Main News of October 2

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

*Georgia will seek close cooperation with both Russia and Western powers, billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili said as his opposition coalition headed for election victory.

*In a sternly-worded and wide-ranging report, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) accused Russia of arbitrary intervention in its neighbors’ affairs and eroding democracy at home, prompting an angry response from top Russian officials.

*Ukrainian lawmakers passed in the first reading a draft law making promotion of homosexuality a criminal offense, in a move similar to a recent legislative measure adopted by the city authorities in Russia’s St. Petersburg.

*Russia's Children's Rights Commissioner Pavel Astakhov hit back at Finland over alleged violations of Russian families' rights in the country, RAPSI reports.

 

RUSSIA

*A former prison official at the pretrial detention center where Sergei Magnitsky was held created intolerable conditions verging on torture, the mother of the Russian lawyer who died in custody in 2009 while investigating alleged official corruption, said in court.

 

BUSINESS

*Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg visited the headquarters of Russian leading Internet search engine Yandex to hold talks with its management, a source familiar with the matter said.

*The Russian government will make changes to tax legislation to ease foreign investment and spur the country’s economic development, President Vladimir Putin said.

*The risk of inflation is currently greater than that of slower growth in Russia, prompting the country’s monetary authorities to tighten monetary policy, Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said.