Main News of October 23

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said a meeting of 11 nations on resolving the Syrian conflict resulted in a call for regime change, a challenge that upsets plans for a peace conference in Geneva

* Russia’s Defense Minister met with his US counterpart Wednesday to discuss Syria and security issues on the sidelines of a NATO-Russia meeting

* Russian President Vladimir Putin praised plans for new joint economic projects between Russia and Pakistan on Tuesday, but called for closer cooperation between the two nations in fighting terrorism and the illegal drug trade

* Kyrgyzstan's lawmakers overwhelmingly rejected Wednesday a new deal to settle Bishek’s long-standing dispute with the Canadian operator of the country’s biggest goldmine

RUSSIA

* Russia aims to cooperate with Western powers on security issues but needs guarantees that a US missile shield in Eastern Europe would not target its nuclear forces, Russia’s defense minister said

* A developer that builds border checkpoints and other facilities for the Russian government dismissed rumors of mass sackings on Wednesday amid a scandal over mismanagement of state funds

* Russia’s long-time top health official, known for his controversial import bans and colorful medical advice, has been relieved of his duties as head of the country’s consumer rights watchdog and appointed as an aide to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Medvedev’s spokeswoman said

* Investigators in Russia said Wednesday that they have dropped piracy charges against environmental activists and freelance journalists detained last month aboard a Greenpeace ship

* Russia’s defense minister said Wednesday that chemical weapons in Syria must be seized from the rebels as well as the government

* The first funerals for the victims of a bomb blast on a bus near the south Russian city of Volgograd were held Wednesday as Russian officials continued their inquiry into the deadly suicide bombing

POLITICS

* Positions of Russia and the United States on key international issues became much closer recently despite remaining contradictions, Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak said

DEFENSE

* Russia plans to dismantle about 140,000 old missiles and 3.5 billion rounds of obsolete ammunition by 2020, but the country may have trouble meeting that deadline, an Industry and Trade Ministry official said

BUSINESS

* Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday opened a Gazprom gas and condensate field in the Sea of Okhotsk, 28 kilometers from Sakhalin

CRIME

* Russia’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a life sentence handed down to the defunct Yukos oil company’s former security head was lawful and refused to amend it in line with a judgement from the European Court of Human Rights