Main News of February 10

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* The European Union has asked New Delhi to use its influence to draw Iran back into talks over its disputed nuclear ambitions, Indian TV channels said

* India has test-fired a domestically developed interceptor missile capable of destroying ballistic missiles, the Hindustan Times reported

* Madonna’s fans in Israel have asked the government not to launch any airstrikes against Iran until after the pop diva’s concert in Tel Aviv on May 29, Haaretz reported.

* Russia proposes that the United States sign a bilateral extradition treaty or join existing international conventions, Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov said

RUSSIA

* The lower house of Russia’s Parliament, the State Duma, on Friday called on the UN Security Council not to take sides in the Syrian months-long conflict, saying this approach undermines chances for a fair dialogue and peaceful settlement.

* Current Russian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin has the support of 53.3 percent of the voters, according to a survey conducted by state-run pollster VTsIOM.

* Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin received over 378 million rubles ($12.7 million) as contributions to his election fund, the Central Election Commission said

* Controversial South Ossetian opposition leader Alla Dzhioyeva, who reportedly suffered a stroke after being detained on Thursday, has regained consciousness and is in moderately grave condition, Mairbek Kokoyev, the chief doctor of the regional hospital, said on Friday.

*A Russian military district court sentenced an engineer at the Plesetsk Space Center in northern Russia to 13 years in prison on charges of state treason, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said

* Russia continues to suffer an alarming traffic fatality rate, with some 28,000 people killed in almost 200,000 traffic accidents across the country last year, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said

BUSINESS

* Russia’s arms exports may reach a record $14 billion in 2012, a Russian think-tank said

* Shareholders of Russian precious metal miners Polymetal and Polyus Gold decided not to merge their gold assets to create the world's ninth-biggest gold maker, Vedomosti business daily reported

SPORTS

* Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova crashed out of the quarter-finals of the WTA Paris Open on Friday after a shock defeat to Germany’s Angelique Kerber, the world no. 27