Main news of January 31

RUSSIA

* A meeting between the new Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and the Pope is possible but would require the end of proselytizing by Roman Catholic monastic orders, a senior Russian Orthodox bishop said

* A congress of the Ingush people opened Saturday in Nazran, the largest city in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia

* Several thousand supporters of Russia's governing United Russia party gathered next to the Kremlin on Saturday to declare their support for the government's anti-crisis measures

* Eight people, including four children, died on Saturday in a fire in Russia's Sverdlovsk Region in the Urals, a local police spokesman said

* Serena Williams swept past Russia's Dinara Safina in less than an hour on Saturday evening in Melbourne to win the Australian Open title for a fourth time

* Six people, including three children, died Saturday in a house fire in the town of Belovo in Russia's Kemerovo Region in Western Siberia, a spokesman for local emergencies services said

* Russian teen Ksenia Pervak won the Australian Open junior title

* Russia's Pyotr Veliky missile cruiser has left the port of Mormugao in the Indian state of Goa and headed for African waters

WORLD

* Police used tear gas and water cannons against protesters rallying in Geneva on Saturday against the World Economic Forum in Davos after the rally participants started throwing bottles

* About 500 activists of the Ukrainian Communist Party held a rally on Saturday in the eastern city of Donetsk demanding President Viktor Yushchenko's resignation

* The resignation of Latvia's government would help ease the tense political situation in the country, a senior opposition member of parliament told RIA Novosti

* Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday congratulated Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on taking a stand over Israel on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos

BUSINESS