Main news of February 23

A round up of what happened in the past 24 hours

RUSSIA

* Russia celebrated Defenders of the Fatherland Day, with President Dmitry Medvedev leading a ceremony to return the eternal flame to its traditional home next to the Kremlin

* Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has signed an order making February 23 a day of mourning for the North Caucasus republic over mass Stalin-era deportations

WORLD

* NATO has not given up plans to accept Georgia and Ukraine but believes the countries should more actively conduct reforms to fall in line with the criteria required for membership, the alliance's secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said

* NATO's expansion does not threaten Russia, U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton said in a speech on the alliance's mission

* Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who lost the presidential vote earlier this month, called on her coalition in parliament to stand united

SPORTS

* Russia took Olympic gold in Vancouver in the women's biathlon relay

* Russia's Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin won bronze in the figure skating ice dance in Vancouver

* Russian skiers Nikolay Morilov and Alexey Petukhov won the bronze medal in the men's cross-country team sprint at the Vancouver Olympic Games

* Russian skiers Irina Khazova and Natalia Korosteleva grabbed the bronze in the women's cross-country team sprint

* Austria grabbed the gold medal in the team ski jumping event at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver