Main News of February 16

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours.

RUSSIA

* Divers have completed examining Lake Chebarkul in the Chelyabinsk Region where a meteorite fragment had reportedly fallen but found no trace of the celestial body, a spokesperson for the Russian Emergencies Ministry said

* Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin on Saturday backed calls to establish a new system to identify and neutralize threats in space

* Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region Mikhail Yurevich dismissed rumors that locals had broken windows themselves in the hope of getting meteorite-related insurance

* A young Russian mother was given a 19-month suspended sentence after she decided to set fire to a local kindergarten, local prosecutors said

WORLD

* At least 63 people were killed and some 200 injured as a bomb exploded in Pakistan’s southwest city of Quetta, the Dawn News TV channel reported

* The conclave to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI could start before March 15 if all the cardinals are already in Rome, the Vatican official spokesman said

* Police in Ukraine have opened a criminal case against nationalist activists who dismantled a statue of Bolshevik revolution leader Vladimir Lenin in the country’s Sumy Region, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said

BUSINESS

*The Group of 20 finance chiefs pledged on Saturday to refrain from competitive devaluation and targeting exchange rates for competitive purposes

* Countries pursuing a monetary policy that hinges on weakening the national currency in the hope of catalyzing economic recovery would be wise to remember the associated risks, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told the G20 Finance Ministers’ meeting

* The first of three Russian-made Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional aircrafts was handed over to the Lao Central air carrier in Laos, the manufacturer said