Main news of November 5

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* At least seven people were killed and twelve were wounded in a shooting at the Fort Hood military base in the U.S. state of Texas on Thursday, national media reports said

* Moscow is surprised at media reports that Poland is seeking to host U.S. troops to protect it from Russia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

* Israel's prime minister said on Thursday the UN should investigate Iranian attempts at arms smuggling rather than criticize Tel Aviv over its role in the 2008/09 Gaza Strip conflict

* Nicaraguan authorities have evacuated some 2,200 people after Hurricane Ida slammed into the Atlantic coast of the country on Thursday, national media said

 

* Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas may decide against running in the January presidential elections, his spokesman said

 

 

* Russian-Israeli businessman and women's basketball club owner Shabtai Kalmanovich, gunned down on Monday in Moscow, was buried on Thursday in Israel, local media reported

 

* Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro has condemned the recent military cooperation agreement between the U.S. and Colombia which allows Washington to deploy troops at Colombian military bases

 

* At least 99 people have been killed and another 22 have gone missing since a powerful storm hit central Vietnam earlier this week, Al Jazeera said

 

* The Belarusian parliament has resolved to establish a working group to consider the recognition of the former Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported

 

* Israeli Defense Forces have said a vessel intercepted on Wednesday by the country's naval commandos was carrying a huge party of arms from Iran to Lebanese Hezbollah militia

 

* The Belarusian Health Ministry said seven people have died from swine flu in the country, Belta news agency reported

 

RUSSIA

 

* Russia's prime minister thanked Sweden and Finland on Thursday for approving the construction of a Russian-German natural gas pipeline through their economic zones in the Baltic Sea

 

* One of two suspects detained on suspicion of involvement in the January murder of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and trainee journalist Anastasia Baburova has confessed, the head of Russia's FSB said

 

* Russia will use its Armed Forces outside the country only in extreme circumstances to protect Russian nationals, President Dmitry Medvedev said

 

* A 25-year-old man died of the A/H1N1 virus in Ufa, the capital of Russia's Urals Republic of Bashkortostan, a source from the regional sanitary watchdog said

 

* Russia has reiterated its proposal to the United States to sign a bilateral extradition agreement, the Russian justice minister said

 

BUSINESS

 

* Net capital inflow into Russia hit an estimated $10 billion in October, Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukaev said

 

* Russia's ailing automaker AvtoVAZ requires an additional 5 billion rubles ($170 million) in investment to make competitive products, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said

 

* Coca-Cola Company said on Thursday it was delaying the launch of its factory in south Russia until 2010 over problems with the infrastructure and critical remarks from the country's construction supervisory authority