Main News of October 8

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

RUSSIA

* The stand-off between Russia and the Netherlands escalated as Moscow angrily demanded a full account of how one its diplomats came to be arrested by the Dutch police over the weekend

* A court in Russia’s Arctic port city of Murmansk ruled that three Russian nationals detained onboard a Greenpeace ship seized last month amid accusations of piracy should stay behind bars pending trial

* Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Ukraine that economic relations between their nations would suffer if Kiev goes ahead with plans to conclude a series of free trade agreements with the European Union

* Russia has applied for membership in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for a two-year term starting next year, a senior government official said

* Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed his US counterpart for undertaking what he said were actions that have helped avert a tragedy in the ongoing civil war in Syria

* Russia’s new-generation nuclear-powered submarine has successfully completed the first round of sea trials in the White Sea, the manufacturer said

WORLD

* The UN chief has suggested that a joint mission of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), tasked with eliminating chemical weapons, be established in Syria

* The United States moved to clarify unusually positive remarks made by US Secretary of State John Kerry about Syrian President Bashar Assad as work begins to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile

* Kyrgyzstan’s president demanded the organizers of a protest against a contentious Canadian-run goldmine that descended into violence this week be brought to justice, as continuing demonstrations in the Central Asian nation once again led to the closure of a major highway