Main news of October 24

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

*A powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Turkish province of Van on Sunday afternoon. According to latest estimates, over 200 people were killed, about 1,000 injured and some 400 are believed to be trapped under the debris of the ruined buildings. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that a new earthquake, measuring at magnitude 6.1, struck the province of Van

*The UN human rights office has called for a probe into the death of deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi who died after being captured alive last week, said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

*Defense lawyers for Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Tymoshenko on Monday appealed her seven-year prison sentence, her lawyer said

*The United States and North Korea started talks in Geneva on Monday designed at resuming deadlocked nuclear negotiations, the Yonhap news agency reported

*Afghanistan’s lower house of parliament rejected on Monday an agreement on technical and military cooperation between the Afghan government and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the Pajhwok news agency reported.

*WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Monday announced that the whistle-blowing website is suspending publishing operations in order to concentrate the group's resources on fighting a “blockade” by credit card companies and raise new funds.

 

 

RUSSIA

*Firefighters and rescuers extinguished all four forest fires, registered over the past 24 hours in Russia's Far East, a spokesman for the regional emergencies ministry said

*Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has spoken of his love for badminton in a video on his official blog

*Russian investigators have summoned ex-Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov for questioning over an inquiry linked to a 13-billion ruble ($444 million) bank loan

*The Moscow City Court on Monday upheld a lower court’s refusal to consider a plea from the mother of the late lawyer Sergei Magnitsky to close a case against him on charges of tax evasion.

*Russia and Iceland have agreed cooperation in geothermal energy production.

*Talks between Russia and the European Union on the EU Third Energy Package, which requires the separation of energy production, transportation and sales, are deadlocked, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said

*Moody's international rating agency has changed the Russian banking system outlook to 'negative' from 'stable' on global turbulence which is weakening the banking sector's performance, the agency said

*Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is meeting with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan in the Kremlin on Monday to discuss economic, military and security cooperation