Main news of February 24

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WINTER OLYMPICS

- * Ashleigh McIvor won women's ski cross, bringing the sixth Olympic gold medal to her country

- * The defending Olympic champions in Nordic Combined, Team Austria, took gold in the team event

- * Swiss alpine skier Carlo Janka took the Olympic gold in men's giant slalom

- * The Russian team of Svetlana Sleptsova, Anna Bogaliy-Titovets, Olga Medvedtseva and Olga Zaitseva took Olympic gold in Vancouver in the women's biathlon relay

- * Russia's Ivan Skobrev took the Olympic silver in men's 10,000 meters speed skating event

WORLD

* China could strengthen its nuclear capability in response to U.S. global missile defense plans, a Russian military expert said

* U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle named four main nuclear-connected threats to international security

* The Russian and U.S. presidents will direct their respective delegations to speed up talks on a new arms control agreement, the Kremlin said

* The Indian Air Force has grounded its entire fleet of Russian-made MiG-27 aircraft for checks after a fatal crash in eastern India killed an ace pilot last week, Indian media reported

* Japan has offered to provide Iran with enriched uranium to ease international concerns over the Islamic Republic's controversial nuclear program, the Japanese Nikkei daily reported

* A meeting of the Quartet of international mediators in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks will be held in Moscow on March 19, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

RUSSIA

* Moscow investigaotors requalified into a political murder the killing of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova, who were gunned down by suspected neo-Nazis, a source familiar with the investigation said

* Russia will this year use the Yury Dolgoruky nuclear powered submarine for the first time to carry out test launches of the troubled Bulava missile, a Defense Ministry official said

* Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a resolution setting out the principles of the work of the country's long-term energy market

BUSINESS

* Russian gas monopoly Gazprom paid $625 mln to acquire an additional 12.5% stake in Beltransgaz, bringing its total share in the Belarusian gas transport company to 50%

* The construction of the Western-backed Nabucco gas pipeline bypassing Russia is more effective in boosting Europe's energy security than Russia's South Stream gas project, the head of the International Energy Agency said

SPORT

* The Champions League quarterfinal between CSKA Moscow and Spain's Sevilla ended in a 1:1 tie at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium