Main news of January 21

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

*Looters in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince are coming under attack by local residents, who are forming Lynch mobs, a RIA Novosti correspondent said

* The Latin Archbishop of Baghdad expressed concern over killings of Christians in Iraq, forcing hundreds to flee the country, the Italian SIR news agency said

* The first ship with humanitarian aid arrived on Thursday to a port in Haiti, hit by a devastating earthquake last week, a spokesman for the U.N. Secretary General said

* A former Iranian consul to Norway, who had resigned in late 2009 over the crackdown on opposition protests by Iran's government, asked Norwegian authorities for political asylum, the Norway Post newspaper said

* A Russian cosmonaut performed on Thursday a complex task of moving a spacecraft from one docking port to another on the International Space Station

* An Afghan refugee from the Naser tribe has sold humanitarian aid supplies from the UN food program for 1 million Afghanis ($20,000), the country's national security service said

* Poland's decision to deploy a battery of U.S. Patriot missiles just 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the Russian border is neither political nor strategic, the Polish defense minister said

RUSSIA

* Russia's new ambassador to Ukraine will depart for Kiev next week, the Foreign Ministry said

* According to the results of a public opinion survey released on Thursday, most Russians are positive about U.S. President Barack Obama

* The Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday plans to build up the Baltic Fleet were not connected to the deployment of U.S. missiles in Poland, refuting remarks by a Navy source

* Two Russian Tu-95MS Bear strategic bombers have carried out a routine patrol flight over the Pacific Ocean, the Defense Ministry said

* Russian politicians and activists used the 86th anniversary of Vladimir Lenin's death to renew calls to bury the architect of the 1917 Russian Revolution

* Drug police in Russia's Far East have joined hands with the Federal Space Agency in spotting cannabis fields in the Primorye Territory, a senior drugs control official said

BUSINESS

* Burger King, the U.S. chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, opened on Thursday its first outlet in Russia's capital to compete with its main rival, McDonald's, the country's media reported

* British oil major BP is interested in operations in the Russian Arctic and is prepared to use advanced technologies and experience to prospect and develop natural resources, BP CEO Tony Hayward said

* Russian energy giant Gazprom and Hungary are set to sign an agreement later this month clearing way for building the South Stream gas pipeline across the Central European state

* Russia's state-run savings bank Sberbank and development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) have agreed on rescheduling a $4.5 billion debt owed by aluminum giant RusAl, Sberbank's CEO said

* Iran and Azerbaijan will finalize a long-term contract for Azerbaijani gas supplies in the next three months, the Tehran Times reported, citing a top executive at Iran's national gas company

* The sale of several Russian radio stations owned by media magnate Rupert Murdoch may be delayed over uncertainty about the stake of his late Georgian partner in the project, a business daily reported

SPORT

* Russia's Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov have won the pairs gold of the European Figure Skating Championships 2010 in Tallinn