Main news of November 13

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

*A fluffy puppy was added to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's menagerie after talks with Bulgarian Premier Boyko Borisov in Sofia

*North Korea is building an experimental light-water reactor at its Yongbyon nuclear research center, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported

*Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation following a recent clash over a long-standing territorial dispute, the Russian Foreign Minister said

*Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan thanked the United States for supporting Tokyo in a series of recent disputes with Russia and China

*Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan have reaffirmed their determination to develop bilateral cooperation, the Russian Foreign Minister said

*Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reaffirmed his position on the Kuril Islands at a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan

*President Dmitry Medvedev invited Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan to visit any Russian region, including the Far East

*Russia and the European Union have made solid advances towards a new partnership agreement at talks in Brussels, Russia's Foreign Ministry said

*Uzbek President Islam Karimov has introduced draft legislation that would loosen the government's grip on the media, at the center of criticisms of the Central Asian country's human rights record

*Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said they intend to develop a trust-based dialogue between the countries, after a territorial dispute recently soured relations

*Turkish President Abdullah Gul has sent a letter to NATO leaders outlining Ankara's position on the deployment of a NATO missile defense shield on Turkish territory, local media said

*Russia, Japan and China signed a billion dollar deal on the construction of a urea fertilizer plant in the Russian Volga republic of Tatarstan

*Taliban militants attacked a military base in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, local television channels reported

*The United States and Kazakhstan have signed an agreement opening new transit routes for U.S. planes carrying military personnel and equipment to Afghanistan, the U.S. Department of State said

*Participants in the fall session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, which opened in Warsaw on Friday, discussed relations between the alliance and Russia, former Polish Foreign Minister Adam Rotfeld said

RUSSIA

*Russia's chief sanitary doctor warned Russians against traveling to Caribbean countries because of the growing cholera epidemic in Haiti

*The archbishop of Vladimir and Suzdal fired the Mother Superior of St. Bogolyubsky Convent in the central Vladimir Region and other clergymen allegedly involved in a child abuse scandal

*Three militants were killed in a police operation in Russia's volatile North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, a police source said

*Russia will allocate $160-200 million on Formula 1 track construction in the resort city of Sochi, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said

*Russia and France are both concerned by the numerous and ongoing custody battles over mixed nationality children, the Russian children's ombudsman said

*Russia intends to carry out up to 45 percent of its carrier rocket launches from the Vostochny Space Center, under construction in the Far East, by 2020, the deputy head of Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said

BUSINESS

*Russia has presented to Bulgaria budget estimates for the construction of the Belene Nuclear Power Plant, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said

*South Stream pipeline may be put into operation in August 2015, four months earlier than planned, Russia's gas giant CEO said

*Russia's gas giant Gazprom signed a deal with Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) on establishing a South Stream Bulgaria AD joint venture to oversee the construction of the Bulgarian section of the South Stream pipeline