Main news of October 1

A round up of what happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* At least 1,100 people have lost their lives in two earthquakes in Indonesia, and many more are injured, the United Nations humanitarian chief said

* Talks between six world powers and Iran on the Islamic Republic's controversial nuclear program kicked off in Geneva

* Iran is engaged in discussions with the United Nations nuclear watchdog on the extent of future inspections at the country's second uranium enrichment plant, the foreign minister said

* Iran's chief nuclear negotiator called on Thursday for global nuclear disarmament at a meeting with six world powers in Switzerland

* At least 45 people have died in floods in southern India, the IANS news agency reported

* The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted on Thursday to reject Georgia's motion to deprive Russia of voting rights over last year's conflict in South Ossetia

* A Georgian opposition leader on Thursday accused the country's authorities of covering up the findings of an EU-commissioned report on the August 2008 war in South Ossetia

* Russia is not meeting its obligations under the peace plan aimed at resolving the conflict between Georgia and Russia over breakaway regions of S. Ossetia and Abkhazia, the French foreign minister said

* The People's Republic of China celebrated the 60th anniversary of its founding on Thursday with a vast display of the country's military might on Tiananmen Square

* Venezuelan prosecutor's office has requested Interpol to issue a red corner notice (RCN) for the country's former president Carlos Andres Perez, the Universal paper said

* At least 34 tourists drowned when a boat capsized in a natural reserve in southern India on Wednesday evening, the Times of India said

* A second powerful quake, measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale has been registered near the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its website

RUSSIA

* Russia's Defense Ministry is preparing a response to a U.S. revision of its missile shield plans in Central Europe, the Russian defense minister said

* Iskander tactical missiles have never been deployed in Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad despite the threat to use them in response to U.S missile shield plans, the commander of the Russian Navy said

BUSINESS

* Ukraine's state-owned energy company Naftogaz defaulted on a $500 million Eurobond issue as the repayment deadline expired on Wednesday night, the Ukrainian edition of a Russian daily said