Main news of April 17

A round up of what happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Supporters of deposed Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev took control of a provincial television station in the city of Jalalabad in southern Kyrgyzstan

* The Kyrgyz interim government will have "serious questions" to ask of any CIS country that provides refuge to ousted Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Deputy Prime Minister of the interim government Azimbek Beknazarov said

* U.S. President Barack Obama has canceled his trip to Poland because of volcanic ash over Europe, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said

* Air traffic in north and central Europe will not run for at least the next 24 hours because of the ash cloud from a volcano eruption in Iceland

* Tens of thousands have gathered in Warsaw in memory of Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others killed in last Saturday's air crash in western Russia

* Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said nuclear powers such as the United States should be expelled from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

* North Korea denied it was involved in the sinking of a South Korean warship near the two countries' disputed sea border last month

* Italy's 'push-back' policy to prevent illegal immigration has resulted in a significant drop in arrivals since it was launched last May

 

RUSSIA

* Russia is looking into the possibility of a gas discount for Ukraine in exchange for participation in Ukrainian energy projects, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said

* Tour operators and air lines should resolve the situation which has arisen from the cancellation of flights after an ash cloud spread over Europe from a volcano eruption in Iceland, the Russian Federal Tourism Agency said

* A yearly get-together for the hundreds of U.S. families, which have adopted children from Russia, will take place in the Russian Embassy in Washington on Saturday, an embassy representative said