Main news of October 21

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said after arriving in Turkmenistan that he hoped talks with his Turkmen counterpart would be productive

* Russia, Ukraine and Slovakia signed in Bratislava an intergovernmental agreement on transit of nuclear materials via Ukraine, the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom reported

RUSSIA

* Sergei Sobyanin, former chief of staff to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, was sworn in as Moscow mayor in a ceremony attended by President Dmitry Medvedev

* At least 75 militants, including 3 gang leaders, have been eliminated in the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya since the beginning of the year, Chechen Interior Minister Muslim Isayev said

* Opposition protesters have been given the go-ahead to hold a rally on Moscow's Triumfalnaya Square, a move that many observers say is a result of the sacking of long-standing Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov

BUSINESS

* The Russian government has approved a plan to privatize a wide range of state property from energy to agriculture and banking to transportation in the next five years, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said

SOCIETY

* The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Moscow's ban on gay pride marches is illegal