Main news of October 25

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

*Data published by the U.S. Department of State indicates that the United States has some 300 more deployed nuclear weapons than Russia.

*The death toll from Turkey’s deadliest earthquake in over a decade has reached 432 people, Today’s Zaman newspaper reported

*NATO may not end its mission in Libya as early as planned, CNN quoted U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta as saying

*NATO is still prepared to grant membership to Georgia and Ukraine on condition that they implement reforms, NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General James Appathurai said

*Iraq unveiled a monument to world-renowned Romantic-era poet Alexander Pushkin in the University of Baghdad.

*Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said his country’s election to the United Nations Security Council is a historic event.

*More than 50 people were killed from a fuel tank explosion in the Libyan city of Sirte, BBC quoted National Transitional Council (NTC) commander Leith Mohammed as saying

*Toppled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was buried early in a secret desert location, Al-Jazeera television reported, quoting officials from the country’s ruling National Transitional Council.

*Mexico announced the discovery of giant gas fields near the border with the United States.

 

RUSSIA

*Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered a probe into the “illegal” sale of Moscow land intended for foreign embassies to subsidiaries of a company belonging to former Moscow mayor’s wife Yelena Baturina, the Kremlin said

*Two Russian servicemen were killed at a sentry outpost near a village in the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, a military spokesman said.

*Russia's largest private oil firm LUKoil has launched exploration drilling on the giant West Qurna-2 oilfield in Iraq, company head Vagit Alekperov said

*Galina Vishnevskaya is 85 years old on October 25.

*Ukraine will allow Russia to modernize its Black Sea Fleet, Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhaylo Yezhel said

*Russian Mi-28N Night Hunter has lost a tender on the delivery of 22 attack helicopters to the Indian military in strong competition with the American AH-64D Apache, an Indian Defense Ministry source said

*Russia’s communications minister has said Russia is ready to share its take on the online government with developing countries

*The list of ‘undesirable’ U.S. officials whom Moscow recently barred from entry to Russia is longer than the so-called Magnitsky List, which bans Russian officials allegedly linked to the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky from entering the United States, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

*Russian state nanotechnology corporation Rusnano has approved co-financing of 134 projects worth 533.5 billion rubles ($17.5 billion), Chief Executive Officer Anatoly Chubais said

*Net profit of Russia's largest car maker AvtoVAZ doubled to 6.4 billion rubles ($210 million) in the first half of 2011 to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

*Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton discussed bilateral and international issues in a phone conversation, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported