Main news of February 5

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Moscow is waiting for clarification from the United States over its plans to deploy missile defense elements in Romania, the Russian foreign minister said

* Russian businessman and alleged arms dealer Viktor Bout has been summoned to appear in a Thai court on February 16, one of his lawyers said

* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sent a tough warning to Iran, saying its nuclear program could be discussed at the UN Security Council if Tehran fails to respond to Western compromise offers

* A new election law that has triggered a brawl in Ukraine's parliament and led to threats of mass protest rallies echoing the 2004 "orange revolution" came into force ahead of a crucial presidential poll this weekend

* Russia's Progress cargo spaceship, launched on a resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) earlier this week, docked with the orbital station in an automatic regime

* North Korean authorities will release a U.S. human rights activist, detained in December last year for illegally entering the country, the state Korean Central News Agency

* U.S. and Russian members of parliament will meet in Washington to discuss the ratification of a nuclear arms reduction pact to replace the outdated START treaty after a nuclear summit due in the U.S. capital in April, a senior Russian lawmaker has said

RUSSIA

* Russia's Black Sea Fleet based in Ukraine's Crimea will receive new frigate-type vessels and diesel-powered submarines by 2015, a top naval officer said

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has approved the country's new military doctrine which allows preventive nuclear strikes against potential aggressors

* Russia's top investigator voiced alarming statistics saying that the number of crimes against children more than doubled to over 105,000 in 2009 from more than 40,000 in 2002

BUSINESS

* Russia will grant Sri Lanka a $300-million loan to buy armaments and dual purpose products, the Russian ambassador said

* Russia has selected Barclays Capital, Citibank, Credit Suisse and VTB Capital as lead managers for a sovereign Eurobond issue, its first for over a decade, the Finance Ministry said

* The Bank of Russia signaled it could deny registration to new currency exchange offices in 2010 and said it would give operating offices up to six months to reregister as providers of wider services

* China has imposed antidumping measures on U.S. poultry imports, the country's trade ministry said

* Russia will invest some 1.5 billion rubles ($49.7 million) in defining the extent of its continental shelf in the Arctic in 2010, in order to prove its right to more of the Arctic floor, the country's Natural Resources Ministry has said

 

SPORTS

* Russia is among the top nine seeds for Sunday's draw for the qualifying round of Euro 2012, UEFA confirmed

* Guus Hiddink's long-term future as trainer of the Russian national team remains unclear after a meeting with the new head of the country's governing body for football