Main news of September 23

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

 

WORLD

 

* U.S. President Barack Obama called the new strategic arms reduction treaty between Russia and the United States "the most comprehensive arms control agreement in decades"

 

* The Warsaw's Prosecutor's Office will challenge the district court's decision to free Chechen separatist leader Akhmed Zakayev, Polish media said

* Russia and Kyrgyzstan have settled all disputes surrounding the creation of the United Russian Military Base in Kyrgyzstan, deputy chief of the General Staff Col. Gen. Valery Gerasimov said

 

RUSSIA

 

* Moscow's refusal to deliver S-300 missile defense systems to Iran is illogical, Iran's top military commander said

* The construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran will not be affected by a Russian presidential decree banning the delivery of military hardware to Iran, the Kremlin said

* The definition of "police" in Russia's revised police bill is too confusing and unclear, Internet users, cited in an Interior Ministry report on online discussions

* There is no proof that Iran is working toward the creation of nuclear weapons, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

 

BUSINESS

 

* The Russian government hopes to eliminate its budget deficit earlier than expected, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said

* Russia will extend the list of permitted Moldovan wine importers and open a new customs checkpoint on its border, Gennady Onischenko, head of the Federal Supervision Agency for Customer Protection and Human Welfare

* The Russian Natural Resources Ministry has called for exploration licenses to be granted to all companies wishing to search for mineral resources in the Arctic, with a further right to develop explored fields, Deputy Natural Resources Minister Igor Maidanov said