Main news of October 9

RUSSIA

* Russia completed the withdrawal of its peacekeepers from a buffer zone adjacent to Abkhazia ahead of the agreed deadline, the deputy commander of the CIS peacekeeping contingent in the region said

* The UN Security Council has extended the mandate for the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) by four months, until February 15, 2009

* Russian warships en route to Venezuela to take part in naval exercises are not carrying nuclear weapons, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said

* Russia's stock markets closed up 10-11%  recovering somewhat after a week of turmoil and plunging shares

* The U.S. has again refused entry visas to breakaway Abkhazian officials due to attend a UN Security Council meeting on the Georgian conflict, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said

* The Russian president said that he sees positive dynamics in relations with Kyrgyzstan, including in the energy sector, as bilateral trade between the countries increased by some 60% year on year

* Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia was shocked the UN and NATO had secretly signed a cooperation agreement without all UN member states reading the draft

* Nadia Petrova joined three other Russians in the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup after Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki retired hurt in the second set of their match at Moscow's Olimpiisky Sport Complex

* Russia said it would not supply air defense systems to volatile regions, the country's Foreign Ministry spokesman said

* Siberia's Chita District Court granted a request by defense lawyers to postpone until October 14 a hearing into extending court custody of ex-Yukos executive, Platon Lebedev

* A Moscow court has overturned a decision banning TNK-BP CEO Robert Dudley from working in Russia for two years over labor code violations and ruled to drop proceedings against the executive

* The European Court of Human Rights has ordered Russia pay 88,800 euros ($121,000) in compensation to relatives of two groups of Chechens killed or abducted in the republic in 2001-2002, the court said in a news release 

* The first batch of 220 electronic tags to be used in prisoner monitoring trials is due to arrive in Russia on Friday, a penitentiary service official said

* The volume of Russian counterfeit ruble bills in circulation increased by 9% in the third quarter of 2008 against the same period last year, the Central Bank of Russia said

WORLD 

* The U.S. defense secretary vowed to support Georgia's bid to join NATO at the alliance's meeting in December, his Georgian counterpart said after the two met in Budapest, Georgian television reported

* Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko dissolved parliament on Wednesday evening and announced snap elections in the country

* Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said he could lead an electoral coalition at snap parliamentary polls fixed for December 7, the UNIAN news agency said

 * North Korea warned that repeated violations of its waters by South Korean warships are raising the prospect of a military clash in the Yellow Sea, South Korea's Yonhap news agency

* Ukraine hopes to play a role in the completion of the Arab Gas Pipeline intended for natural gas deliveries from Egypt to Europe via Syria and Turkey, Ukraine's UNIAN news agency reported

* The United States has notified Japan that it will remove North Korea from its list of terrorism sponsoring states later this month, the Kyodo news agency reported

* The Swedish Academy announced that the French novelist Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio won the 2008 Nobel Prize in literature

* The mandate of the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) is to be extended by four months, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said

* South Ossetia's acting interior minister expressed his concern over the build up of Georgian police in buffer zones close to the region's border following the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers

* France's CNR, part of the Gaz de France-Suez, natural gas distributor, is holding talks with Russian energy giant Gazprom on energy exchange operations in Western Europe, the CNR energy director said

* WBC heavyweight world champion Samuel Peter, dubbed the Nigerian Nightmare, called Ukraine's Vitali Klitschko a "phony" ahead of their title bout on October 11 in Berlin, Germany

* Lithuania may extend the use of its Ignalina nuclear power plant until 2012 if the EU fails to provide an alternative action plan for its shutdown, the economy minister said