Main news of July 17

WORLD

* The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev, met in Moscow on Friday to discuss the Nagorny Karabakh conflict

* Participants in Friday's international talks with Ukraine on providing the country with a loan for natural gas purchases are optimistic that a deal can be reached, Russia's envoy to the EU said

* Thousands of supporters of Iran's defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi demonstrated in Tehran on Friday after a powerful cleric delivered a sermon casting doubt on the recent election

* Pope Benedict XVI has successfully undergone an operation on his injured right wrist, local media said

* The OSCE secretary general said on Friday that Armenia and Azerbaijan should make concessions based on the principles set out by the Minsk Group to settle the Nagorny Karabakh conflict

* Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro has called on the United States to withdraw its troops from Honduras to ease the situation following the recent coup in the Central American state

* Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has named Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's former envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as the country's new nuclear chief, state media said

* Ten mountain climbers have died after they were caught in strong winds and rain on northern Japanese mountain ranges, the NHK TV channel reported

* At least nine people were killed and 50 wounded early on Friday in two near-simultaneous blasts in the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta, police said

* Palestinian militants based in the Gaza Strip fired rockets at Israel for the first time in just over a month, the Israeli military has said

RUSSIA

* Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov plans to sue the director of a human rights group that accused him of being behind the murder of activist Natalya Estemirova, the leader's spokesman said

* Russia supports continued dialogue to solve Lebanon's domestic disputes, taking into account the interests of all Lebanese people, Russia's special envoy to the Middle East said

* The head of Ingushetia's Security Council has told RIA Novosti media reports that either the republic's sports minister or his deputy were assassinated on Friday are false

* Three new swine flu cases have been confirmed in Russia, bringing the total number to seven, Russia's chief sanitary official Gennady Onishchenko said