Main news of February 17

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Iran will not consider proposals by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), developed by Russia, France and the United States, which call on Tehran to suspend its research reactor, the ISNA news agency reported

* Ukraine's Supreme Administrative Court on Wednesday suspended the Central Electoral Commission's official announcement that Viktor Yanukovych had won the country's presidential elections pending consideration of a lawsuit

* The new arms deal to replace the START treaty with the United States is 97% ready but U.S. plans for missile defenses in Eastern Europe are affecting the negotiations, the chief of Russia's General Staff said

* Two Pakistan-based terrorist groups claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack in the western Indian town of Pune which killed at least 10 people and injured up to 60, Indian media reported

RUSSIA

* The presidents of Abkhazia and Russia signed a deal on Wednesday allowing a Russian military base in the former Georgian republic for 50 years, despite fierce criticism from Tbilisi and Western nations

SPORT

* Another day passed at the Olympics in Vancouver with no medals for Russia, leaving it 19th in the medals table with just one bronze, but Russia's reigning Olympic figure skating champion Evgeni Plushenko inspired hope for the country's first gold

* Two-time reigning world champions Russia began their ice hockey tournament at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver with a crushing 8-2 victory over Latvia

* Canada and the United States both won their ice hockey Group A opening games at the XXI Olympics in Vancouver

* Russia's Evgeni Plushenko took the lead after the men's figure skating short program with 90.85 points, only 0.45 points less than his personal best

SCIENCE

* The launch of the next space shuttle to the International Space Station was postponed until April 5 due to cold weather, NASA said