Main news of October 22

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Moldova's parliament on Thursday postponed for an indefinite period the presidential election, which had been scheduled for October 23, pending amendments to electoral laws

* Kazakhstan's president confirmed on Thursday that his country is willing to pump crude into a planned $1.5-billion pipeline to bring Caspian oil to the Mediterranean via Turkey

* Georgia could join NATO without participating in the Membership Action Plan, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Nalbandov said

* The Olympic flame for the XXI Olympic Winter Games, to take place in Vancouver on February 12-28, was lit in Greece's ancient stadium of Olympia

* The Kyrgyz parliament approved on Thursday massive governmental reforms in the former Soviet republic

RUSSIA

* Russia is working to reach an agreement with China on copyright protection of Kalashnikov assault rifles, the head of Russia's state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said

* Russia believes that the new U.S. plans to deploy ship-based interceptor missiles in Europe and later mobile land-based interceptors on the continent may never be realized, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said

* Russia's new military doctrine will be presented to President Dmitry Medvedev by the end of the year, the secretary of the Russian Security Council said

* Russia's energy minister said on Thursday that no decision has yet been taken on privatizing the country's largest oil producer, Rosneft, but that the issue has been discussed in general terms

* Russia has no plans to stop military cooperation with Iran, a federal military cooperation body said

* The presidents of Russia and Tajikistan met on Thursday and pledged to settle differences on energy projects, a military base and the Russian language's status in the ex-Soviet Central Asian state

* Russia's Memorial human rights group was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament

* The October 29 launch of a carrier rocket bearing three Glonass navigation satellites has been delayed until February 2010, Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said

BUSINESS

* ItAli Airlines S.p.A., which has signed a contract with Russia's Sukhoi aircraft maker for 10 Superjet regional airliners, will receive the first planes next year, a Russian government spokesman said

* The South Stream natural gas pipeline to the Balkans could be completed before the Russian-German Nord Stream pipeline, the Russian prime minister said

* A Moscow Arbitration Court on Thursday terminated proceedings instituted on a $22.5 billion lawsuit brought by the Federal Customs Service against the Bank of New York Mellon