Main news of November 1

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* A Boeing 767 airliner whose landing gear failed made an emergency gear-up landing in Warsaw on Tuesday, Polish media reported.

* Tbilisi has agreed on a compromise proposal from Switzerland on the issue of Russia's entry to the World Trade Organization and is waiting for a response from Moscow, the Georgian president's spokeswoman, Manana Manjgaladze, said.

* Due to a reassessment of the threat from Iran, Washington announced a new scheme for a more flexible system, with a combination of land- and sea-based interceptors based on the Standard Missile interceptor, SM-3. Under the new plan, the United States would place ship-based SM-3s in the North and Mediterranean seas in 2011, and mobile land-based SM-3s in Central Europe by 2015

* The Libyan government recognizes all the business contracts signed with Russia as well as all international political agreements, Libya’s new Prime Minister Abdel-Rahim al-Keeb said.

 

RUSSIA

* Saving Europe is becoming something of a popular global trend. Arkady Dvorkovich, economic adviser to the Russian president, told a RIA Novosti briefing on Monday that Russia was ready to help stabilize the European economy via the IMF.

* Russia's government has launched a crusade against alcohol abuse, describing it as a "national disaster" and aiming to halve consumption by 2020 and root out illegal production and sales. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has approved a national plan that envisions criminal punishment for illegal production and sale of alcohol, restrictions on advertising, and efforts to promote a healthy lifestyle.

* A Russian sailing ship, the Nadezhda, is heading towards the Hawaiian Islands but will stay away from U.S. territorial waters until the Russian Foreign Ministry says it is safe to enter.

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called for a revival of light aviation in Russia on Tuesday, including purchases of foreign aircraft in the absence of domestically-produced equipment.

* Moscow regrets the decision by the United States on Monday to cut off funding for UNESCO after the UN body granted full membership to Palestine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.