Main news of November 11

RUSSIA

* Russia and the United States have yet to overcome the stagnation in bilateral relations that began under the previous U.S. administration, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

* Moscow will cut supplies if Kiev taps natural gas, the Russian prime minister, Vldaimir Putin, said, pledging that gas deliveries will be uninterrupted if transiting countries honor their commitments

* Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann urged both their governments to expedite work on an agreement to build the Austrian section of a gas pipeline to southeast Europe

* Russia's parliament speaker Boris Gryzlov said the Constitutional Court is likely to extend the moratorium on the death penalty that expires on January 1

* Five suspected militants have been killed and an Arab mercenary injured in a police operation in Chechnya, the North Caucasus republic's presidential press service said

* A Russian woman, who lost her son in Chechnya in 2000, has filed a $1.5-million suit against Russia, Russian media said

* The Arctic Sea cargo vessel left a Maltese port for Algeria to resume its route interrupted by hijackers in the Atlantic Ocean this summer, the operating company said

 

WORLD

* Foreign ministers from Pacific Rim countries met in Singapore morning ahead of an APEC summit, for informal discussions focusing on economic security

* The U.S. has decided to send an envoy to North Korea to persuade the communist regime to resume denuclearization talks, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said

* Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas reiterated his demand for Israel to stop building settlements in the West Bank before the two conflicting sides can resume peace talks

* The death toll from mudslides and flooding in El Salvador caused by hurricane Ida has risen to 152 with many more missing, national media quoted rescuers as saying

* Russia has to fulfill its contract on the supply of S-300 defensive surface-to-air missile systems to Iran, Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said

* The number of deaths in Ukraine from flu viruses has climbed to 213, the country's Health Ministry reported

* A flu epidemic has forced Ukraine's naval command to discharge contract sailors with the fall recruitment campaign suspended, a source in the ex-Soviet state's Navy said

* At least two people were killed and two injured in a shooting at a drug testing laboratory in Oregon, local media reported

* Russia's ambassador to the UN has received an envelope with white powder, the embassy's press secretary confirmed

* Russia has refuted statements by partners in Geneva in regard to the stabilization of the situation in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zones, a Russian deputy minister said

BUSINESS

* Kazakhstan's uranium output increased 61%, year-on-year, in January-September 2009 to 9,535 metric tons, the national nuclear power company Kazatomprom said

SPORTS

* A farewell ceremony was held at the Paris Bercy stadium for former world Number 1 Marat Safin, who is leaving tennis after a defeat in his final match at the Paris Masters Series tennis tournament