Main news of September 8

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Kazakhstan has granted Russia's Emergencies Ministry permission to extinguish wildfires on the Kazakh-Russian border and in Kazakhstan, the ministry's information services said

* The foreign minister of Moldova's breakaway region of Transdnestr rejected accusations by the Moldovan authorities that the peacekeeping operation in the region is inefficient

* Iran already has enough enriched uranium to produce a nuclear bomb and is still continuing its enrichment process, Russian business daily Kommersant said, citing experts and the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) report

RUSSIA

* The Russian Emergencies Ministry has asked Kazakhstan for permission to allow Russian planes to extinguish fires on the Russian-Kazakh border, a spokeswoman for the ministry said

* The village of Nikolayevka in the Altai Territory has completely burned down and two other villages are on fire, a spokeswoman for the Russia's Emergencies Ministry said

* Four million foreign nationals work illegally in Russia, the head of the Federal Migration Service said

* Russian Railways (RZhD) will launch a regular train service between Moscow and the French city of Nice from September 23, the company's vice-president said

* Russia's Justice Ministry may sue Nazi collaborators at the European Court of Human Rights in response to the conviction of Soviet veteran Vasily Kononov, Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov said

* The Russian Justice Ministry is preparing far-reaching proposals for reform of the country's judicial system, Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov said

* Rescuers have evacuated 17 crewmembers from a Russian ship that hit rocks off the south-western coast of Sakhalin Island, an emergency service official said

* People who take part in unsanctioned rallies should face jail terms, the head of the Moscow police was quoted as saying by a Russian daily

DEFENSE

* The central commands of Russia's Air Force, Navy and Ground Forces will be retained but some of their functions will be transferred to integrated strategic commands, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said

SCIENCE

* A Russian Rokot carrier rocket orbited a Gonets-M satellite and two Kosmos satellites, a Defense Ministry spokesman said

RELIGION

* White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has described a U.S. church's threat to burn copies of the Quran as "un-American" and warned that such actions could endanger U.S. troops in Afghanistan