Main News of April 11

WORLD

* US President Barack Obama proposed boosting funding for the Energy Department to modernize the nation’s existing nuclear weapons in what analysts say is part of a bargain he struck with Republican lawmakers to secure their support for the New START deal with Russia to reduce nuclear stockpiles

* South Korea remains calm in the face of the North Korean nuclear threat and is ready to respond to possible missile launches by Pyongyang, a South Korean presidential spokesman said

* A fresh leak of radioactive water has been detected at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant in northeast Japan, the plant’s operator said

RUSSIA

* The Kremlin favors the idea of adopting a law protecting the religious feelings of Russian citizens, the Russian presidential spokesman said

* Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev will not attend the funeral of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher due to health reasons, a representative of the Gorbachev Foundation in Moscow said

* Russia’s newest Baltic Fleet warship, the Project 20380 Boiky corvette, has completed sea trials, a spokesman for the Western Military District told RIA Novosti

* The Russian Air Force has approved the conceptual design and specification of its future PAK-DA strategic bomber, paving the way for development of components for the aircraft, Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said

* A majority of Russians do not want Vladimir Putin to run for president again in 2018 when his third term ends, according to a new survey

* The former CEO of small-arms manufacturer Izhevsk Mechanical Works (Izhmash) has been charged with a 35 million-ruble ($1.1 million) fraud, Moscow police said, in the latest of a string of corruption scandals to hit the Russian defense industry