Main news of September 11

WORLD

* Seven people were detained on Friday during clashes between far-right protestors and anti-fascists near a mosque under construction in northwest London's Harrow, Sky News reported

* Moldova's parliament appointed on Friday newly elected parliamentary speaker Mihai Ghimpu as acting president

* Memorial services will be held in the United States on Friday at the sites of the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania eight years ago

* Nicaragua and the former Georgian republic of Abkhazia have signed an agreement on establishing diplomatic relations, Nicaraguan media reported

* Japan's first domestic cargo spaceship has reached its planned orbit, and will arrive at the International Space Station later this month, JAXA space agency said

* The Discovery shuttle is set to land at the Kennedy Space Center on Friday, after a delay due to thunderstorms in Florida, NASA said

* Lithuania and Russia have signed an agreement on cooperation in the fight against money-laundering and financing of terrorism, the Lithuanian Interior ministry said

RUSSIA

* The global credit crunch has not affected Russia's socio-economic development plans, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said

* A Guinean court has overturned a deal by United Co. Rusal, the world's biggest aluminum producer, to buy the Friguia bauxite and alumina complex, drawing an angry reaction from Moscow

* Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has a favorable impression of U.S. President Barack Obama and his administration, a leading U.S. academic said

* Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday Russia was ready to cooperate with the West in developing new weapon systems

* Russia plans to hold an international tender for the purchase of a helicopter carrier, involving France, Spain and the Netherlands, the country's Navy chief said

* Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday that he and President Dmitry Medvedev would come to an agreement before the 2012 presidential polls and would not compete with each other

* The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed on Friday concern over Canada's refusal to grant a visa to the head of the Russian upper house's international affairs committee

* Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin conveyed a message of condolences on Friday to the United States on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks

* Russia's prime minister welcomed on Friday a deal to buy a majority stake in Opel by Canadian parts supplier Magna and Russia's Sberbank as a "good market choice"

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the government on Friday to prepare draft laws on his package of measures to counter alcohol abuse, the Kremlin said

* The presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan met on Friday on the sidelines of a regional forum in the Urals city of Orenburg dominated by bilateral energy projects

* At least 30 people including a baby were injured when a bus overturned in Russia's Urals in the early hours of Friday, local rescuers said

RELIGION

* The Church should be modern but must not be reformed to fall in line with the "transient tastes of the time," the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said

* The head of Russia's Orthodox Church said on Friday that Russia needed nuclear weapons

* Russia is commemorating on Friday the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, and the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church held a liturgy in the cathedral in the Volga city of Nizhny Novgorod

BUSINESS

* AvtoVAZ, Russia's largest car producer, intends to reduce the number of its employees by 36,000 by December 1, a source in the Health and Social Development Ministry said