Main news of August 25

 WORLD

* Incumbent Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, is leading slightly in the presidential vote after 10% of ballots have been counted, the country's Independent Election Commission said

* Six people, including four children, were killed and at least 12 wounded in three explosions in the south of Afghanistan, local police said

* Authorities in Taiwan confirmed that 461 people are confirmed to have died in floods and landslides caused by Typhoon Morakot, China's Sina news agency reported

* Heavy monsoon rain in Nepal caused mudslides and flooding across the country, claiming at least 68 lives, Xinhua news agency reported

* African states are expected to demand compensation from industrial countries for climate change during a UN summit in Copenhagen later this year, Arab media reported

* Georgia's minister for refugees and accommodation has granted refugee status to a Russian soldier who deserted on July 1, a senior official said

* The first satellite launched by South Korea failed to reach its designated orbit pattern, the Yonhap news agency has reported

* The Israeli Air Force bombed tunnels used for smuggling between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, killing at least three Palestinians and injuring another nine, a health official said

* Russia and Mongolia signed a deal during President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to the country to set up a joint venture to mine and process uranium

* The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has invited Russia to carry out a joint manned flight to Mars, the head of NASA's Moscow office said

* A new potential buyer for the crypt above Marilyn Monroe's is being searched for as the $4.6 million winning bid on eBay has been withdrawn, the Los Angeles Times said

RUSSIA

* Allegations that the Arctic Sea merchant ship may have been involved in illegal operations will be probed, Russia's chief investigator said

* The defense lawyer for two of the alleged hijackers, arrested aboard the Arctic Sea last week, said that there has been no mention of arms trafficking in the court files

* Rebuilding an oil depository destroyed by fire in north Siberia's Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area will cost some 1.5 billion rubles ($48 million), the head of Russian pipeline operator Transneft said

* The first launch of Russia's Soyuz-ST carrier rocket from the Kourou space center in French Guiana has been scheduled for the beginning of April 2010, general director of the Progress design bureau said

* Exiled former Chechen militant leader Akhmed Zakayev has been sentenced to death for abandoning Islam, Chechen militants said on their website

* The Moscow City Court sentenced a 39-year-old man from Moscow, who was found guilty of the murder of one of two Roman Catholic priests in October last year, to 14 years in prison