to Switzerland representing Russia's diplomatic interests in Georgia, a deputy Georgian foreign minister said following internal consultations

* The strengthening of Russia's bilateral ties with Venezuela is not aimed at any other country, including the United States, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

* Colombia clarified a statement by the country's defense minister suggesting that Russia's military presence in the region would result in a "Cold War"

* At least 30 people were killed in an earthquake which hit the Tibet Autonomous Region in China, the country's Xinhua news agency said, citing the local administration

* The death toll from a powerful earthquake in southern Kyrgyzstan rose to 72, while local health authorities say the number of casualties could grow

BUSINESS

* The Russian stock market gave in to panic with the MICEX dropping 18.6% to 752 points and the RTS falling by 19.1% to 866.39 points - the worst losses since the 1998 crash

* The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plans to invest one billion euros ($1.4 billion) in Ukraine's economy by the end of the year, the bank's director for Ukraine said