Main News of October 21

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

The Israeli government will not limit construction in disputed areas of Jerusalem, despite protests from Palestinians and the disapproval of the international community, Israel's Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu said.

The Israeli and United States armed forces started their largest-ever joint air defense and anti-missile exercise, involving thousands of service personnel and the two nation's principal air defense missile systems, the Israeli Army told RIA Novosti.

Opposition demonstrators in the Lebanese capital Beirut attempted to storm the prime minister's office building, demanding his resignation following the death of the country's intelligence agency in a car bombing on Friday.

President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili called on all political forces in the country’s legislature for constructive cooperation as the Georgian new parliament opened its first session.

At least ten people were killed after a car bomb exploded near a police station in the Syrian capital, Sky News reported, citing local media.

An old Italian lady has bequeathed all her property estimated at about 2 million euros ($2.5 million) to her beloved dog, the local media reported.

A Russian female tourist died under the wheels of a truck trying to save the life of her one-and-a-half-year-old baby in a road accident in Thailand, the Russian embassy said on Sunday.

Japan has decided to cancel its planned joint naval drill with the United States fearing that it would provoke a negative reaction from China, the Japan Times daily reported citing an unnamed source in the government.

Lebanon’s opposition leader Saad Hariri called on all Lebanese citizens to attend the funeral of slain intelligence officer Wissam al-Hassan and turn Sunday into the ‘Day of Rage’ against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Al Jazeera reported.

Washington has not agreed with Tehran on direct bilateral talks concerning the controversial Iranian nuclear program, but the United States is ready for such negotiations, the White House said.

Khamis, the youngest son of Libya’s late leader Muammar Gaddafi, was killed in an armed clash between the government troops and militants in the city of Bani Walid

 

RUSSIA

Over 60,000 people across Russia had voted for candidates for the Opposition Coordination Committee in Moscow this weekend, by the time polling closed on Sunday night at 9 p.m., the Committee said.

Four teenagers were injured when a World War II landmine blew up in Russia's Volgograd Region, the police said.

Demonstrators held a protest against internet censorship in Russia's second city of St. Petersburg, local police said.

One man was killed and another wounded after an unknown suspect opened gunfire at a gas station in the southeast of the Russian capital, a local police source said.

 

SPORT

Italy's Andreas Seppi recovered from a set down to defeat Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci and win the Kremlin Cup in Moscow in a clash between two national No. 1 players.