Main news of March 23

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Talks between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority could be frozen for a year unless the PNA abandons its demand that Israel completely stop settlement construction activity, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said

* Croatia's EU accession talks have made considerable progress, and have entered their final stage, the EU-Croatia Stabilization and Association Council said during a meeting

* Russia will continue to support China, including on the "sensitive" issue of Taiwan, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said

* The Ukrainian Communist Party is unhappy with its appointments to parliament and is threatening to withdraw from the parliamentary coalition, Ukrainian Dilo newspaper said

* The Vietnamese defense minister said that the current visit of his Russian counterpart to Vietnam would strengthen bilateral military ties, which have seen a significant improvement in the last few years

* Russia insists on the inclusion of U.S. missile defenses in Europe in a new strategic arms reduction treaty between the two countries in order to ensure nuclear parity, Russia's top military commander said

* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in a bid to repair ties with Washington strained over Israel's plans for new settlement construction in the Palestinian territories

* Britain will launch on Tuesday its national space agency, becoming the last of the major space-exploring nations to establish its own executive body responsible for space activities

 

RUSSIA

* Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will hold talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Mykola Azarov in Moscow on March 25, Putin's press secretary said

* Underdevelopment of basic democratic institutions and corruption are prohibiting the growth of civil society in Russia, the Russian presidential human rights council chief said

* Images of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin will not be used in street decorations at celebrations of Russia's victory over Nazi Germany in Moscow on May 9, a source in the organizing committee led by President Dmitry Medvedev said

* Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin approved the dismissal of Deputy Regional Development Minister Sergei Kruglik for failing to cut construction costs, a government statement said

BUSINESS

Russian billionaire oligarch Viktor Vekselberg in charge of coordinating the project of Skolkovo's high-tech research and production hub believes the new research center will become self-sufficient in 5-7 years

* Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin unveiled a new package of anti-crisis measures aimed at doubling state support for small and medium business to 23 billion rubles ($780 million) in 2010

* Russian business tycoon Viktor Vekselberg will coordinate a project to build a high-tech research and production hub, similar to the Silicon Valley in California, President Dmitry Medvedev said

* TNK-BP is planning to sell its stake in a huge Siberian gas field to state-run Rosneft for $700-900 million by the end of 2010, a Russian TNK-BP shareholder said

* Virgin Galactic, a U.S.-based space tourism company, has announced its commercial six-passenger space vehicle has completed its inaugural captive carry flight

* Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin approved the dismissal of Deputy Regional Development Minister Sergei Kruglik for failing to cut construction costs, a government statement said

* Google has decided to close its Internet search service based in inland China over censorship concerns and will direct Chinese users to a Hong Kong-based uncensored version of its search engine

* The Nord Stream pipeline operator building a gas pipe designed to pump Russian natural gas to Europe under the Baltic Sea has started disarming mines located along the future pipeline's Swedish leg

 

SPORTS

* Russia's Olympic Committee accepted the resignation of its head Leonid Tyagachev over the country's poor showing at the Vancouver Winter Olympics