Main News of October 16

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

RUSSIA

* A rock thought to be the biggest fragment so far of a meteorite that exploded over Russia’s Urals region in February was lifted from the bottom of a lake in a massive recovery effort broadcast live by Russian TV

* A scientific research center in Siberia said that it has discovered a new strain of HIV in Russia and that the virus is spreading “at a rapid rate”

* A bill filed with the Russian parliament proposes returning the “none of the above” option to ballot papers in legislative, but not presidential, elections, as an outlet for popular political disaffection

* A court in Russia offered outspoken opposition leader Alexei Navalny a reprieve by granting him a suspended sentence on embezzlement charges

* Russia’s state arms export monopoly has signed a $1 billion deal package with Angola to deliver military equipment, build an ammunition plant and provide maintenance services, Vedomosti business daily reported

* Russia opened a criminal investigation into an attack on a Dutch diplomat who was tied up and assaulted in his central Moscow apartment

* Police in St. Petersburg averted an attempt by nationalists to incite inter-ethnic clashes during important Islamic holiday celebrations in Russia’s second largest city, the city’s chief of police said

WORLD

* Experts from the global chemical weapons watchdog said that critical equipment has been destroyed at six chemical weapon sites in Syria

* Iran is ready to compromise over its controversial uranium enrichment program, if international sanctions against the country are lifted, a diplomatic source said

* US scientists are “itching” to work with their Russian counterparts in putting nuclear weapons technology to use in new systems to defend Earth from threatening asteroids, an investigative journalism outlet reported

* The United States and its allies called for the establishment of Antarctic marine reserves that Russia has previously blocked by questioning the legality of such sanctuaries in an area where it has fishing interes59

SPORTS

* Moscow will host the 2016 European short track speedskating championships, the first time Russia has held the event since 2003, the head of the Russian Skating Federation said