Main news of October 4

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Ukraine's Communist Party, the pro-presidential Party of Regions, and the Lytvyn bloc signed an agreement transforming their majority coalition in parliament into a parliamentary majority

* Russia's Rokot carrier rockets will take two European Space Agency (ESA) scientific satellites to orbit in 2012-2013, the head of the ESA Moscow Office said

* A court in Thailand rejected a U.S. request to drop a second set of charges against alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, delaying his extradition to the U.S

* The Turkmen president has said his country intends to boost gas exports sevenfold by 2030 and called on Russia, China and Iran to buy Turkmen gas at European prices, Russian business daily Kommersant said

RUSSIA

* Moscow City Court upheld a court ruling that found the organizers of the controversial Forbidden Art-2006 exhibition guilty of inciting national and religious hatred

* Former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov, sacked by President Dmitry Medvedev last week, is to form his own political movement, he said in an interview

BUSINESS

* Russia's largest steelmaker Severstal confirmed it plans an Initial Public Offering of its gold division but declined to provide any details of the flotation

* Russia's third largest steel producer Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) made a second quarter 2010 net profit of $459 million to US GAAP, turning around a $49 million loss in the second quarter of 2009, the company said

* Ireland asked Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich's Millhouse Capital holding company to pick up the tab for bailing out the Irish Nationwide Building Society (INBC)

* Mercedes-Benz Trucks Vostok, a joint venture between German and Russian car producers Daimler AG and KAMAZ , assembled its first Mercedes-Benz Actros 1841 LS truck at its plant in Naberezhnye Chelny, the companies said in a joint statement

* JP Morgan investment bank valued Russian state diamond monopoly Alrosa, which is planning to hold an initial public offering, at $7.3-9 billion excluding debts, with a wider price range estimated at $5-10 billion, Vedomosti business daily said