Main news of March 16

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

 

WORLD

 

* Thai opposition protestors painted the streets in front of the gates of the Thai prime minister's office with their blood

* Chief Palestinian presidential advisor Sahib Oreikat will discuss recent Israeli settlement activities at a meeting of Middle East mediators in Moscow on March 19, a Palestinian spokesman said

* France's ambassador to Georgia criticized as "irresponsible" a bogus report about Russian invasion of Georgia recently aired by Georgian television

* U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell has postponed his visit to the turbulent region due to straining ties between the United States and Israel over plans for new settlement construction in the Palestinian territories, an Israeli presidential spokesman said

* The head of U.S. Central Command, which oversees wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, expressed confidence that Iran would not have a nuclear weapon by the end of this year

* Belarus is ready to assist Venezuela in the creation of a modern national defense system, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in Caracas

 

 

RUSSIA

 

* In a rare expression of displeasure with the Belarusian leadership, the Russian prime minister suggested Minsk's failure to recognize two Georgian breakaway republics was amply compensated by its normalization of relations with the West

* The timeframe and venue for the signing of a new U.S.-Russian strategic arms reduction deal have yet to be determined, the Russian foreign minister said

* Kiev is seeking to be the venue for the signing of a new nuclear arms reduction treaty between Russia and the United States, a Russian business daily reported

* Russia will boost its drug control mission staff in Afghanistan, Russia's drug control chief said

* President Dmitry Medvedev has dismissed a deputy justice minister and appointed a new interior minister in the volatile North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia as part of his efforts to improve law enforcement in Russia, the Kremlin said

* Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov confirmed the Central Asian republic's readiness to supply the required gas volumes to Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

 

 

BUSINESS

 

* Nord Stream has secured 3.9 billion euros ($5.3 billion) in financing allowing it to start building a pipeline to pump Russian natural gas to Europe under the Baltic Sea, The Financial Times reported

* Ukraine is seeking to modernize its gas transportation system to make it more competitive, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said

* Russia's economy could grow by as much as 4-4.5% in 2010 compared with the government's forecast of 3-3.5%, an Economic Development Ministry official said

* The Russian pavilion for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai will be completed on time, the general commissioner of the Russian section said on